As stated earlier, the tactics that are driving prospects and customers into the Engagement Entry Points have attributes that can require differing levels of involvement, decision making processes, or approaches if you are trying to scale the tactic internally or with external vendors. Next few articles are a tactic-by-tactic breakdown explaining the points of concern. I am starting with Affiliate Marketing.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is the practice of rewarding other websites for sending traffic to your site. Usually, the reward is tied directly to that visitor completing an action whether it is purchasing product or registering for a webinar.
With affiliate marketing, the effort the organization mainly has to realize is around the acquiring and maintaining of relationships with the affiliates. And this is where the determining the level involvement for the organization comes into play.
In-house
By taking the responsibility of managing affiliates with in-house resources, it requires that personnel own the identification, recruiting, and managing the affiliates. This includes ensuring the affiliates are compensated and monitored for performance.
Third Party
Third party affiliate marketing covers the user of affiliate networks such as Commission Junction and LinkShare, affiliate management companies such Performics and PepperJam, or through specific large niche players like eBay and Amazon.