The Value of Tactical Incentives continued

From experience of countless programs I witnessed in my network days, it’s got to be a case of “money can’t buy” incentives e.g. a trip to the moon, an invisibility cloak, Keira Knightley, otherwise the majority of sale generating affiliates would simply want the cold hard stuff.  I wonder if that’s still the same these days.

One particular merchant sent out a box of creme eggs at Easter with the Mi££ion do££ar strap line “Thanks for the eggcellent work this quarter!”.  One affiliate came back suggesting an Easter egg with a £5ifty pound note in would work a lot better.  One of the merchants other networks refused point blank to distribute the gifts.  Though I spose these weren’t incentives, just little thankyous.

I still believe that the best way forward is a simple, tiered and (crucially) achievable, retroactive commission structure is the way, based  not on volume of sales, but on proportional volume growth month on month, over time is the only way to build loyalty.  That and a decent OSC.  Otherwise, with the amount of jollies out there now from merchants, networks, media owners, and even some affiliates, it would have to be a show stopper for affiliates to throw in the extra yard, long term.