Engaging With Eyecare Affiliates

Which Publishers are the Best Fit?

If you're already managing a successful program in the eyecare market, you'll have analysis on what type of partners are driving volume - and which are driving conversions. If you have just launched an affiliate program then this is an important question to ask at the outset and the answer will depend on your brand and market position amongst other factors.

Affiliates driving high volumes are likely to be the most valuable on any program, so long as quality of the traffic is monitored. Most networks have technologies to ensure you can do that.

For an affiliate, there are plenty of resources to discover new programs to promote. It's been a different story for program managers, where digging into keyword search was the main way of finding affiliates.

We'd of course say that the best resource is to use tech tools like Publisher Discovery! Our latest Chrome extension and instant Insights tools are both great help to give transparency, and free to use.

Affiliate Types

Most affiliate publishers tend to be channel specialists, whether as SEO affiliates, PPC affiliates or content publishers of varying types, which can include health professionals, bloggers and influencers.

All are effectively performance based consultants backing up all your other channel activity. You should think of affiliate not as a channel but more a business model!

It's of course important to discover and work with niche content publishers, bloggers and influencers with engaged audiences. But don't ignore other channel specific affiliates such as PPC or email, as they can be tactically very useful partners.

Your attitude to coupon/vouchercode or cashback websites is likely to be dependent on your brand strength. For major brands, such as Ray Ban or Chanel, it is usually more important to defend premium pricing than go for sales volumes at any cost. In this case it is usual to limit any offers to 'extras' or shipping to boost basket values.

For a smaller or newer brand, these high volume affiliates can give a quick lift to getting some sales through the affiliate program.

If your program concentrates on a contact lens subscription model, then it's worth engaging with specific publishers who offer subscription service reviews. They could well be a route to discover new customers who are already warmed towards other subscription services.

Think about potential partners in other verticals, such as fashion. Bloggers like The Curvy Fashionista and similar bloggers and influencers may be excellent potential partners. Take a look at the Fashion page to see more.

The Affiliate Relationship

A common question we get asked by new entrants to the affiliate space is 'how can I recruit the best affiliates'. If you're looking to engage with the best performing affiliates, you may want to consider hiring a specialist consultant or OPM to help. Their experience can help you achieve a quicker program start than trying it yourself.

We'd also advise to start from the viewpoint of your affiliates being partners rather than just referrers. It's a business partnership rather than a media buy; a common trap that many fall into.

Find your new eyecare affiliates with Publisher Discovery

As mentioned above finding quality content affiliates is the hardest tasks for a program manager. Publisher Discovery has been built specifically to take the pain out of finding new affiliates for eyecare programs - or for any vertical.

In the full platform it's easy to take an in depth view of yourmarket and identify opportunities by identifying your competitors' best affiliates.

This list of affiliates below is directly from Publisher Discovery vertical Eyecare view. Take a look at their advertiser partnerships, social links - and then contact them directly to recruit them.