What are your criteria for an Ideal Affiliate Program?

[ocreditor]

This post is for all the affiliates out there, new and senior.

Choosing an affiliate program is an important step before promoting a brand. Here I present to you my ranking of the most important things every affiliate should check before joining any affiliate program. At the bottom I've added my 2 golden rules!

Most important issues (ranked):
1. Terms & Conditions - Make sure to check the terms related to termination of the account. In addition, "playing with" (changing) your commission should be mutual and fair.
2. Cashier Payments - Look that these are generated automatically, without human interference
3. Affiliate platform - Look at the type of reporting system, media tools - fast, easy to use and supplying as much data as possible. You can search in this forum for the top affiliate platforms. (Do your research!)
4. Affiliate support - Make sure that the affiliate team is easily reachable - that they answer emails and have an actual phone number/skype so you can ask for special creative, information to discuss your deal.
5. Brand/s - Check the quality of the brands, the variety of the markets & languages, the bonus offers, etc.
6. Reputation - Look to see whether it is a senior or new company, check for industry seals and licenses, etc.

These are my criteria for choosing an affiliate program. Below are my 2 Golden Rules:

Golden Rules:
1. Don't let the reputation and/or brand quality fool you (#5-6). While these are important, they are less important than #1-4. Every affiliate program will try to
push you to listen all about their brands and reputation.

2. If at least 2 out of the first 4 are not met - DO NOT automatically sign up and start to negotiate. Make sure you check up on each of the top 4 issues before making a decision.

What are your thoughts? What is your ranking for choosing an affiliate program?

I hope this was informative. Please share your own wisdom and experience for the benefits of everyone.

[louie.wilson]

Always interesting, thanks Ocreditor!

[xecutable]

You've pretty much covered them all. In fact whenever I get a proposal for partnership, I check one of these websites like agd, to see what are the terms and conditions like. If I see anything I don't like the communication stops, before it has began. Usually they (the program representative) think it comes down to money, so start raising their offers but it does not.

About the cashier payments I don't really care that much about whether or not they are automated, but I do care if they always come after the 20th of each month, as opposed to most good programs who try to pay before the 10th.

Support for me comes second. And not just read my question answered within the day. Sure that's acceptable, but what separated good from great programs is that great programs reply within an hour or so, with a very specific solution. Some even have skypes so it's even faster.

Brand conversion is pretty important if you are looking for money that is, also the demographics of the traffic. Some brands are just better at certain regions cause they are well known.

I check this forum as well if they have a section and look for possible problems I can expect.

[ocreditor]

...

Brand conversion is pretty important if you are looking for money that is, also the demographics of the traffic. Some brands are just better at certain regions cause they are well known.

I check this forum as well if they have a section and look for possible problems I can expect.

Totally agreed ! one of the most important right after player value (retention) for me.

But the conversion and in general performance stuff are relevant for later, after you have decided to join the program and start promote their brands.
Before that you know nothing about conversion or performance and all you have to relay on is mostly your own instincts or/and your experience.

[Gabriel_LCP]

We are always trying to continually update our services for Affiliates, so this thread is very useful.

Thanks for the great posts guys!

[universal4]

Sorry, you missed the most important point.

No matter how good the program is, or how guaranteed you are to get paid, the most important point is whether the group give the players a fair shake.

In my opinion points 1 through 4 are very important, but NOT more important than how players are treated. You have it (sorta) listed as a golden rule but clearly state it is not as important as 1-4 and using you methods programs are still ok even if players are not treated well.

Rick
Universal4

[MichaelCorfman]

What are your thoughts? What is your ranking for choosing an affiliate program?

I like your post, and we've decided to make it the featured poll question of the week. So I've taken the liberty to add a poll to your post. Since all of the criteria you list matter, I decided to flip the question and have folks identify which of the criteria is least important from their perspective. It will be interesting to see what criteria is the winner (or should I say loser).

Michael

[xecutable]

Sorry, you missed the most important point.

No matter how good the program is, or how guaranteed you are to get paid, the most important point is whether the group give the players a fair shake.

