What Are Merchant Affiliate Programs?

Affiliate marketing is the development of enterprises by providing members, providing differentiated services and accurate marketing, improving customer loyalty and increasing corporate profits in the long term. Among them, the membership card is the "identity card" for members to enjoy preferential policies or special treatment when making consumption.

Affiliate marketing

(Marketing term)

Right!

Chinese name: Affiliate marketing
Foreign name: Membership Marketing

Definition: Marketing term
Suitable for: marketing

Introduction

Affiliate marketing is to connect countless websites through interest relationships, expand the merchant's distribution channels to all corners of the Internet, and at the same time provide an easy way for members to make money. That is, each

It can be seen from history that the purpose of implementing membership marketing is:

1. Understand customers;

2. Understand the consumer behavior of customers;

3. Classify members based on member information and consumer behavior for more targeted marketing and care.

4. Your own member is the best media for promotion.

5. Turn promotion into benefits and care, and improve members' consumption experience.

6. Improve customer loyalty.

To implement membership-based marketing, first of all, enterprises, especially decision-makers, must have a knowledge of membership-based marketing. At the same time, they must first design a membership system, choose the best membership marketing software, and implement it effectively.

Generally the steps are

1. Design the membership system and choose the best membership marketing software;

2. Issue cards and record consumption records;

3. Analyze data, categorize members, and carry out targeted marketing activities;

4. Analyze the input-output ratio of the activity and put forward suggestions for improvement.

At present, domestic retail companies with good membership-based marketing include: Suning Appliance, RT-Mart, etc .; the financial industry is better: China Merchants Bank; the service industry is better, 7 days, Xibei Noodle Village, Big Pizza, etc.

Companies that can provide better software systems are

If it is said that the Internet connects all computers through cables or telephone lines, thus achieving resource sharing and shortening the physical distance, then the membership plan connects numerous websites through interests and computer programs to connect businesses. Distribution channels have been extended to all corners of the globe, while providing an easy way for members to make money.

Affiliate marketing may sound simple, but it may be more complicated in practice. Because a successful membership program involves multiple links such as website technical support, member recruitment and qualification review, member training, and commission payment. To put it simply, Amazon's "Joint" operation in July 1996 has described the basic principles of affiliate marketing.

E-commerce consultant Dr. Ralph F. Wilson believes that if your website brings more traffic due to marketing activities, then you can consider using affiliate marketing to gain more traffic. When choosing a membership program, you should respect The basic principles of affiliate marketing, namely:

1. Related to the core business content of your website

2.You can integrate membership programs into your website content

3. Related to the interests of website visitors

4.Considering the needs of member websites

5.Can reflect the value of your website

In fact, when a commercial website that offers a membership-based plan reviews membership site qualifications, it is also necessary to consider whether the membership site can bring in new customers, whether it is a healthy website member, the choice of the site, and the site's qualification review. This is just the beginning of the implementation of the plan. More complicated and important content is still to come.

Membership Enterprises using club marketing generally implement a membership management system, and their marketing targets are mainly members who join the club.

Eligibility restrictions -Generally speaking, various clubs have their own unique service content, and their services have certain commonality, and they often impose certain restrictions on the members who join the club.

Voluntaryness Whether or not to join the club is entirely based on voluntary rather than external coercion.

Contractuality The relationship between members and clubs and between members is based on a certain contract.

Purposefulness -it has a certain common purpose, such as social, entertainment, science, politics, social activities, etc.

Structural relationship -There is often a structural relationship that is infiltrating and supporting each other between club members and the club organizers. Not only do they have trading relationships, they also have partnerships, psychological relationships, and emotional relationships as a solid foundation, and this relationship cannot be easily touched by competitors.

The main advantage of affiliate marketing is that it trains many loyal customers for the enterprise, establishes a long-term stable market, and improves the competitiveness of the enterprise.

1. Classic case of online membership marketing:

Google Advertising is a fast and easy way to make money online. It allows website publishers with a certain number of visits to display Google ads related to the content of their website and convert website traffic into revenue. GoogleAdsense offers a commission policy for affiliate members. It's confidential. Google doesn't specify how much or what percentage of the commission will be paid for a click on the displayed ad. The commission paid by googleadsense is not a fixed percentage, but an algorithm, which depends on several factors: the cpc price of the clicked ad; the average number of ad impressions per day on the publisher's website; and the time for the website to add googleadsense.

