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I’m breaking this out into a new thread because it seems to me like something that deserves a dedicated discussion?
This echos what I’ve heard a few times on XBiz ? that the adult affiliate model is dead. I’m not sure I agree ? to me it’s a traffic problem and affiliates are supposed to be the traffic guys, but it’s harder and harder to get traffic (largely due to changes at Google that give preference to our competitors ? the big tube sites).
But let’s not dwell on what’s broken. Let’s take the idea that things need to change and flesh out what a new affiliate model might look like. Sponsors ? what would that look like to you? Affiliates ? how could you see things changing?
I’m actually a bit confused and not really understanding what “new model” really means. I mean there are only so many ways to structure the relationship. We use pay-per-sale because there are problems with fraud with things like pay-per-click. So on a big picture level I can’t see things changing. I’ve heard some sponsors say 50% is too much, but affiliates barely hang in there as it is. I don’t think lower percentages can work.
But in terms of a tighter relationship? Here’s a few things I’m working towards? Let me know what you think of them (is this what you mean by “a new model” or “closer relationship”).
Right now I promote sponsor sites based on a priority rank that I give them. If I can pull stats the rank is determined daily based on recent performance (or at least it will be in the near future). So one thing I was thinking was that sponsors who login and look at how things are going for me will get the opportunity to bump the priority on one or more of their sites for a couple weeks. So pay attention to me and I’ll promote you more. What I’ll have them look at is basically what’s working well and what’s not, and how it compares to other sponsors. Cents per click, banners that work, banners that don’t. Sites that perform well, and those that don’t, etc. If they see something amiss that warrants further discussion, I’ll have my Skype ID there so we can chat about things in real-time (if I’m at my desk).
I’m also gonna give sponsors the ability to upload banners and give default priorities to them. Now, if I can pull stats I’ll be determining how a banner is performing in near-real time, but if a sponsor wants to take a banner out of rotation, or wants to bump a new banner they just put into the system, I’ll give them the ability to do that.
I’m also gonna implement text ads that will appear on chat pages, etc. So sponsors will have the ability to enter promotional text messages for that purpose and target them to certain audiences.
I’ll let sponsors see what content I’ve pulled recently from them. I’ll do as much as I can with automated pulls, but if they want to supplement what I do automatically with another upload, they’ll have that opportunity. They can also edit the default descriptions if something didn’t come in cleanly. Or add/edit details about their porn stars. Not that I expect them to do my work for me, but if they want to do a quick fix on something small or get content out more quickly, they’ll be able to.
I already track the lat/long of every banner ad view and click to sponsor site. So down the road I want to basically build an ad platform that lets sponsors run targeted pay-per-impression or pay-per-click ad campaigns. They’ll just need to exceed my average earnings per banner ad view for that banner ad slot / region? However, I’m guessing sponsors won’t be interested in that until I have more traffic, so that’s not anything I’m working on in the near future.
And probably the most cooperative thing I’m wanting to do is set up a system where when someone refers a member then they get at least some of the ad space on that member’s profile page (what I’m working on are community sites). They’ll need to meet certain thresholds to qualify for the ad space, but they’ll own that member for life. The more popular the member, the more exposure their ads will get. And the referrers could be sponsors or other affiliates. I’ll just keep a database of what affiliate links they want me to use. I’ll use all my banners and just use their link codes.
Those are the things I can think of off the top of my head that I’d like to implement. Some are close to being implemented, others will take months (or even years). Is that along the lines of what people mean when they say “new model” or a “tighter relationship”? Thing is, there are very few of us who could possibly deliver those sorts of tools for sponsors. Getting those things from concept to code takes a lot of time.
[Sorry if there are typos. I gotta run to an eye doctor’s appointment and don’t have time to proof read.]
I agree, it can’t work, and this has been proven by past experience. When a studio/site cuts the share of what the affiliates get for the sale that studio/site faces a decline. I think we’ve all seen sites fail because they start moving the goalposts. IMO, when a sponsor starts going down that path it’s an indication that they’re not going to be around in a few years.
We’re less structured in our monitoring of performing sites, but we do a similar thing. If an adult site sells, we focus on that site, it’s really that simple. When we see a site give us multiple sales in one day we check it out, take a look at what’s driven them there (if possible), then promote the bejeezus out of them for a few days or weeks. What works for us might not work for another affiliate, and that’s something sponsors should focus on.
