No Clicks, No Sales, No Impressions? Don’t Remove

I saw this response on ABestWeb (http://abestweb NULL.com) a while back, and apologize that I don’t have that thread included here, sorry.  This person responded to a termination letter they received because they had no clicks or sales in that particular program.  His response is a perfect reason why you don’t remove affiliates based on inactivity.  I have differing views on this, but for now, let’s explore his response:

Question from an affiliate:  “Why would I have links up that produce no clicks, much less sales?

Answer: To make my site much more extensive in scope to produce repeat visits. Lots of variety (diversity) as opposed to a just an extension of a single merchant or small group of merchants. I have one niche site with over 25 merchants, all within the niche. Would be nice if they all produced sales, and maybe they will someday if I can ever get the traffic. But for now they don’t. Yes, this waters down the selling power for any one merchant but its what I need to do in order to have an edge. Otherwise, it’s one sale and done.

This is another reason for going with SAS. Very few merchants drop you for low activity.”

I won’t address the comment on ShareASale (SAS), because I don’t think this issue has anything to do with any network at all.  Affiliate managers look at these affiliates with no clicks and no sales as just sitting there doing nothing, maybe using resources they could allocate towards producing affiliates (activation campaigns), and simply accounts they need to get rid of to “clean up”.

In my history I have performed many activation campaigns that ended up with removal of hundreds of affiliates, if not thousands because of in-activity.  And now running an outsourced affiliate management agency (http://jebcommerce NULL.com/affiliate-program-management/) for some years, I can say that we haven’t removed affiliates simply because they haven’t generated clicks or sales yet.  Why?

It’s pretty simple.

(I like lists, can you tell?)

1. Many affiliates, and many good ones at that, join many programs each month.  And any affiliate is welcome to correct me.  They apply to an affiliate program with an eye for what “could be” and what they could do with that advertiser.  It’s a moment filled with promise.  Affiliates are very entrepreneur minded, so they have many of these moments every day.  I’m like that too, but I rarely get to them all.  But, with proper education, some brainstorming and relationship building, they and you may find the time to take the partnership to the next level.  But it may take a long time for it to work out, but it could.  No reason to limit the future opportunities.
2. It’s a waste of time.  I’d rather work on growing current producing affiliates, creating new offers and promotion and work on “moving the needle” rather than kicking out affiliates.
3. You get a bad rap.  Reputation can really be everything in the affiliate industry, and removing a potentially well known, vocal and successful affiliate isn’t worth the tarnish of your brand.
4. Like the reader says, many affiliates need the breadth of product to become their product.  It may not work out well for you in that particular instance as their shoppers are purchasing elsewhere, but it may be going the other way on another site.

I’ve worked with thousands of affiliates, both online and offline over the last 12 years.  I can count tens of examples of affiliates lying dormant in a program only to seemingly suddenly start producing sales out of nowhere.  Why?  Besides the reasons above, sometimes it just took them two years to get to my program.  Why remove this possibility when the cost for not removing them is so low?