Googleadsense is probably the most successful of all online membership-based marketing models. Members (content publishers) have generated revenues of up to 45% of Google s total revenue. Googleadsense s comprehensive background management functions are even more commendable because it has become the world s largest The website of the advertising network is also the most successful network membership site.

2.Classic case of traditional membership marketing

In October 2003, Beijing Pusheng Pharmacy officially launched a membership policy. Their approach is very similar to that of Wal-Mart's membership stores:

The first is the high entry threshold, which requires a membership fee of 100 yuan per year, while the general membership fee of Beijing General Pharmacy only needs 2 yuan, 5 yuan, and at most 10 yuan. Puson is dozens of times higher than nearly a hundred other member drug stores.

The second is the attractively low membership price. Similar drugs are generally 5-20% lower than their counterparts. In addition, Pusheng Pharmacy provides members with free fitness and points annual park tickets, free medical examinations, insurance and other services.

Since Beijing Pusheng Pharmacy introduced a membership fee of up to 100 yuan, the drug prices in the store have indeed been very close to those of ordinary cheap pharmacies, and some medicines are even lower than the cheap pharmacies. A member who bought medicine at Pusheng Pharmacy said, "Pusheng's membership fee is a little more expensive, but Kangbi here is more than 2 yuan lower than Golden Elephant Pharmacy. An Gong Niuhuang Pill is 130 lower than Golden Elephant Pharmacy. Jinshierkang, which sells 98 yuan for Golden Elephant, is only about 74 yuan here. In this way, I can get back the one hundred yuan by buying a piece of Angong Niuhuang Wan. I do nt think it is a loss, let alone this member Qualifications are valid for life. "

Why does Beijing Pusheng Pharmacy set such a high threshold for membership? The manager of Xidan Pusheng Pharmacy Qin explained: "This is due to the need to establish a member database and stabilize the customer base. The Puson member database is a centralized and unified processing of various related information of members through computer software, so that all members can be treated as members. If you need to buy medicines, you need to buy as much as you want, and there will no longer be a waste of inventory backlogs common in pharmacies, which will greatly reduce costs and revitalize funds. "

Most of the old customers who are willing to spend 100 yuan to join the conference are large drug consumers. Among them, 50% of the annual drug purchase is more than 5,000 yuan, and 40% of the over 3,000 yuan. The purchase amount of these people has always steadily occupied Puson's total sales. 40% of the amount, becoming the most reliable consumer group in pharmacies. This can best develop and maintain loyal customers.

Finally, after several years of membership-based marketing, sales of Beijing Pusheng Pharmacy have also increased significantly. Beijing Pusheng Pharmacy's membership policy is the traditional "member-based marketing."

Affiliate marketing is one of the shortcuts to generate revenue. The following ten criteria will help you make the right assessment of this marketing method.

1. Find the only product in a mature market. We know that many affiliate marketing businesses are now struggling in the narrow market of book sales. This situation

1. Stabilize customers and cultivate customer loyalty

The fundamental goal of membership is to establish stable consumer resources and establish stable and long-term relationships with customers. Retail companies provide membership-based services, which can target the target customer group, ensure that they have a certain number of customers, and bring stable sales revenue to the company. Moreover, by establishing a good relationship with customers, retail companies can give customers a sense of belonging and Cultivate customer loyalty, reduce the cost of developing new customers, enhance the competitive advantage of the enterprise, and establish a corporate brand.

2. Master consumer information and understand consumer needs

Generally speaking, retail companies require consumers to fill in personal information when they apply for membership cards. For retail companies, they can collect a large number of basic information and consumption information of members. Enterprises can define their own consumer groups, grasp and understand the characteristics of corporate customer groups, which is conducive to consumer analysis. At the same time, the membership system provides a communication channel between enterprises and customers, which facilitates enterprises to understand consumer demand changes in a timely manner, and provides objective basis for improving enterprise operations and services.

3. Increase the income and profit of the company

Member consumption is an important pillar for retail companies to expand market share, and has become a new growth point for retail enterprises' income and profits. At the same time, for a part of the fee-based membership system, when it reaches a certain scale, it can enable enterprises to have a large amount of disposable funds in a short period of time and obtain considerable membership fee income.

