GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 28 - April 2014

Oneof the key functionsof theGPWA Forums is toprovideanopenavenue for communicationbetweenaffiliates andaffiliate managers. In this issue's featured thread, an affiliatemanager asks howaffiliatesprefer to receivecommunications from theprograms theypromoteandgets somegreat advice. #1 Dean_Leyland (Non-sponsor Affiliate Program) One of the things I've struggledwith themost inmy eight years as an affiliatemanager is finding the optimal way of keeping affiliates up to date. E-mail is obviously themost used and easiest way to keep affiliates informed of the things they need to know (offers, promos, product changes, etc.). However, I appreciate that affiliates get bombardedwith e-mail every day. We have a policy of only sending e-mail to all affiliates if we have amajor announcement (e.g., awelcome bonus change). Otherwise, we operate an opt-in list for affiliates to choosewhether they want more than that. So, what do you think is the best way for an affiliate manager to keep his affiliates up to date? Are there any programs that successfully use other methods? RSS? SMS? “ ReplyWithQuote #2 universal4 (Security/Membership Team) You are already doing it: E-mail. Not Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace or other methods, since onewould be FORCED to have one of those accounts in order to be updated. Everyone already has an e-mail address; they need that to join your program. “ ReplyWithQuote #3 sweetbet (PrivateMember) E-mail and then forums I would say. I check them both several times a day. “ ReplyWithQuote #5 HodgeyBoy (Sponsor Affiliate Program) Agreewith Dean that it’s something that we AMs spend a great deal of time thinking about. One of themain concerns we havewith e-mail is competing in all of your inboxes! Naturally, we all believe that what we have to say is vitally important, but what if affiliates don't? Inmy own experience, we have tried to reduce the “noise” in our e-mail. We dropped the shiny newsletter format and went back to plain text. We stopped the grand claims about being theworld's greatest/finest/most exciting casino/ sportsbook/poker room, etc. We have an opt-in for promo details as soon as they are confirmed and try to limit the content to the bare essentials: Dates, offer terms, your tracking link and a content suggestion – very B2B in tone. We do have an affiliate RSS feed but to be perfectly honest I have absolutely no idea if anyone is subscribed and less idea if they even find it useful. I think that it is tough to use social media as the principal format to communicate offers, for the reasons that universal4mentions. At best I think it can only be an effective “nudge” to go and check your inbox or log into a site. This places the dilemma back on the shoulders of the AMs: If we are going to have to use e-mail then how dowe make sure our e-mail gets through? I think the answer is to try andwrite it so that it’s less shouty andmore relevant. Would be great to hear from affiliates about that competition in their inboxes and the amount of e-mail they receive that may be sent in good faith or as a result of an opt-in but are, nonetheless, barely read or regarded as SPAM. “ ReplyWithQuote FROMTHEGPWAFORUMS Keepingaffiliatesup todate 65 From theGPWAForums