Not once, in my several years of being an affiliate, has a sponsor emailed to say “looks like your blog is doing well with this performer or this scene, here’s something unique for you to publish”. This is a massively missed opportunity and would take all of ten minutes to achieve.
I think these are all great ideas for a community, but they seem pretty specific to the form of site you’re going into.
When it comes to what “new model” means, I imagine changes to the way we all work together being the most important aspect, the way we get information and target specific performers, scenes or sites for promotion.
As I mentioned, it wouldn’t take a whole lot of time and effort for a sponsor to build a list of affiliates they can send something. Have a new performer you expect to do well based on the success of previous guys like them? Get them to take some home shots/selfies you can send out to affiliates. Have a guy you know a certain blog writes about and promotes more than others? Get him to hold a sign with a message for the readers of that blog. Have an affiliate you’re impressed by running a new blog that looks like it’s gonna be good? Get your model to make a little video saying hello to them on Twitter – which could then be retweeted a few hundred times and posted on their blog…
Responsibility goes both ways, but a lot of this does indeed lay at the feet of the sponsors, who seem to just want to film scenes and post them, then expect the affiliates to miraculously make them tons of money when they aren’t being given anything original, unique or special to promote.
Some of us don’t run copy/paste blogs. Some of us try to do something original with our sites, and those people should be recognized by sponsors.
And now for one of my favorite rants, something some of you have probably heard before, but it always needs to be pointed out…
If you’re a studio struggling to make sales, perhaps it’s not the affiliates causing your woes, perhaps it’s the way you refused to deal with them reasonably and then saw your brand disappearing from the hundreds of blogs you used to appear on?
Sponsors forget this all the damn time – even if you’re not getting one sale a day from an affiliate blog, your brand is still all over it. They are still getting traffic, and those eyes are still seeing your brand. If you spit your pacifier out and start purging affiliates because you don’t think they’re “good enough” or “worth your time”, it won’t be long until your brand and logo vanishes from hundreds of those blogs, and those thousands of non-buyers are no longer even seeing your brand.
You can’t sell a product to someone who doesn’t even know the product exists. We’re giving you the chance to get your foot in their door, why is it then our responsibility to make your site so miraculous they want to join it? Don’t blame us because your landing pages are fucked up, or your membership structure is too confusing, or because you failed to grab their attention when they arrived there. And, don’t you dare be blaming us when we send you a thousand mobile hits a day but no one in your offices has the intelligence to check that the mobile site ACTUALLY WORKS.
If you want to focus on ten affiliates bringing you 10k hits a week and 100 sales, by cutting out 100 affiliates who bring you 20k hits a week and 100 sales, you’re quite simply a moron. You’re missing out on a massive amount of traffic coming to your site and giving you an opportunity to sell to them. That USED TO BE the goal.
You have a special opportunity in this business to get masses of free advertising, and as affiliates we’re stupid/desperate enough to let you do it. Stop bitching about the number of sales a site isn’t sending you, and start appreciating the fact that even though a blogger might not be making any real money promoting you they’re still giving you page upon page of free advertising, putting your brand, your logo, your models and your content in front of the eyes of thousands of people, which is something that in almost any other business you would have to pay a reasonable price for.
And, it’s fucking targeted traffic too! Do you know how hard it is for an international company to find somewhere to advertise specifically tailored to their target audience? And do you know how much money they have to pay for an ad targeting those specific people? You have access to the biggest advertising network you could ever hope to find, it’s a wet dream of a system, and it’s completely free! Stop your whining and start working with us to make that totally free advertising work for you.
If you don’t, and you start thinking your lack of sales is all down to the couple of hundred affiliates sending you traffic that YOU couldn’t convert, you’ll be FratPad in another couple of years.
Stop punishing the affiliate for not sending you enough sales, start working with them to find out WHY and improve it. Then start spending a little time and money working out why those thousands of people visiting your site don’t go beyond the landing page and fix it. Affiliates are doing the job of getting clicks to your site, and you constantly punishing them for not doing YOUR JOB by converting those visitors, you’re the one with the problem.
And, dear “Affiliate Manager”, back in the day your forebearers were working 12 hour shifts, compiling images and videos, working out exclusive content, emailing affiliates individually, seeking ways to promote the site or scene with specific sites to maximize sales, formulating special offers for a specific affiliate to promote, working with them to come up with marketing ideas that work with their audience… These days, it seems you guys spend 6 hours a day actually at work, maybe uploading a couple of ZIP files if you can be bothered, while you try to ignore any communication at all with anyone but your buddies.