There are two basic forms of affiliate marketing in the beginning, which can be visually compared to guidance and explanation. The so-called "guide way" is that the visitor enters the homepage of the commercial website implementing the membership plan through the link of the member website and then starts normal shopping activities. From the user's point of view, there is no difference from directly entering the commercial website for shopping. Member website The link only serves as a "direction guide". The website tracks all the user's behavior. If the purchase is completed, a certain percentage of the transaction amount will be drawn as a commission and paid to the "direction guide".

"Explanatory" affiliate marketing is technically more specific and complete. You can directly access the product page of a commercial website through a link to a specific product from a member website. The member website not only serves as a guide, but also It has the function of a product salesman, usually referring to a product in related content and directly linking to the corresponding web page.

The "explanatory" membership-based marketing format evolved from the "guide-type" development. It s more powerful and has more chances of success, because the member site can be more targeted

1. Active recommendation, increasing the value of referrals and generating chain sales

Re-introduction refers to the recognition of the product by old customers and introduction to surrounding friends and relatives, resulting in chain sales, that is, sales brought about by customer recommendations.

2. Buy again, increase the value of full purchase, upsell or cross-sell

As long as customers have demand, they will choose products launched by the enterprise, and at the same time, the introduction of new products by the enterprise will also stimulate customers to generate new demand. This situation is also quite common. You can feel the benefits of buying A health supplements, or you can buy them for others, or you can trust B health supplements and purchase them.

3. Tolerate problems and increase tolerance

For the problems of enterprise products and services, it is not necessarily tolerable to general customers, but loyal customers can generally be tolerated, and the company has the opportunity to correct errors. This is the value that members bring to the enterprise.

4. Interactive communication to improve products

Customers experience and experience products and services.

1. Develop a scientific membership system based on the company's brand positioning and strategic positioning

The market is becoming more mature and competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Enterprise competition strategies should be transformed from original price wars and advertising wars to service wars and value-added wars. Membership marketing is the best embodiment; through the member platform, create contact, communication and participation with customers. , Moving customers, soft publicity and other opportunities, so that customers develop brand habits and dependence, and then create a sense of brand belonging.

Sales of membership cards is a comprehensive and comprehensive marketing activity. It must have a clear goal, service items and cost budget that can be provided in advance. Companies must clearly recognize that after consumers are impressed and join a membership organization, it is absolutely a failure of membership card sales to plug membership cards into their wallets. Joining members is just the beginning. Whether you can get members involved and actively participate in caring is the fundamental. This requires us to have a comprehensive scientific, tailor-made, unique and novel membership system and value-added services; we include membership card sales into the company's overall marketing strategy, whether in terms of membership recruitment, membership management, or promotion and networking activities. At the beginning of each activity, the company should make a full budget and planning, design a complete and comprehensive marketing plan,

The design of the membership system must pay attention to combining with enterprises and customers. For example, when designing and formulating membership types, according to the customer attributes (age, consumption level, industry attributes, etc.) of the market segment, design the corresponding membership categories. Elements: psychological recognition and effective ladder. The general development chart of the general membership system should be diamond-shaped, sharp at both ends, and large in the middle, because the membership level in the middle belongs to the main membership type, that is, the person you want to develop into membership most. Below is the threshold level. The brands above The mark level is to set off the brand and cost-effectiveness of the intermediate member level. In addition, the step between the levels is critical. If the level is too dense, services, discounts, and points cannot be opened, and the advantages are not reflected. If it is too large, the upgrade of members is too difficult, and the consumption upgrade will be abandoned. According to psychological analysis, when it is generally higher than 20% of the basic psychological tolerance line, it belongs to the range that consumers are willing to try, so the two factors of psychological recognition and effective ladder type are very important when designing the membership type. For example, a beauty salon spends about 4000 most, and the beauty salon according to the stored value of 1000 (9.5 percent), 2000 (9 percent), 4000 (15 percent), 8000 (20 percent), 10,000 (25 percent), 12000 (30% off) Designed 6 levels, the company found that the membership system always develops slowly. The reason is that in addition to the problems in the membership setting, the above two key points have not been taken into account. In the 6 level design, the above was committed. Two mistakes resulted in the membership level being adjusted to 2000 (9% off), 5000 (20% off), and 8000 (7% off). The membership system expanded rapidly and the benefits were greatly improved.