In my opinion points 1 through 4 are very important, but NOT more important than how players are treated. You have it (sorta) listed as a golden rule but clearly state it is not as important as 1-4 and using you methods programs are still ok even if players are not treated well.

Rick
Universal4

Rick, don't you think that if a brand treats its players badly, this would most likely reflect on the way affiliates are treated as well?

[universal4]

No I don't X, there are plenty of casinos out there that will pay affiliates well and treat players poorly.

I admit there are plenty that will treat players good and give affiliates problems, but in my opinion I feel it starts with the players first.

Rick
Universal4

[xecutable]

Hmm but there's the opposite as well, treat players well and handle affiliates quite poorly.

[wettFORM.AT]

If you are interested in good cooperations then you simply have to choose affiliate platform. If the platform is not the best than you can of course handle it but what if they do not payout or they have bad terms or they do not give you support. These are things that you can´t change.

[ocreditor]

Sorry, you missed the most important point.

No matter how good the program is, or how guaranteed you are to get paid, the most important point is whether the group give the players a fair shake.

In my opinion points 1 through 4 are very important, but NOT more important than how players are treated. You have it (sorta) listed as a golden rule but clearly state it is not as important as 1-4 and using you methods programs are still ok even if players are not treated well.

Rick
Universal4

Great point !
Actually when I wrote "brand/s" I didn't meant to players support because naturally this is something you don't know when you first visit the casino site or when you visit its affiliate site.
But its absolutely one of the most important things I check with any brand I've been promoting for a while in order to decide if I'll continue promoting it on the same scale!

[F-L-C]

I voted affiliate platform in the poll, a rubbish backend is annoying but not a deal breaker whereas the rest of the options are

[-Shay-]

I'm not sure that I can vote, as there's nothing on the list I'd categorize as the "least important". I'm not one to "settle".

However, if by "reputation" we mean silly awards from the likes of igb or some other "reputable" body...

[F-L-C]

I'm not sure that I can vote, as there's nothing on the list I'd categorize as the "least important". I'm not one to "settle".

However, if by "reputation" we mean silly awards from the likes of igb or some other "reputable" body...

I took reputation to mean what other affiliates say about the programs on forums etc which is essential. If it means awards I would pick this one also

[iOnlineCasinos]

T&C by all means !

[excel.ashutosh]

I think all the points depends on the fourth one....If the affiliate support is bad then either of the points does have any relevance...

[grem]

There are enough programs with bad terms and conditions and when pointing this out as a reason not to work with them, they claim all programs have this and there is nothing to worry about as they would never close your account. Despite saying this no contract is offered that they would close the account ...

[SeaHawk]

For me, the most important part is the T&C.

The T&C will tell you a lot about the Company. I have studied most of them and the big turn offs are misleading revenue share terms and plagiarism.

For example, the deduction of admin fees with no mention of what % admin fees are. Like what good is 60% revenue share from a white label when they are deducted 35% just in admin fees? Its just a big lie... So when I see this I move on quickly.

Also, whats up with all the plagiarism? Its so common now for aff programs to just 100% copy Ctrl + r the T&C from other aff programs. I wont name and any names but this is a sign of lack of integrity. If an aff program is willing to this then they are willing to skim as far as I am concerned.

So I study the T&C always.

[ocreditor]

For me, the most important part is the T&C.

The T&C will tell you a lot about the Company. I have studied most of them and the big turn offs are misleading revenue share terms and plagiarism.

For example, the deduction of admin fees with no mention of what % admin fees are. Like what good is 60% revenue share from a white label when they are deducted 35% just in admin fees? Its just a big lie... So when I see this I move on quickly.

Also, whats up with all the plagiarism? Its so common now for aff programs to just 100% copy Ctrl + r the T&C from other aff programs. I wont name and any names but this is a sign of lack of integrity. If an aff program is willing to this then they are willing to skim as far as I am concerned.

So I study the T&C always.

Good point !
Giving away 60% and sometimes even 100% (!) rev-share is just another promotion like any other promotion to attract new partners.
The real question is what happened the day after the 60% rev-share is down. So its not really important...
I prefer not to be blinded by the high revenue promises and check if this brand will really convert good players but above all, if this brand will be able to keep the players happy and playing, this is my main concern