There are some really great, hard working Affiliate Managers in this business, but also far too many who should be fired after only getting that job because they were good at blowing the boss.
Okay, rant over.
Don’t worry, I’ll probably have another rant about affiliates coming up soon.
I dont think the affiliate model is dead. Selling on commission has been around since way before the internet and as essential now as it was way back. Maybe there just is different ways of doing it rather than the entire model being out dated.
@Drame,
I’ve got no idea what the “new model” is, to me the old model works perfectly fine. If anything Revshare still makes a lot of sense, it shows me what sites are worth pushing and gives an incentive to focus on those sites. With PPS/PPC you end up pushing things that might not be great for the consumer, its also less about the product and more about how you can trick someone into buying something. Now like before we (affiliates and sponsors) need to treat consumers better, they are not the enemy or someone who should be tricked into a quick sale. They are the ones we depend on. I see a lot of rip off pricing and bad deals for consumers, often sites try to pretend they have more updates than they do by recycling content etc. That is probably the beginning of a downward spiral. Instead treat customers honestly, dont think they won’t notice or that they are stupid.
This to me, treating consumers better should be the “new model”.
It’s all great ideas however over the years I’ve tried so many things to get sponsors involved. Maybe I’m not offering big enough volumes or something but in most cases you cannot get anyone to do anything. It’s hard enough to get custom banners out of a sponsor, let alone logging in to do things. I dont blame them though, i have a feeling they have enough to do as it is.
In an ideal world, the affiliates who create original content (for as far as possible) should see a bigger reward. However, that’s not (always) the case… it hasn’t been the case for many years already. Google doesn’t care for original content… not as much as most seem to believe, at least. Time on site and keeping your site updated/fresh are much more important factors. Most surfers don’t care either… I bet 80% doesn’t even read texts.
If originality was being rewarded, tube sites wouldn’t be so successful. Also, many copy/paste blogs make good money and a lot of sponsors do work together with those bloggers and give them extras and specials. That’s not because they think those blogs are so amazing or unique, but because they generate sales and make money.
I am sure the business we are working in keeps changing, but I don’t think there is a “new model” that we could just simply adopt. It comes down to doing what works best for you, think outside the box and find ways to monetize new things. Don’t be afraid of new things, but see them as opportunities. For example, Only Fans might be a threat, but at the same time it’s a new revenue stream for affiliates, since they are offering 5% referral commission (for life).
I think it sends a mix message to the affiliate community when a sponsor says “let’s work together,” but then they cull small or low-producing affiliates from the herd or decide that they can’t honor previously-agreed-upon commissions on one-year sales.
I owned my own site at one time, so I understand the rationale behind it. But it doesn’t send a positive message or instill much confidence in a sponsor.
Thanks for this thread, it is helpful as a sponsor struggling to get affiliates to give us a try and promote us!
I do have to admit I can see Staxus point, it’s frustrating to do so much work sending affiliate newsletters with tons of content every week, and only a couple handfuls of affiliates out of thousands actually use and post the new material. Of those affiliates, most only copy and paste the pics and text verbatim and no real thought goes into their work. Of course there are several affiliates that are very successful and do great because of it, but they are getting harder and harder to find.
I also can’t say how many times we’ve had our Designer work for hours on special banners only for them not to get used. We even filmed special “BTS” footage for one Webmaster and they didn’t end up using it. I can understand there may be reasons these things weren’t used, but just wish there was some communication to let us know what was wrong or why they didn’t end up using it so we could get them something better.
I’ve come to realize a lot of affiliates only pay attention to the “Bigger” sites and don’t want to promote the smaller niche sites. We do very well with niche traffic but there are less and less affiliates that will cater to this kind of traffic, or even give a smaller site a chance. Conversions on sites like PeterFever.com, TobyRoss.com, StraightMenXXX.com, BarebackRTXXX.com and several of our other gay niche sites are great but it’s so difficult to find new affiliates.
I’m open to any approach or ideas that would get affiliates to work closer with us, I’d rather have a small handful of affiliates that would work closely with us. That doesn’t mean I’d want to kick out the “little guys.” I’d love to work with some “little guys” and help them become “big guys,” if they were willing to put in some real effort to work with us and take our suggestions.
Anyways hopefully we can find some common ground in this thread and bridge that gap!
