Dec 11 2007
3 Network Email Mistakes
There are a few common faults with communications from network that we see time and time again. Communication is an important issue and I feel at times that merchants and networks should be working just a little harder on making sure they do things right.
It’s now become a standing joke amongst affiliates that on a Friday at 5pm there will be a rush of emails from the networks which all arrive at once and are generally then ignored by affiliates. The issue has been raised several times before but it still continues.
Note to merchants: Your account manager is not working in your best interests if your affiliate emails are sent on a Friday afternoon.
We’ve also all talked about this before but late emails about one day sales are no use either. I got the following email yesterday at 20:20
Dear Affiliate,
Today only, all day at the Apple Online Store!! FREE SHIPPING on everything in the Holiday Gift Guide.
Buy on 10/12/07 and get free shipping on all products in the Gift Guide from the Apple Online Store. Click here for the Apple Store Gift Guide:
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore?node=campaigns/holidaysnip
Note to merchants: Your account manager is not working in your best interests if time sensitive communication to affiliates is sent late.
Then there are the emails which have been written and sent without even a quick proof read
Hi Fraser,
As pet T&C released in the beginning of September, all publisher that have not generated 15 leads/3 months will be automatic ended next week on Monday
Please ignore this email if you have generated more that the minimum required of leads
Regards,
Campaigns Team
Note to merchants: Your account manager is not handling your program well if they send out unprofessional emails.
These are all things that can be easily avoided so if you are a merchant make sure that your network isn’t letting you down in this way. If you manage your program yourself then make sure you don’t make the same mistakes.
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Dec 11th, 2007 at 12:49 pm | #
There’s also the ones like: “We have a 10% off sale. Login to get our banners”. Right. And who are “we”? There’s often only the sender’s email address to go on. And would it kill them to remind me which network they’re on?
Dec 11th, 2007 at 1:04 pm | #
Great point - I forgot about that classic mistake too
Thanks!
Dec 11th, 2007 at 1:48 pm | #
It is generally assumed that some affiliates work on their websites over the weekend. There is evidence (Affiliate Census) that the affiliate who’s affiliate business is not 9-5 does indeed update their websites in their own spare time. So I understand why networks send out emails on a Friday. They are trying to get the attention of the part-timer affiliate.
I would rather networks sent out their emails and attempt to communicate rather then send out nothing at all. I don’t think this is fair to networks at all, as you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
Be it Friday or Monday, for me… I don’t care, Ill get around to reading them all at some point.
What networks may want to factor in is Affiliate lead time. That an affiliate can take up to four to six weeks to implement and update the merchant’s promos or changes. So for networks like affiliatewindow.com who ask merchants for promos a week in advance of their affiliate emails going out, which is proactive and great, Id be also getting promos together from merchants six weeks in advance and then sending that out. Most affiliates are not taps and can switch things on at a moments notice. But again this has its problems too, the real world tells us that some merchants do not work or have planned six weeks in advance.
I feel the Friday email from networks should not be a primary focus, there are far too many other bigger issues to concentrate on. Is my thoughts :0)
Dec 11th, 2007 at 2:11 pm | #
Thanks for your comments Jess
Regarding the Friday issue I think you are kinder to the networks than me in thinking that it’s a deliberate choice to target part time affiliates with a Friday email. I think it’s more a case of “I said I do it this week so I better get it done before I leave for the weekend”
I totally agree too that it’s better to send something than send nothing but I suppose I’m just speaking from my personal viewpoint and saying that if you send me emails late a Friday afternoon they are never going to get read.
You are totally right that it’s not the biggest issue in the world. More of a pet hate of mine but the other issues I mentioned can be significant too and your comment on lead time definitely makes sense.
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