Its clear that relationships between companies online are hugely beneficial – they generate more traffic, sales and thus more profit. However it is often difficult to find the right partners. Agencies are one of the best ways of finding companies with which to partner, not least for an affiliate relationship. Agencies generally have a large number of contacts as a result of their client base and through strategic partnerships and can therefore match businesses accurately and effectively.

What is an agency?
The Affiliate Marketing agency in this case is a firm dedicated to promoting their clients and their clients’ web properties. Many have graduated to online marketing from a traditional offline marketing role. Others were founded with an online focus from the outset. Agencies provide a range of services from strategy through to detailed execution, for example keyword identification, outsourced PPC bid management, social media optimisation (SMO), site production, content creation or indeed link building. Most will outsource some, if not all of these elements to specialist providers but in so doing will remain a single point of contact for clients.

What do agencies do?
Many agencies have now added or begun to add affiliate management to their service portfolio. In so doing, they establish relationships with the major affiliate networks. They actively seek out and nurture relationships with established affiliates and seek to broker introductions for their clients. With a solid grasp as to their clients’ online capabilities and aspirations, they are well placed to identify affiliates that will compliment and enhance a given client’s marketing mix. Further, as many get deeper into the affiliate management role, they collaborate with the networks and direct affiliates to provide a clear view as to the return on investment (ROI) a client is seeing via the affiliate channel and, — to use a dreadful consulting term — an holistic (complete) view of the client’s online marketing mix. Terrible terminology aside, this completeness of view is vital in ensuring that all channels are performing to plan and that the correct balance between the different channels (SEO, PPC, affiliate, mailing, SMO . . .) is achieved.

How can you maximise the benefits from using an agency?
Firstly, work with the right Affiliate Marketing agency. Agencies generally specialise in certain sectors and types of business’ so it is vital to choose an agency with the right contacts in your firm’s area. Some agencies are much larger than others and thus have experience across multiple channels. Others are smaller and may opt to focus solely on particular channels and entirely outsource or partner to deliver the remainder. Many are less than transparent in this process, appearing to offer the entire range of agency services but in fact “white labelling” the services of specialist providers. Both approaches have their merits, With the ever increasingly complexity in each channel, only the largest firms truly have the resource to master each area (some would question this) and a partnering approach is perfectly legitimate. Many argue that prime contracting a bunch of specialist firms is the intelligent approach. Not least because as an agency you don’t own (or pay for) the resources if requirements happen to be lower in a specific area at any one time — overheads that you don’t have to pass to the client in the form of unworkably high retainers.

In some cases it may be appropriate or indeed necessary to use more than one agency. For example, if you have a broad range of retail or service categories. Equally, some channels are so specialised that they may require a specialised agency. One very common scenario is for an established retailer to continue to use the agency with whom they may have had a successful long term relationship for traditional and mainstream channels and to add a further agency or specialist affiliate management firm to assist them in identifying and managing relationships with the right affiliates.

In all cases, you should expect an Affiliate Marketing agency to accurately communicate everything from your PPC brand bidding constraints through to offers, voucher codes and product / data feeds to your affiliates; together with the ongoing identification of the RIGHT affiliates that will drive profitable business in your direction in return for sensible commission levels. Your agency should also establish and nurture relationships with relevant affiliate networks, a significant route through which many super affiliates can be approached.

Conclusion
As with any area of business, choosing the right partners can make all the difference. Factors including your industry sector, channel focus and the nature of your products or services will be major determinants in indentifying the right agencies with whom to work. The presence of an established agency doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t room for a specialist to ensure channel balance.

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