What does an Affiliate Manager do?

Digital marketing and e-commerce are becoming more and more fashionable in society. Because it is a very competitive world, where you always have to be aware of all the new developments and links, the job of an affiliate manager is really in demand nowadays.
It is no secret to anyone that, thanks to the crisis of the new economic climates, including the effects of the pandemic, too many businesses and companies have been reducing budgets in digital marketing business
With this, they have been looking for completely new and alternative marketing methods to remain competitive in the marketplace.
For these reasons, new channels called affiliate marketing have appeared, that is, marketing strategies with which products are promoted in exchange for compensation. This is where the figure of an Affiliate Manager comes in.
He or she will be the central axis of this entire network of marketing and digital diffusion of a brand or product. They are specialists in relations with third parties. In the same way, they act as managers and are in constant relationship between producers and affiliates.
But what does an Affiliate Manager actually do, and what does the whole world of affiliate marketing bring? To help you understand in the easiest way what this professional does, read on to discover and be encouraged to dive into this wonderful digital world.
Affiliate Marketing
To put it in context, affiliate marketing is a marketing strategy that associates independent sellers to promote their own product in exchange for compensation.
As is well known, this type of task concerning affiliate programs and marketing is not an easy task. This is why the work of an Affiliate Manager is necessary to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that the work goes as smoothly as possible.
Who benefits from an Affiliate Manager?
An Affiliate Manager is the best solution for companies to manage, negotiate, process and manage promotion, commissions, personalized follow-ups and all their affiliates through the management of promotions, campaigns, integrations and automations in their structures.
The figure of the Affiliate Manager
As mentioned above, the work of an Affiliate Manager is based on the analysis of negotiations and campaigns with publishers, also known as partners.
This position will be occupied by a person who knows how to manage the affiliates of a producer, business or company.
These organizations create a digital product to market within electronic platforms in whose facilities they will have the affiliate system, that is, people who sell and disseminate their products.
Although some companies are used to making the sale of their products by themselves, there are others who seek the help of these managers to deal with affiliate issues, with which they have raised up to 70% of sales in their digital products.
The Affiliate Manager reaches the most remote people to multiply results. He knows who the current affiliates are and the strategies they use.
With this exponential increase in digital business, the position of Affiliate Manager as a profession has grown rapidly in recent times.
Organization and planning
The Affiliate Manager is that first contact with the producer and the affiliates. Yes, the responsibility is great because it fulfills the function of transmitting in a clear and objective way the promotion processes, helps about any doubt in the sale of products, as well as to search and attract new people interested in promoting the products sold.
At the same time, he provides all the support required for affiliates to understand in the best way the operation of everything related to the product, its promotion rules and how to perform their tasks to obtain the best results.
Having an Affiliate Manager is synonymous with organization and planning of sales strategies. With him, you will have a person with real knowledge of the market, its products, affiliates and production will be regulated in his hands.
Functions of the Affiliate Manager
The functions of an Affiliate Manager can be summarized in the following list:
- Engaging new affiliates and filtering their applications.
- To provide affiliates with customer service.
- Care, protect, safeguard, and maintain the creativity of the promotions.
- Announce all Affiliate Program activities.
- Be in constant search of the best performance through digital affiliate marketing channels.
The Affiliate Manager should be seen as a workplace administrator. He is in charge of ensuring and respecting the harmony of relationships between vendors.
He proposes the rules to be followed when the company opens up to affiliate programs. In this way, the atmosphere will not turn into a pitched battle. If there is disorder and lack of attention, affiliates may end up fleeing from the products offered.
It also has to do with helping and democratizing every job that is done, determining which promotions are best suited to the existing demands of affiliates and their rewards. In this way, he or she fulfills both administrative and human relations functions.
Administratively
The Affiliate Manager is in charge of rewards work. He or she is the one who devises and implements promotions that attract affiliates. He is also in charge of the commissions offered by his producers. It is, of course, very important to have rules and standards for this sales generation, since it is the managers who plan these standards to be followed.
PR Relations
The Affiliate Manager takes care of his affiliates to ensure that they perform at their best. Within their social tasks, they have the real knowledge to create accounts and groups on the various digital platforms, social networks and applications.
With this knowledge put into practice, the Affiliate Manager provides all the technical information: keywords, channels, copy and promotional strategies to optimize the affiliates' time and make sales happen much faster.
Conditioning
A new function is to give affiliates the necessary tools to focus on specific products. That is to say, within a platform, there can be internal competition between offers. This is why the affiliate must consider which is the best one to promote, always guided by the Affiliate Manager.
In this way, the manager shows the affiliate if a product is great to affiliate. In this way, they will not be missing out on the best products for those that will not be as significant.
Also, the Affiliate Manager conditions the training sessions. Especially when affiliates are just starting out in the product sales career. He makes sure that they do not get lost and that they take advantage of their potential for the benefit of the group.
An important function would be to be the spokesperson for the product sold in the company of the affiliates. This makes it clear that the communication between the members must be optimal so that the work is fulfilled and order is maintained in their products and commissions to be delivered.
Affiliate Manager Compensation
Like any good job, there is always the remuneration part. The Affiliate Manager will receive a percentage determined by the producer. This could be for the total sales of the product sold, the sales made by the producer himself, or even for the sales made by each of the affiliates he manages.
This being the case, it is not possible to determine with certainty or to generate a hard and fast rule to determine the value of each commission and, therefore, the payment that the Affiliate Manager will receive.
Everything will depend on how the relationship between the producer and the manager are established in relation to the agreements between their parties.
Final considerations
For all that has been mentioned, the Affiliate Manager is of utmost importance because:
- He/she streamlines and is completely focused on attending all the demands of his/her group of affiliates.
- He has the knowledge and experience to apply the best techniques in the different areas of affiliation. He knows very well how to socialize the experiences in his group and deliver the necessary tools for the growth and evolution of the whole work team.
- He takes care, designs and analyzes where to go and where not to go among so many paths full of competition. He realizes and teaches the strategies that will be used by his group of affiliates.
- He gives due care to the focus and attention of his actions in order to obtain the best results from his affiliates, which allows a better investment of time to create new and better content.
The profession of Affiliate Manager is increasingly becoming the best livelihood within the Affiliate Markets and Programs for all that their work generates and the evolution that is demonstrated in each partner company.
So, do you need more reasons for your business to have a good Affiliate Manager or even for you to be one yourself in the future?