I have been posting a lot about the benefits of running private offers lately. That may have given the impression that I think there is no value in running network offers. But there are definitely positives and negatives to both types of affiliate marketing. Which one is best for you? Let’s take a look 7 main criteria for running an offer.
Upfront work:
Advantage – Networks. Running a CPA offer on a network is as simple as picking the offer and setting up a campaign. They have negotiated everything with the merchant, the landing pages are set and ready to go.
Backend work:
Advantage – Networks. They handle all the lead or sale tracking, lead scrubbing and confirmation, and merchant billing. Everything is taken care of for you.
Types of offers:
Advantage – Private offers. Network offers are mostly limited to the same type of offers on all the networks. A lot of re-bills and other low quality offers are common. With private offers you are unlimited in the type of business you want to promote. As long as you can find a company and sell them on your affiliate services, you can enter virtually any niche.
Payouts:
Advantage-Private offers. This is one of the biggest benefits of running your own offer. There is no middleman to take a percentage of the profits. You negotiate and set your own payment which is usually higher than a network can offer.
Longevity:
Advantage-Private offers. Offers on networks can have short life spans due to many factors beyond your control. Offers that you have privately set up can be more stable and long term.
Competition:
Advantage-Private offers. With the ease of start up and almost zero barrier to entry, network offers have tons of competition. Private offers (especially locally targeted) often are much less crowded. This leads to lower bid prices, and higher conversion rates.
Risk:
Advantage – Networks. CPA networks assume most of the risk with running offers. You will almost always get paid by a network, regardless of the payment status of the merchant. They also assume some of the legal risk for you. When you are running a private offer, you take on more risk.
Summary
Your choice to run network or private offers depends a lot on the amount of work you want to put in upfront and on the backend. It also depends on your risk tolerance. Both types of affiliate marketing offer the chance for great success. Its just a matter of what fits best with your business style and plans. Often, affiliates will start on network offers then transition to private offers. But the choice is up to you.
Hey Chad, love the local PPC topic. Great info and insight as always!
You mentioned a while back about doing a complete case study in the future. Anything possible yet or did I miss it? Thanks!
I haven’t done a full case study yet. Thanks for reminding me!
Great summary.
I agree with you 100%.
Thanks
You make soem valid point but i also like the hybrid of the two. Keeping the security of the network but dealing more so with the merchant directly i have this on a few offers and it works out great. I am able to communicate with merchant thru the network and get Private offers etc… (while i do give up SOME in payout of course) but on these offers i am willing to do so.
Ultimately it is all about the risk you want to take and if you are going for the short term buck or the long term (some offers fit others better)
Great article, have been thinking more and more about promoting private affiliate offers but have one burning question? What is a good way of tracking affiliate traffic sent to a client whose site you do not have access to to reconcile paid traffic sent to them?
I do a mix of private and network offers. I do like networks in that you just have to login to one place to check your stats and commission. It can be a hassle to check each and every private affiliate offer. You can definitely can miss out on some sweet offers if you only stick with networks though.
Great article. I got good suggestions for my affiliate network. I think its good. I just need more people join it. And people like it too. And i pay each and everybody on time.
I have a whole bunch of private offers available–both CPL and CPA. You readers can email me at cameron (at) performamedia dot com if they’re interested in running these.