Oct 6, 2021
Written by
Jodi Ford
No matter the quarter, it's always peak season for somebody somewhere—meaning endless opportunities for affiliate publishers looking to create fruitful partnerships. Layer on a continuing global pandemic, shipping delays, and inventory constraints leading brands to shift more budget online, and the opportunity for affiliate publishers is bigger than ever this year.
Whether you're hoping to book a placement with a steady partner or a new fling, there's no better time than the present for publishers to tighten up their proposal skills to make a lasting impression—and get to that coveted "yes" quicker. Cue the fireworks!
Read on to find out all of the important things you need to consider to craft an investment proposal that hits all the marks...and creates all the sparks. 😉
Investment proposals are custom recommendations, presented by publishers, for advertisers, to secure additional exposure on their promotional properties i.e. homepage placement, social channels, weekly newsletter. These recommendations are based on goals, data, timing, and partner compatibility. The investment from an advertiser usually comes in the form of a commission increase, flat fee, or product and the amount will vary depending on the level of exposure.
Finding a compatible partner can be done in a variety of ways, but here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Before building a proposal, it's important to understand what goals your target advertiser is trying to meet. Advertisers typically look to drive growth for their brand in the following areas:
Top Line Revenue Growth through new and existing customers is the most popular reason advertisers invest in affiliate marketing.
Brand Awareness is key to help audiences discover, remember, and learn about an advertiser's product or service.
New Customer Acquisition helps drive growth, increases share of voice in their vertical, and creates brand loyalty to ensure new customers become returning customers.
Gathering key pieces of information about each advertiser is the key to securing investment and making your proposal stand out:
If you’re going to send a general rate card or media kit to an advertiser, be sure to include personalized commentary on which investments would be best meet their goals. Support your recommendation with data and/or competitive insights to secure the investment.
Your audience is what makes you stand out from your competitors. Don’t be shy—highlight and include what makes you unique and why you’re the best choice:
Audience Demographics: Gender, age range, hobbies/interests, HHI, etc.
Behavior: Does your audience shop with competitors? How often do they revisit your site in a month?
Reach and Audience Size: Will you amplify exposure by utilizing social channels or linking to their placement in a newsletter? If so, what are those distribution sizes? i.e. monthly views, app downloads, subscribers/registered accounts, email send list, etc.
One of the best parts about the affiliate channel (besides the people!) is the immense amount of data we have at our fingertips. Dig into your data to provide vertical insights in your proposal:
Demonstrate that you can meet/exceed investment KPIs by leveraging historical performance or performance data with similar brands.
Below is a basic example of how you can take metrics from your business, historic CJ performance (for the advertiser or their competitive set), and proposed investment cost to provide a forecast for the target advertiser:
Metrics |
Publisher CR | Advertiser AOV | Commission Rate | Investment Amt. |
5% | $75.00 | 7% | $3,000.00 | |
Estimates |
Estimated Traffic/Clicks | Estimated Commission (Commission Rate + Forecasted Revenue) |
||
250,000 |
$65,625 | |||
Forecast |
Forecasted Sales Pub CR * Est Traffic/Clicks |
Forecasted Revenue Forecasted Sales * Adv AOV | Forecasted ROI Forecasted Rev / (Investment Amt + Est Commission) |
|
12,500 | $937,500 | $13.66 |
Once you’ve followed all of the steps above, you’re ready to prepare an investment proposal! Some steps will need to be redone for each proposal, while your standard metrics or audience information can be reused in multiple proposals.
Practice makes perfect—you’ll find yourself becoming more efficient as you produce more proposals. You may not be able to provide every piece of information above, but the more that can be included, the better. Remember to be transparent, communicate your value, and support your recommendations with data to secure that “Yes!”.
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