How to contact affiliate to have a reply from him?

[Dar'ya]

Hello Linda

I'd like to thank you for the cosy & friendly atmosphere you've created on 5 Star Affiliate Marketing Forums!!!

My new topic concerns very painful theme for me- contacting my affiliates.
How to contact affiliate to have a reply from him?

I have more than 3 000 affiliates on all of the networks where our dating sites are promoted. It's a pity, but the main part of joined affiliates is just observing the program, not promoting.
I've carried on several e-mail campaigns & sent letters for targeted affiliates - no reply, no results.
May be there are additional effective rules of contacting affiliates?

Thank you beforehand for your comments.

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Dar'ya,

Thank you for the kind words about the forum. We try hard!

Well that's a tough question. Getting affiliates to read their emails is always a challenge. Some are just very busy and others get bombarded by so many emails from merchants with offers or trying to get their attention, that they just tune out and don't read mail sometimes.

1st you are aware of the 95/5 rule of affiliate marketing right? Only about 5% of your affiliates will be active no matter how hard you try. (There are lots of exceptions to the rule.) That does not mean you shouldnt try to activate more of them, just want to be sure your expectations are appropriate.

One thing you could try is blogging. Some affiliates that don't do very good at reading their emails may read your RSS feed. But that's only if you provide useful info and they are INTERESTED in your program.

[Dar'ya]

Hi Linda!!!

Thank for your answer.

I have the same opinion, but I've thought that It's just only me who
have replies from 5% of all joined affiliates. Frankly speaking I
feel like an tightrope-walker being affiliate manager. Today my
outstanding affiliates are generating a big volume of traffic to my sites,tomorrow - who knows?

Thanks again.

[Julia]

Hi Dar'ya,

In your email correspondence, I'd recommend making them as personalized as possible, and asking relevant questions.

For example, asking your affiliates about what current techniques they are using, what their overall traffic is like compared to the stats they are achieving in your program, what type of banners/creative they'd like to see developed, etc. Also, try and keep it as brief as possible.

As we all know affiliates are very busy, and it's often easier to answer specific questions rather than provide general feedback. Just my thoughts...

It would be great to have some affiliates answer this thread