Hiring an In-House Affiliate Manager
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Q: I am looking for an in-house affiliate manager – where can I find one?
A: I would say that one of the best qualifications of an affiliate manager is that they were previously an affiliate, because they have a 360 degree understanding of the industry, rather than just somebody how knows about the management side.
I encounter too many affiliate managers who don’t understand the basics of affiliate marketing.
My suggestion is to ask prospective candidates in the interview if they are currently or ever have been an affiliate.
Ideally, you’ll find somebody with experience as an affiliate manager in your niche, who is also located in your geographic area, but that’s probably not likely unless you’re based in NYC or San Francisco.
Anyhow, there are a lot more affiliates than affiliate managers out there, so if you place value on affiliate experience, you’ve got a much deeper pool of candidates.
In reality, it’s not that hard to learn any given affiliate network interface. A quality affiliate manager knows about the industry and can relate to people. Those skills trump an MBA in my opinion.
- Posted in Affiliate Managers, Ask Shawn Collins
11 Comments
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On June 4 @ 2:24 pm posted[...] get lots of inquiries from companies looking to hire an affiliate manager, as well as folks looking to move on to a new affiliate marketing [...]
I agree with shawn. A good affiliate manager is a person who had worked as an affiliate and understood the in and out of the industry. I had worked as an affiliate for more than two years and now I am serving as affiliate manger with one of the leading online health company based in UK.
reply to this commentI was talking about experienced affiliate managers being in NYC and San Francisco, since there are a concentration of companies in each city with affiliate programs.
What is your basis for saying the majority of affiliates are located in Toronto and Los Angeles?
reply to this commentthere are affiliate managers out there that were not affiliates at first; I became an affiliate after being the industry a couple of years. The biggest mistake affiliate managers make is not listening to their affiliates. You learn more by understanding what your affiliate does to drive traffic. Too many affiliate managers just try to manage a program vs. understanding what motivates an affiliate to drive traffic through a specific relationship. The more you listen the more you know.
reply to this commentNYC and SF are wrong. Majority of affiliates are in Toronto Canada or LA right now. Those areas a major hot spot in terms of affiliates compare to networks
reply to this commentGood points Shawn. As an affiliate and affiliate manager I never saw geography as an issue in either case. The great thing about affiliate marketing is that it can be done from anywhere in the world. I would recommend that merchants consider outsourcing the affiliate manager position to lower overhead costs as they don’t need to be at the location to be successful.
reply to this commentOkay, I was referring to just affiliates since the basis of the post is that they would make better managers, in which case I do agree to an extent. I wouldn't necessarily say that the majority of experienced managers are in NYC or San Francisco just because a few larger networks are there but it could be a possiblity. I based the fact that the majority of affiliates are in Toronto and LA because statistically it is true from the sheer number of affiliates I've come in contact with.
reply to this commentMy point with "Ideally, you’ll find somebody with experience as an affiliate manager in your niche" was the overall pool of affiliate managers.
I think they should have affiliate experience, but a great many do not.
Also, in my experience in publishing stat reports geared towards affiliate managers for 6 years, as well as seeing the addresses of affiliate managers for 12 Affiliate Summits, there is a definite concentration of affiliate programs in the Bay area and NYC.
Similarly, I've never seen most affiliates in Toronto/LA in the ten years I was running affiliate programs, or from the addresses of Affiliate Summit attendees.
Which sort of affiliate programs are you involved in? My focus has been primarily on retail.
reply to this commentOne of the things that has helped me most, and I know that my boss would agree with this, is knowing the company and its philosophy, knowing the product, and knowing the targeted audience, as in any form of marketing. If you can find someone already working for the company who can also fulfill the requirements listed in previous posts, then you are in good shape.
reply to this commentHmmm, Very good point Vince, listening and understanding is the key.
I agree with Shawn that many affiliate managers were put in their position without knowing what they really do or need to do, on the other end, I believe it is hard to find a manager that was an affiliate prior being a manager, I see more affiliate managers becoming successful affiliates than the other way (Shawn this is your case too right?) in my opinion an affiliate generating a descent revenue from his affiliate business will loose revenue by joining a company to manage their program, unless they keep their affiliate business (wich will require them to spend time on it and loose focus on managing)..
@ Steven, I bet you are from Toronto or LA
reply to this commentMy initial experience (after learning SEO) was launching CJ/LS programs in 2001/2002. At that time we just launched them and didn’t manage them and ultimately they failed. Then used affiliate links to monetize traffics from organically ranked sites who’s merchant had left our service. It was humbling trying to find affiliate programs that converted for very target rankings. Gave me a great respect for affiliates and how hard it is for them to make a living at it. Now I am said to “speak affiliate” as I relate the reality of the relationship to clients. And its not easy to get merchants to understand the value affiliate bring.
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