Comments on: The Importance of Affiliate Program EPC http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/ Affiliate marketing news and opinion from Shawn Collins, an affiliate marketer since 1997, and co-founder of Affiliate Summit. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:44:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Shawn Collins http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-75902 Shawn Collins Thu, 08 May 2008 12:55:58 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-75902 Hi Chris -<br><br>Do you see the EPC as a liability? I was always cognizant of it when running programs and felt compelled to prune out the high click and low conversion affiliates.<br><br>That said, I found it was relatively rare that a legitimate affiliate was killing the EPC - more often than not, it was a cookie stuffer in my experience.<br><br>And certainly, the long and short EPC are just one measure. In the case of the example I cited, it is a brand name, which attracted me, but it has a single bar, too. Hi Chris -

Do you see the EPC as a liability? I was always cognizant of it when running programs and felt compelled to prune out the high click and low conversion affiliates.

That said, I found it was relatively rare that a legitimate affiliate was killing the EPC – more often than not, it was a cookie stuffer in my experience.

And certainly, the long and short EPC are just one measure. In the case of the example I cited, it is a brand name, which attracted me, but it has a single bar, too.

]]> By: Chris Kramer http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-75901 Chris Kramer Thu, 08 May 2008 12:06:28 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-75901 I agree with Todd - affiliate managers are many times left with the tough choice of removing an affiliate who may have a ton of clicks and very few conversions or face having their EPC unfairly evaluated. I've talked with several top affiliates who have all told me they look at both short term and long term EPC as well as bar rank and brand recognition before deciding to promote a merchant. EPC's are often skewed and not an accurate representation of how an individual affiliate may perform. I agree with Todd – affiliate managers are many times left with the tough choice of removing an affiliate who may have a ton of clicks and very few conversions or face having their EPC unfairly evaluated. I've talked with several top affiliates who have all told me they look at both short term and long term EPC as well as bar rank and brand recognition before deciding to promote a merchant. EPC's are often skewed and not an accurate representation of how an individual affiliate may perform.

]]> By: Shawn Collins http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-74876 Shawn Collins Thu, 08 May 2008 10:55:58 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-74876 Hi Chris -<br><br>Do you see the EPC as a liability? I was always cognizant of it when running programs and felt compelled to prune out the high click and low conversion affiliates.<br><br>That said, I found it was relatively rare that a legitimate affiliate was killing the EPC - more often than not, it was a cookie stuffer in my experience.<br><br>And certainly, the long and short EPC are just one measure. In the case of the example I cited, it is a brand name, which attracted me, but it has a single bar, too. Hi Chris -

Do you see the EPC as a liability? I was always cognizant of it when running programs and felt compelled to prune out the high click and low conversion affiliates.

That said, I found it was relatively rare that a legitimate affiliate was killing the EPC – more often than not, it was a cookie stuffer in my experience.

And certainly, the long and short EPC are just one measure. In the case of the example I cited, it is a brand name, which attracted me, but it has a single bar, too.

]]> By: Chris Kramer http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-74875 Chris Kramer Thu, 08 May 2008 10:06:28 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-74875 I agree with Todd - affiliate managers are many times left with the tough choice of removing an affiliate who may have a ton of clicks and very few conversions or face having their EPC unfairly evaluated. I've talked with several top affiliates who have all told me they look at both short term and long term EPC as well as bar rank and brand recognition before deciding to promote a merchant. EPC's are often skewed and not an accurate representation of how an individual affiliate may perform. I agree with Todd – affiliate managers are many times left with the tough choice of removing an affiliate who may have a ton of clicks and very few conversions or face having their EPC unfairly evaluated. I've talked with several top affiliates who have all told me they look at both short term and long term EPC as well as bar rank and brand recognition before deciding to promote a merchant. EPC's are often skewed and not an accurate representation of how an individual affiliate may perform.

]]> By: todd crawford http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-74874 todd crawford Thu, 08 May 2008 03:00:53 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-74874 It looks to me like someone has allowed a lot of unproductive affiliates into the program that are driving a lot of clicks but no or few conversions. It looks to me like someone has allowed a lot of unproductive affiliates into the program that are driving a lot of clicks but no or few conversions.

]]> By: Dave Trenck http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-74873 Dave Trenck Thu, 08 May 2008 02:14:22 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-74873 Or you could look at a lower EPC as an indicator of an affiliate program that isn't overly saturated and has potential to put cash in your pocket. Keep in mind that EPC is network wide, so as you've pointed out if some "top affiliate" has dropped out, it's less "competition" out there for you. Or you could look at a lower EPC as an indicator of an affiliate program that isn't overly saturated and has potential to put cash in your pocket. Keep in mind that EPC is network wide, so as you've pointed out if some “top affiliate” has dropped out, it's less “competition” out there for you.

]]> By: Shawn Collins http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-74872 Shawn Collins Wed, 07 May 2008 21:15:25 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-74872 Given the product/service of this merchant, I don't see how next month will double from this month.<br><br>It's not something people typically wait until summer to purchase. Given the product/service of this merchant, I don't see how next month will double from this month.

It's not something people typically wait until summer to purchase.

]]> By: VideoPro http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-74871 VideoPro Wed, 07 May 2008 21:06:08 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-74871 These trends can also mean that they have just lost focus or the product is seasonal. These trends can also mean that they have just lost focus or the product is seasonal.

]]> By: Shawn Collins http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-74870 Shawn Collins Wed, 07 May 2008 18:27:48 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-74870 This is the EPC of one too many affiliate programs. This is the EPC of one too many affiliate programs.

]]> By: Ryan http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/the-importance-of-affiliate-program-epc/comment-page-1/#comment-74869 Ryan Wed, 07 May 2008 18:19:48 +0000 http://blog.affiliatetip.com/?p=2190#comment-74869 This wouldn’t happen to be the EPC of the affiliate program run by “Marky Zarc” would it!!! This wouldn’t happen to be the EPC of the affiliate program run by “Marky Zarc” would it!!!

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