Google Affiliate Network Shut Down – Now What?
There has been a feeding frenzy since Google announced the closure of their affiliate network last week. Merchants, affiliates, networks and agencies have been in a mass turnover period while they figure out what to do and how to help each other.
We have been working with several companies with their changeovers in the last few days. Many merchants are going to Linkshare and Commission Junction, while others move to more niche solutions.
We’ve spoken with several merchants who are grateful to have alternative options outside of the obvious few, because in a time of change, comes a time for opportunity and advertisers need to be careful they are making the right decisions long term.
The opportunity for further program optimization and growth, along with potential savings for higher profits, and new profitable niche partner relationships is fantastic right now. But GAN merchants need to be clear on what they are trying to accomplish from their program before they make a big move.
Our team at All Inclusive Marketing is about identifying the smartest opportunities for change in order to improve your affiliate program before, during and after this transition period to focus on savings and higher profitable growth potential.
If you are a merchant looking for support, we’re here to help transition you in the smartest way possible, not just the most obvious. We have partnerships with all the major networks, but also a lot of the smaller niche groups that could actually mean higher savings and more strategic partner relationships with you resulting in more profits and growth potential.
So what are your next steps:
1. If you have found an alternative and you got a deal, that’s awesome, well done! But it’s not over with that one change. Look at what new opportunities there are for improvement and growth while people are open to change, and while you are flexible enough to make different decisions that could massively benefit your organization’s bottom line.
2. If you have an agency that you already work with and are looking for new geographic target groups, that’s ok, we can still help! We have several clients who already work with other agencies and work with us to penetrate into international market segments such as Canada, the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia other agencies either don’t have time or expertise to move into. We have partnerships with many international affiliate networks to offer additional savings and new customer segment reach.
3. Let’s say your comfortable with CJ or Linkshare and you have internal account management with them – great! They know their network better than anyone else. However what about the opportunities outside of their network they don’t know about or can’t get into? What about working with their (or your) internal team to focus on new affiliate recruitment opportunities, or partnerships that take the mundane tasks off your hands so you can focus on building relationships with your affiliates and negotiating better placements on sites resulting in increased sales? These too are areas we can help.
4. What if you’re “set” in all these areas? Awesome! But how about using tools to become more efficient and effective now? What about working with cross channel strategy to not only increase affiliate sales but every marketing dollar you spend in other channels? There is opportunity to improve program performance and cross channel sales – and we have the tools, systems and team in place to help you elevate your program, whether you’re working with a network, agency or in house manager already.
This is a phenomenal opportunity to make some positive change that could forever push your affiliate program forward in a better direction. If you’d like to speak about your affiliate marketing strategy, selection on new network, affiliate recruitment efforts, tools to help you become more efficient or how to get more from your online marketing efforts as a whole, contact us and we’d be happy to offer a free consultation on what to do before, during and after your move from Google Affiliate Network.