I have a weird mix of past experience in the affiliate marketing world. I started out in the email side of things (non-spam… I think), then moved to being a publisher/affiliate, then moved to an affiliate manager position, then moved to a CPA network position and eventually worked up to a COO of one of those, then worked for a CPA network and now I think I’ve finally found my home as an affiliate program manager.

I like what I do. I like interacting with merchants and affiliates and publishers and people who have online content that they want to monetize, but don’t know that such a thing is called “affiliate marketing.” I like the ability to move a program forward into new areas of traffic that produce high quality leads that benefit the merchant as well as the affiliate who got the traffic there in the first place.

However, getting an affiliate marketing program that is being facilitated through a network off the ground can be a tremendous, and at times frustrating, undertaking.

Here’s why:

1. All of the major affiliate networks (Commission Junction, Linkshare, Performics, ShareASale, Kowabunga, TradeDoubler, Zanox) have a different system of integrating a new program into their technologies and setting up a new program within their system. Merchants or programs new to affiliate marketing really have no clue what to expect when they decide on which network to go with, and God forbid they decide to transfer to another network later. The main reason some networks are able to keep their merchants is that the merchants simply don’t have the time or resources to make a horizontal move. That’s a shame because competition breeds better results and innovation for everyone. Hence, the lack of innovation in the network space.
2. Many affiliate and program managers, in my experience, have a good deal of knowledge of how to work with one platform but not the others. I’ve been witness to countless frustrating situations where a program manager tried to bite off more than they could chew and get a program launched in Linkshare when they only had working knowledge of Commission Junction. While similar, there are idiosyncratic features in all of the networks that a competent program manager understands and knows how to manage.
3. Program and affiliate managers all work in their own unique way and speed… this can be ultimately frustrating to a new program or merchant looking to start their program.
4. CPA networks make it very easy to start a program. You place a pixel, sign an IO and boom… in comes traffic. Merchants constantly hearing these pitches who then pick an affiliate network to handle their program often get frustrated at the amount of time it takes some networks to get programs set up. The amount and quality of traffic which results is debatable.
5. Transparency, intelligence and patience are not essential qualities to become an affiliate manager or merchant. The result is that frustration, efficiency and greed often rule the conversation and can lead to a merchant becoming frustrated with the whole process.

Granted, some networks and program managers do a much better job of launching a new program and managing it’s first month’s growth. However, as affiliate marketing continues to grow and claim market attention, we have to, as an industry, be able to get programs off the starting line at the right time and at the right speed.