Case Study: Upgrading the Affiliate Announceaffiliate program

D-Day minus(just a day or two!)

Very nearly there.

Just been able to do a live test with my new merchant account and the tracking is working.

I've double checked all links and image tags on the customised admin pages and the new affiliate information pages.

Ran a thorough spell check on all new pages.

I've joined as an affiliate - that works fine. I've made a purchase, as an affiliate I get a confirmation and can see the sale logged when I check my stats as an affiliate.

I can also see the sale logged in the merchant management screen.

Not forgetting this is an upgrade, the old tracking system still functions correctly so affiliates who haven't yet updated their links still get paid!

I'm happy all is ready to go live, if this was a new program nows the point I can launch and maybe head over to Affiliate Announce to arrange some publicity for my new program :)

But...

As it's an upgrade I need to help move my affiliates from the old system to the new.

I can't just export the old affiliate data and import into the new. Rather than rely on my affiliates to re-join the program I'm going to manually enter their contact details into the new system.

Because I want to retain the 2-tier structure I have printed out a plan of the current affiliates and their relative referrals so I can sign up the right affiliate under the right ID code.

Although I can enter their contact details I can't of course update my affiliates links so I have replaced the standard signup message that goes out to an affiliate with my own text. Now when I manually enter a new affiliate they receive the customised welcome message explaining why I have updated the program and how to add their new links.

It's crucial to make the transition swiftly so I have created 3 follow up reminders that go out automatically over a six day period this has been set up using Kowabunga's Opt In Pro that comes with the tracking software. (see Creating a personalised autoresponder).

I'm hoping that the active affiliates will update their links from the automated reminders and after a few weeks I'll refer to the old tracking system to see who hasn't yet updated and start making personal contact by email and by phone for the key affiliates.

It's taken quite a while to get to this mainly due to waiting for my new banks merchant account but this has at least given me time to check everything out carefully and overall I am very happy with the way its looking.

One last thing before I make the pages live.......

This case study examines the re-development of the Affiliate Announce program. Illustrating the 'behind the scenes' plans of upgrading a programs affiliate tracking software.

This case study will be updated on a periodic basis as the program develops, for the latest updates make sure you sign up for our monthly newsletter.