2. Do a good job of continuity of member value-added services.

Some brands also think of many novel ideas in value-added services, such as birthday clubs, blood group discussions, parent-child education, family competitions, mom shows, etc., but many activities have no comprehensive plan and are often notified temporarily, making our members feel the system Sex, no sense of stability and self-control. So participation and focus will be greatly reduced. The reason why we have a membership system is to use this platform to provide repeated opportunities to meet and communicate with customers, so that our brand can continue to deepen his memory in his mind, and let them develop habits and dependence on our activities and brands. Therefore, our regular activity modules and holding time should be fixed, and the member center should also plan and inform members of the next year's membership service at the end of the previous year, so that members can feel our rich value-added activities throughout the year, in advance Feel a sense of gain, increase expectations and loyalty (of course, you can occasionally design 1-2 surprises to surprise members). The theme activities should be linked in design, not only to be able to surround the enterprise, but also to have steps and buckling points between the upper and lower activities, allowing members to participate in this event should have expectations for the next event.

3. Make members' activities more involved

Member activity is not a performance show, it is an emotional experience and sublimation marketing, so the activity should pay attention to participation, and sometimes the performance with big-name stars is not as fresh as a member's expanded memory. Many members are more demanding for a dating platform and a business platform. Our responsibility is to build and maintain this platform. For example, to retain customers, we can build a comprehensive corporate customer network. It is very feasible to develop new customer needs with the enterprise. It is also very necessary. In fact, this corporate customer network is also a derivative of customer relationship management through the membership card system.

4. Make the added value of members more quantitative

Member's value-added activities are not only to do, but more important to quantify the value-added, which will lead to consumption climbing. For example, many of us have membership cards in supermarkets, but rarely go to the credit card, let alone how much points, because in the minds of members, this The points returned are too far away and too vague. I don't know what it will be. There is no concept in my mind, such as 5% of cash 100 and 5 yuan in cash. The latter must make the customer feel more direct. Therefore, we should quantify our value-added services to members on a regular basis, such as CRM system statistics

1.Save advertising costs for advertisers

2.It provides great convenience for advertisers to place and manage online advertisements.

3. Greatly expanded merchants' online sales channels

4. Create opportunities for affiliate websites to convert traffic into revenue

5.Enrich the content and functions of the affiliate website

1. Pay according to effect, save advertisers' advertising costs

2.It provides great convenience for advertisers to place and manage online advertisements.

3. Extend the scope of online advertising and improve the positioning of online advertising

4. Greatly expanded merchants' online sales channels

5. Create opportunities for affiliate websites to convert traffic into revenue

6.Enriched the content and functions of affiliate websites

7. Utilizing the idea of viral marketing, affiliates actively promote

The main points of implementing affiliate marketing

Many people mistakenly believe that it is very easy to make money using affiliate marketing. On the surface, it looks like nothing more than placing banner ads, button ads, or other forms of links on member websites. In fact, there are still a lot of hidden behind this superficial phenomenon. Cumbersome and even hard work, but also need enough patience.

Success factors for affiliate marketing

A successful affiliate marketing program depends on many factors, mainly the result of the joint efforts of the website providing the program and the affiliate website. The most basic condition for carrying out membership-based marketing is that there must be a commercial website that provides such a plan and a group of affiliate member websites. The success and failure of the plan naturally depends on the relationship between the website and members and their respective performance. Is mainly reflected in the following three aspects:

1. The impact of the website on the membership plan

The website is the provider of the plan and the maker of the rules, and bears the most important responsibility.

First, to provide a complete technical guarantee, at least it should include convenient online affiliate procedures, stable user purchase tracking records, and reliable online sales statistics query.

Secondly, the website is very important for the promotion of the membership system. The promotion strength has a direct relationship with the number of affiliated members, and the number of members determines to a certain extent the final income of the website through members. Affiliate marketing is more than placing banner ad links on affiliate websites.

Third, provide appropriate proportion of commission and pay to members on time. The commission ratio may not have a fixed standard, depending on the profitability of different products and the average commission level among peers, but at least it is certain that too low commission will not attract members to participate, and at the same time, a website that cannot pay commissions on time It also makes members lose confidence.

Finally, the key point is to train ordinary members to become super members. Affiliate programs are a complex and systematic project that goes beyond simply attracting a group of webmasters and linking logo ads or text to their websites. Obviously, to have a successful membership program, you must first have successful members.

What Are Merchant Affiliate Programs?

Affiliate marketing

(Marketing term)

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