Avelon wins Best Value, Best Functionality & Features, Best Ease of Use and Best Customer Support on Capterra. Affiliate sub-networks explained
In this article, we’ll explain what affiliate sub-networks are, how they work and how you can capitalise on their expanded reach for your affiliate program.
What are affiliate sub-networks?
Affiliate sub-networks act as a way for publishers to combine all affiliate programs into one place. Instead of a publisher having to log into hundreds of affiliate platforms to create links and widgets, check code and analyse performance – sub networks amalgamate everything into one dashboard.
It basically makes the publishers life much easier, allowing them to focus on creating content instead of manually adding links to their content, checking whether a product is in stock and automating many more tedious tasks.
The publisher still has to be part of all the affiliate platforms, but instead of logging into each one every day, they just log into the sub-network to accept, analyse and review their performance.
A few examples of sub-networks are Squirrel, Affilizz and Affiliate.com. We work with these partners to expand our brands reach into publishers who want to automate their affiliate relationships. These sub-networks are chosen for their sports specific publishers to ensure brands get the most out of their partnerships.
How do publishers use affiliate sub-networks?
Sub-networks draw product feeds from every affiliate platform to place links in specific areas of product reviews. An example of this could be BikeRadar reviewing a Michelin Power Cup TLR bicycle tyre.
BikeRadar has taken the time to write a review, create a video and post the content on their site – but how can they link to a retailers website that not only has the best price, but is in-stock and offers them the best commission? This is where the affiliate sub-network comes in.
BikeRadar simply adds a snippet of code into their review and the sub-network automatically updates the widget with the exact product, linking to multiple retailers that have the product in stock and for the best price. Simple, in practice.
Advantages of affiliate sub-networks
Scalability: the biggest advantage is scalability, as there’s no need for brands to onboard and manage individual affiliates. The sub-network handles the recruitment and oversight of its members, making it easier to expand into new markets.
Automation: Another advantage that springs to mind is automation and how you can get your product feed operational within minutes of accepting a sub-network. Whilst direct relationships allow you to organise content directly with the publisher, the sub-network automatically places links if your product feed matches its requirements of price, commission and availability.
Cons of affiliate sub-networks
Whilst you can get your products featured incredibly quickly, there are a few considerations to take into account with sub-networks.
Transparency and tracking: sub-networks add a layer between the platform and the individual affiliates. Some sub-networks may not pass back referral ID’s to the individual content and solely pass back the affiliate’s domain. Whilst this can provide you some oversight into what is driving your content, it can sometimes lead to some sneaky sleuthing to find where your content has been published.
Approval into all programs: Approving one sub-network into your program allows all affiliates underneath their banner to promote your products. Whilst this can be great for scaling your program, it can potentially lead to some unwanted discount code websites promoting your brand. We recommend speaking to the affiliate sub-network directly to see what affiliates are under their umbrella.
We fully vet all sub-networks who join Avelon to ensure all affiliates under their network provide insightful, well-thought out content. The likes of Squirrel, Affilizz and Affiliate.com provide high-quality referral ID’s for ease of tracking and even allow for blocking of affiliates after a certain amount of time.
Choosing the right sub-network to accept into your program
Like any affiliate acceptance into your program, we recommend doing your research on the sub-network you’re partnering with. As we mentioned above, our sub-network vetting ensures you’re not getting into bed with any of the wrong affiliates – but you should always be cautious.
Ask for some examples of their publishers, check out the type of content the publisher is generating and ask for specific blocks on categories such as discount codes if you don’t want to appear on those sites.