If you are a oneNetworkDirect affiliate with a web site that also has a mailing list, there may be new opportunities that you haven’t taken advantage of yet. Several key oneNetworkDirect merchants are willing to cooperate on email campaigns and offers. You can discuss opportunities like this by contacting your oneNetworkDirect affiliate manager.

Perhaps you know of an offer that has historically performed well on your site. Now, maybe you’d like to get the word out to your loyal site visitors about special discounts and promotions related to that brand. We can help you to build email creative, with your own unique affiliate links built-in to support the promotion. What should you know to get started? Here are some important starting points:

1. Building Your List

The first place to start is your sign-up form. Take a look at where your sign-up box is located. Make sure the opportunity to sign up for your mailing list is above the fold and in a position that the eye is naturally drawn to on the site. You may also want to place a sign-up box in multiple locations around your site. Remember that this sign-up opportunity is a “call-to-action.” As such, make it appealing. Don’t use a common phrase like “sign up for our mailing list;” often the last thing someone wants to do is add their name to another mailing list. Instead, provide incentives and value. Here are some examples: “Sign up to receive valuable offers from our partners,” “Check here to receive timely product updates and helpful hints,” or “Start receiving our monthly newsletter with hot industry topics.” Only gather necessary information to send communications and qualify your site visitor. You may also want to offer options for email format, like text or HTML.

Once you have built a permission-based list you will want to protect the integrity of this list. People should look forward to receiving the valuable content that you consistently provide; this might include industry news, site updates and/or special discounts or promotions from recognizable brands. Make sure to avoid any content that could be perceived as SPAM. Obviously, can-SPAM compliance is a MUST. Provide friendly reminders for your subscribers that if they no-longer wish to receive your communications, they can easily unsubscribe and provide a link. This level of diligence will help you to maintain a trusted sender status and ensure email deliverability.

To help you with this process, oneNetworkDirect has enlisted the help of UnSubCentral. This is a third-party service which provides encrypted list scrubbing to ensure privacy for both affiliates and merchants and provide clean lists that are critical for success. Once you start an email campaign with oneNetworkDirect, both the merchant and the affiliate will load their list using this safe, private and encrypted service and UnSubCentral will output a clean list that you can now send the offer to. If you have more questions on this service, please contact your oND affiliate manager.

2. The Winning Offer

This aspect of the email campaign ties in the biggest benefit of working with oneNetworkDirect on your email campaign. As the network provider for the software and consumer electronics industries’ top brands, you can be sure that your offer will be recognizable and of value to your subscribers. You can work with your affiliate manager to negotiate a special discounted offer, bundle or free trial, which will increase conversions and help you earn more commissions. Not only that, you can test merchant branded offers with your affiliate link on your site in preparation for an email campaign. Test and compare offers and see what is most appealing to your own unique site traffic. You know your traffic best, and whether they are most interested in trials, discounts, information, etc.

Similar to your list opt-in description, your call-to-action for the offer is the single most important part of any email campaign. Be up-front and direct while keeping the options appealing. You’ve probably seen examples like, “buy now, download now or learn more.” These are standard for most programs and work well. As an affiliate, you’ll want these to be clickable buttons that are coded with your own affiliate link. That way, you will earn the commission for every sale resulting from your email. Don’t stop with the buttons; you should place links (using all the same link) on your site. Text links found later on within the content, or even near the footer often perform better than the pretty, HTML graphics. The best practice is to give your customers options.

3. Effective Creative

The good news is that you can work with your team at oneNetworkDirect to build email creative for your affiliate campaign. They have access to results from past campaigns and insight into what has been successful and what’s failed. It’s important to work your links into the email creative itself and text links throughout, so that even if the mailbox breaks the images, your calls to action are still visable. The copy in the email shouldn’t be too lengthy, with the call-to-action coming at the beginning and repeated through the email. You should be describing the offer, naming the call to action and that’s it. With a recognizable brand and a desirable offer, you don’t need to say much – other than where to get your hands on it.

oneNetworkDirect has created a standard email compliance policy that will help you be sure that your email supports the integrity of your site and your subscriber list. We will work with you to achieve the best combination of offer and creative for your audience. In most cases, you will also be able to brand the email with your site’s own logo and name, at least in the email header. The team will also look to you for input on the subject line and other details. The bottom line is that you can rely on oND merchant relationships and affiliate team expertise and support to build a successful campaign.

If you’re not sure who your affiliate manager is, email affiliates@onenetworkdirect.com and request this information. It’s as easy as that to get started today!

Megan Egan
Affiliate Development Coordinator