Q: Should you name your offer the publisher so it’s more personalized?

A: This is more of a personal preference than a necessity. Publishers like when you give them their own special offer names, but I see this as a way to keep your offers organized. Just remember to give publishers the correct offer if you put their name in the offer!

Q: How do we make our selling on Rakuten more effective?

A: Affiliate marketing is a referral-based channel. No matter which type of publisher you work with, customers trust that publisher and they are clicking through an affiliate link because they are getting something (a coupon, cash back, a good deal, or an aligned recommendation from an influencer) they trust. Here are my perspectives for working with each type of publisher:

1. Coupon sites – customers come to these sites for a discount on the product. These sites will feature your free shipping offers, any gift with purchase incentives or any coupon codes that you use. I think you should work with these sites. These sites help with conversion and, most likely, your competitors are utilizing this strategy in some capacity.
2. Cash back sites – these sites split your commission with the customer. If you give these publishers 10% commission, you will be generally be listed as 5% cash back on the site. You can easily increase your sales on these sites by offering higher commission.
3. Sub-networks – these sites act as an “umbrella” and they work with many sub-affiliates. These sub-affiliates are coupon, cash back, and content sites (including Conde Nast and Hearst). Please understand that these sites only give part of your commission to sub-affiliates. If you give 10% commission to sub-networks, they typically give about 7-8% to the sub-affiliate.
4. Content sites – these sites write articles about your program. They typically require at least 10% commission and you may also have to pay flat fees to work together with them.
5. APAC sites – these sites are located in China, Japan and South Korea, but you do not have to ship to Asia. You simply ship to California and the customer pays with a US credit card. The customer utilizes “Freight Forwarding” and handles shipping to Asia.

Q: Do publishers prefer to work with brands that have discounts? For instance on a product launch we wouldn't discount the product - the higher commission in the benefit for the publisher

A: It is not necessary to offer discounts in this channel. I work with many fashion brands who have minimal discounts (free shipping or 10% first offer). If you do not discount your product, I recommend working with cash back publishers (who split the commission) or content sites (which charge more, but get you in front of millions of potential customers).

Q: How do we know who are the ""winner"" publishers"?

A: You can identify winner publishers by the Platinum Publisher status in the dashboard. Learn more about how to identify these publishers here.

Q: What if you're an advertiser and your offer is declined? How do you communicate or make a case for that?

A: You will have to reach out to the publisher directly over email and ask what you need to do to get on their site. In some cases, the publisher will say that you cannot work together. That is OK – there are thousands of publishers on our network who will work with you if you give them competitive commission and follow their recommendations for generating sales on their site.

Q: How to find the best commission rate?

A: Perform a competitive analysis. See best practices for conducting an audit here.

Q: Does the complimentary DealMaker ticket include accommodations?

A: No, however there is a discounted room block rate for conference attendees. See more details on accommodations here.

Q: As a new Rakuten merchant what is the best way to start generating revenue while relationships are being built?

A: Target Platinum Publishers (as they have the largest audiences) and set up with sub-networks. Sub-networks typically have many niche publishers as sub-affiliates and they typically generate sales quickly.

Q: Are there any tools that could help us to track the competitiveness of our promo offers?

A: Perform a competitive analysis. See best practices for conducting an audit here.

Q: For new publishers you've recruited to Rakuten - what's the best resource to send them to create their own deep links? Alternatively, is there any Rakuten overview or training resources we can share with new publisher recruits?

A: Publishers pull deep links themselves. If publishers need instructions on how to pull deep links, they can connect with our Publisher Support team (USPubSupport@Rakuten.com).

Q: Was there something we have to do to enable deep links?

A: Yes, contact your dedicated account manager or Advertiser Support to have this feature enabled for your program. To see if you’re enabled follow instructions here.  

Q: Which is the best link type to provide?

A: Text Links

Q: How often should you delete old links and create new ones?  Does the publisher get an alert that you have created new links that are available to them?

A: I recommend that you always have at least 5 evergreen text links. You can cycle in new text links according to your marketing calendar. If you have any new products of note, any exciting news, or any promotions, you can create new text links.

Once the text links are created, you can inform your publishers that they should pull certain links (“please pull link ID 11 as soon as you can”) and you can send them the links through the dashboard.

Q: Are we going to be able to download presentation slides?

A:  A recording of the webinar will be provided.

Q: Where do we get our product links?

A: To view your product links follow the instructions here.  

Q: We are new to the affiliate marketing with Rakuten. How would you recommend to market it to our existing/new customers to buy through Rakuten and our affiliate publishers?

A: Create a splash page on your website to promote your affiliate program. Learn how to create that here. Separately, you can offer incentives through the affiliate channel. You can let customers know about exclusive coupons or you can secure high cash back rates on the top cash back sites.

Q: For reporting, I know Skimlinks.com has a ton of publishers under their umbrella, so how do I see which sites they are showing our links on?

A:  Follow instructions here for how to pull a report with this data. You can also connect directly with Skimlinks through their Advertiser Support Request Form.

Q: I am a video producer, so would be on the publisher side of this. Do you all have some examples of publishers using video to build an audience and then connect them to advertisers through your network?

A: This is the perfect use case for Linkless (Clickless) Tracking. As a video producer, you can list the coupon on screen and you can receive affiliate commissions if the coupon is used. Your advertisers will need to be participating in Linkless (Clickless) Tracking for this to work.

We have many publishers who have YouTube channels. They typically put the affiliate links in the descriptions of their videos and this works out well for the advertiser and publisher.

Q: Can you please elaborate the advantages of using a Dynamic Commission?

A: See an overview of the benefits of this offer type here.

Q: How can we sign up for the certificate program?

A: Email your dedicated account manager or Advertiser Support to enroll in the training.

Q: suggestions for setting up commission amounts

A: Perform a competitive analysis. See best practices for conducting an audit here.

Q: How to be competitive when every publisher wants your BEST offer?

A: Understand that this is not possible and give the better publishers your best offers. Larger quality publishers have bigger audiences and this will expose your offers to the most customers possible.

Q: How to fasten up the conversation with the big publisher, as they miss a lot of our email and they do not agree for a e-meet?

Be sure to be persistent with top publishers, as they receive hundreds of emails each day. If you are not able to connect, ask your dedicated account manager or advertiser support for additional contacts at that company. If they are a top publisher, they are responding to our teams and you can leverage us for assistance.