Many affiliate marketers have experienced the recent trend of lead caps on campaigns. A hot new offer is launched within a network, with a specific number of leads rationed out to affiliates per day. The capping of a campaign can be frustrating to large volume publishers, who can easily exceed their allotted leads. However, lead caps are beneficial (and argumentatively necessary) for the long term success of all parties involved.
Caps and Opportunity:
Affiliates are facing campaign caps on a more regular basis. For marketers who produce big volume, promoting an offer with a cap means switching links once their portion of daily leads has been satisfied. This fad is seen predominately in the PPC realm and actually creates a huge opportunity for affiliates to test different offers.
Testing alternative campaigns not only alleviates complacency, but it also enables the potential of discovering an equally or better converting deal. For affiliates, this means the ability to run several strong performing campaigns over a longer period of time, which directly relates to increased revenue.
Keep in mind, an affiliate-network relationship is a partnership, where each member depends upon the other for success. Lead caps provide the opportunity for publishers to prove their worth to a network. When presented with a campaign that is capped, a network is clearly including the affiliate on an exclusive and sensitive circumstance. View your appointed space on the offer as a favorable way to affirm your reliability and loyalty to a trusted network!
Networks reward your loyalty:
A network’s duty is to work with the advertiser to ensure they have product, as well as create a streamline process that guarantees the end customers' happiness. Capping leads is the most efficient way to ensure all of the above. Not only will it ensure customer satisfaction, but it is also a strategy used to ensure that affiliates are paid promptly.
It is important to note that networks assume all risk when it comes to speedier payment terms (especially if a partner is new to affiliate marketing and has no established credit line), since the network is paying the affiliate prior to being paid by the advertiser.
Networks should do their due diligence to obtain feedback from the publisher to ultimately maximize their landing page. When the lead cap is lifted, networks should reward those affiliates on the cap by giving them first stab at the unlimited promotion of the offer.
Understanding caps:
Rolling an offer out slowly is essential for the scalability of a campaign and for the success of an advertiser. For instance, an offer is launched with a 1,000 lead cap this week and a 1,500 lead cap next week, etc. This allows the advertiser to ensure accurate inventory, plan for cash flow, as well as handle the amount of volume a network can deliver per week.
The recent trend of lead caps on campaigns is a wise strategy for a long and successful life of an offer. Offer caps yield better customer satisfaction rates, prompt payment, higher earning potential for affiliates over time, as well as scalability and success for the advertiser.
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