Platform migration is not a rare thing about affiliate marketing. It typically goes hand-in-hand with business expansion and the need for higher speed and data volumes, improved functionality, and, more generally, a more stable solution. Moving the affiliate program to a better-performing platform will dramatically boost performance if approached and carefully designed.
There are various methods of platform migration, depending on the type of platforms you are transitioning to. One of the most common forms of platform migration in affiliate marketing is shifting from one affiliate network to another, switching from an ad network to a SaaS affiliate platform, or an in-house solution.
Why do program owners change affiliate marketing platforms?
There are several reasons to change the platform, but they all rely on the two key factors: the functionality that the current platform can provide and its growth.
1 – Transparency of data
The lack of accountability and detailed monitoring of advertising campaigns is at the top of the list of reasons for moving to a new platform. Effective campaigns rely on knowing previous campaigns’ insights, which is difficult without access to campaign data. When you run an affiliate program as part of an affiliate network, you can miss certain data points. And who knows, they may have been essential to future ad campaign environments. Marketers switch to SaaS affiliate platforms to have access to all info.
2 – Development of business
When the affiliate program expands and hits a certain stage when it can function independently, the issue eventually arises in the program owners’ minds. Does it still make sense to run a program on an affiliate network and pay commissions to the network, or could it be more lucrative to set up your affiliate program on a different solution? Namely, introduce a program on a SaaS partner platform instead of an affiliate network.
3 – Price
Naturally, any company would look for ways to reduce its operating costs. For example, according to our calculations, customers who had switched from Tune (formerly HasOffers) to Scaleo at the beginning of 2019 saved an average of $150,000 a year.
If one succeeds in discovering a solution that provides the same service level at a lower price, it will not hurt to compare the two solutions. Especially with the free trial period, marketers have an excellent opportunity to try to see if the platform meets their needs.
What’s in the way of platform migration in affiliate marketing?
We’re not going to fool you or give you false hopes. It’s quite a challenge to migrate a platform! Especially in affiliate marketing. Program owners don’t just take it out of curiosity to try to see if it could turn out to be more useful. Marketers go for the migration platform only after thorough consideration of both risks and potential benefits.
Step-by-step guide if you plan to switch to another platform
1 – Analyze all pros and cons
First, evaluate both the pros and cons of the decision to switch platforms. You need to be 100% positive it’s the right decision to make money. In certain cases, taking into account the whole data transfer process, it may be cheaper to pay more for new integration on the old platform. However, given the potential for rapid business growth, it can be expected that the lack of certain features and different pricing schemes could impede your growth or cost you more in terms of new technologies. Several variables need to be considered, so allot enough time and do your due diligence first.
2 – Find a new platform here.
You need to find the most worthwhile solution before you make a final decision. Create a shortlist of alternative systems to search if they have the functionality you miss on the current platform. Analyze their pricing strategy, too – this is the bottom line of most decisions.
3 – Negotiate the mechanism of migration
Negotiate all migration platform terms. Consider in advance if you would need a temporary affiliate manager to help shift all the data or platform you move to include a platform management service and automatically migrate the data. Check both technical and legal specifications. When you’ve selected a platform to negotiate the closure deal with them, make sure you have enough time to move your data and connect with your partner while you’re still on the old platform.
4 – Announce the news to the affiliates
Think about how your affiliates can influence you, come up with some benefits, and talk with them about upcoming changes. First of all, contact your main partners. Assuming that you are migrating to another platform for better conditions; otherwise, there is no need to do so, your affiliates will also benefit from it. Only think about the terms about how to present these advantages.
In this phase, you might be part of ways with affiliates that are enrolled in your affiliate program but don’t work. Or on the contrary, it can serve as a justification for re-energizing low-performing affiliates or those who no longer perform at all. They may be drawn to the possibilities on a new platform and get back to your program.
5 -Develop new fabrics for marketing
It is not mandatory to change all of the content and marketing materials, but it is somewhat anticipated that a major change, such as switching to a different platform, would be followed by something brand new. And that’s exactly what modern marketing collateral is. Refresh your innovative concept, come up with new enticing catchphrases, create new landing pages. You don’t have to go as far as doing a complete rebranding in this way, but you’re updating the materials that still help your brand and can draw more interest. It would also be another excuse to connect with your affiliates.
6 – Check your marketing materials.
Because it’s not your first business day, you’ve probably carried out some marketing activities before, which means that all the top platforms and the listing of websites will have your details. To ensure that future clients and investors can google you, update all of your web and social media listings. After you have completed the platform’s migration phase, go through all of them, and ask to update your profile with the appropriate links.
Any thoughts about where to migrate your affiliate program?
With the COVID-19 effect on the economy, the platform of migration platforms is at the top of the list between advertisers and partner program owners. If they had these thoughts before, but the notion of an expensive data transfer mechanism contained them, the focus has changed today. Right now, certain advertisers or program owners feel the need to change the platform more than ever before.
Why Scaleo affiliate software?
Strong platform
In the industry, Scaleo has always been the first to launch the most innovative technologies. Thanks to our team experience in this field, we effectively predict all marketers’ needs and be the first to focus on our platform. The platform features aim to simplify campaign management, automate repetitive work, and add AI to campaign settings to ensure higher ROI levels.
Available pricing models
Most of the long-established companies still charge clicks, which are not cost-effective, particularly when there is always a risk of fraud. Scaleo, in turn, provides a pricing policy where you pay based on your results. In this way, you secure yourself against inflated fraudulent clicks or basic clicks that do not end in the conversion process. So with Scaleo, you’re going to win in terms of how much you pay for the SaaS platform. For example, just two months after we moved to Scaleo, our client increased their net profit by 200 percent.
Transparent documentation and systematic review
Scaleo addresses the issue of lack of accountability in advertisement campaigns. As a SaaS Partner Marketing Platform, Scaleo helps you to create a Partner Program where you are the sole owner and can access all campaign output data. No more secret statistics or incomplete information. Besides, thanks to Scaleo 30+ data points, you will be able to display the data from various angles. You can customize your reports and set the most important indicator in front of you. The statistical architecture of Scaleo enables one to focus on the most important measures and organize statistical columns by order of importance.
Smooth migration:
You’ve already heard that the migration platform is a nightmare. We’re not going to lie. It used to be. However, with affiliate networks shifting channels, marketers switching to the affiliate platform to launch their own partner services need a tool to simplify data transfer. And that’s how Scaleo came up with Anti Fraud Logic, the first technology on the market that automates data transfer and synchronization across systems. It seamlessly syncs various systems and pulls data from one system to the next.
Curious, but there are still some questions left?
It’s not an easy choice, we understand. How about holding a chat where our product specialist is going to tell you all about running a partner program at Scaleo?
Leave the request, and you will receive more information about:
How you would pay less for a subscription to the affiliate platform;
How you can optimize your ad costs for running ad campaigns and raise your ROI;
Finally, how to perform a smooth and stress-free migration platform.