conversion tracking is an obvious one. the best affiliates will want to analyze what is and is not working in terms of the creatives they are using.
for me, however, i am always looking for an affiliate program that is run by people who recognize that they are now operating in the 21st century, and that the great affiliate marketing stories of tomorrow will be those that involve either individuals or small groups of affiliates (who have banded together for the purpose) that have been able to leverage the APIs of affiliate marketing networks to build the kind of sophisticated marketing platforms that currently are only built in-house.
i realize this thinking is heretical to the average affiliate networking company, because it represents a loss of control over how products would be marketed. but, of course, that is precisely the point. when you decentralize you open the doors to all sorts of creativity. think about the evolution of open source programming, and the development of the linux operating system. these were simply driven by the desire to create better, more controllable software. imagine the possibilities when you add financial incentive into the mix, which is the grease of affiliate marketing.
i do. constantly
