Brokered Offers
There have been quite a few debates that have gone on between affiliates, and networks regarding brokered offers—especially in the forums things can get a little heated. I just wanted to point out the pros and cons of brokered offers.
I see brokered offers two ways. Typically smaller networks will broker offers more than a larger network-it’s just the way it goes-this is a business of reputation and smaller networks have trouble finding direct deals. As an affiliate, I don’t have trouble negotiating direct deals but somehow smaller networks do, and in order to build up a solid affiliate base, they have to have a variety of offers that perform well which is when they’ll resort to grabbing offers from other networks.
Pros: again, most brokered offers are on smaller networks, but the good thing about working with a small (or private) network is that you don’t have to deal with all the corporate BS. You are able to chat with your AM on AIM within seconds, and they are going to lay out the real deal, and you can start promoting the offer right away. You’ll get details, tips, and suggestions that you wouldn’t anywhere else.
Cons: with brokered offers comes discrepancies. Say you are pushing over 1,000 leads per day, only 900 could register with the network. You could be losing thousands. When your network is working direct with the advertiser, this is less likely to happen. Another con: say network a pulls the offer. It takes your network time to respond to their affiliates, which can also lead to a loss.
Another con: say you ask your network to consult with the advertiser to make sure everything is backing out for them, it can take awhile to get feedback because your network would have to consult the other network, and then wait for the advertiser to get back to network a, and then back to your network, and then finally back to you. It can be a long process, and this game changes by the minute, and sometimes it can be too long.
Typically the larger more reputable networks in the industry will have many direct relationships, but then again you’re going to have to deal with more of the “corporate” feel of things which isn’t always pleasant. I’d say shop around on an offer by offer basis to ensure you are pulling everything you can for a specific offer. What are your thoughts on this?
