Creating a due diligence program
ADOTAS EXCLUSIVE — With online fraud increasing, visibility into your partners’ business practices and full incident disclosure become even more important to your bottom line.
If you wait for your affiliates to begin the dialogue, you may be waiting a long time. Maybe your partner is waiting for you to make the first move? If we all wait on one another, when will the time come for real change in the industry?
While many corporations embrace the idea and morality behind full visibility, very few practice what they preach. The affiliate marketing industry has been known for a long tail of young, savvy, and aggressive marketers. You may have seen one at a recent conference valet parking his Ferrari. These individuals have made a pile of cash, some legitimately, and some through less ethical–and perhaps illegal–means. How can you determine which leaders and organizations have your best interests in mind and which are conflicted by their desire to earn more for themselves and their investors?
The Best Practice approach to partner vetting will help you weed out the bad. To vet means to check. Implementing a vetting program for your company is as simple as formally asking each partner a variety of questions prior to conducting business. For example:
- How long have you been in business?
- Has your company received venture or institutional money?
- How long has your current leadership been in place?
- Have you ever been the subject of a lawsuit or investigation relating to your advertising, marketing, privacy or data security practices?
- Do you have a formal due diligence procedure to vet your vendors and affiliates? (Inquire about the details of the process.)
- Who is responsible for setting compliance policy at your organization?
- Who will be my daily operational contact for fraud- or compliance-related issues?
- What are your company’s best practice standards above and beyond what the federal law requires?
Depending on your company’s risk tolerance, a quarterly or annual audit may also be appropriate to ensure that the affiliate’s practices are still in line with what was disclosed during vetting.
Who executes the vetting and auditing programs at your company may be even more important than the questions that are asked. The associate responsible for partner selection and monitoring should not receive commissions based on sales or volume goals.
Should you require your partners to disclose the details of their business relationships? In general, no; organizations should be able to keep the identity of vendors and affiliates private. In cases where fraud has occurred or a liability risk exists, it is reasonable to request full disclosure. This type of open communication during the vetting, monitoring, and incident response processes will raise the standards for online business and improve the entire ecosystem. How you choose to execute these processes will set you apart from others.
Editor’s note: This is a series from Dianna Koltz, director of best practices and email marketing at Memolink, Inc., on how to use business standards to combat online fraud. Here are the past stories.
– Express your opinion, comment below.
Reader Comments.
No comments yet
Leave a Comment
Article Sponsor
More Features
-
Loading ...
Latest News
- Funding in Brief: $10M for Spongecell, $8M for Prolexic February 9th 2012 ADOTAS – Rich media ad company Spongecell has raised $10 million [...] more »
- Google AdMob Axes Minimum Bids, Targeting Fees February 9th 2012 ADOTAS - As of Feb. 15, Google will change its [...] more »
- Infographic: HootSuite Analyses Social Media Impact of Super Bowl Ads February 7th 2012 ADOTAS - So, it’s the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, [...] more »
- Facebook to Serve Mobile Ads in Coming Weeks February 6th 2012 ADOTAS – According to a Financial Times report, Facebook will [...] more »
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile February 6th 2012 ADOTAS - During the Super Bowl yesterday, mobile ad network [...] more »
- Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for Mobile February 3rd 2012 ADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech [...] more »
- Weird Study: Mobile Purchasing While in the Bathroom on the Rise February 3rd 2012 DM CONFIDENTIAL - According to 11mark, three-quarters of Americans with mobile [...] more »
Features
- Attribution Online: Introducers and Influencers and Closers… Oh My! February 9th 2012
- With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name February 9th 2012
- Rethinking the Online Advertising Ecosystem, Part One: Independent Publishers February 8th 2012
- Case Study: Social Ad Effectiveness February 8th 2012
- Video: “Build an SEO Foundation” Excerpt February 8th 2012
Spotlight
Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for MobileADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech firm Sponsormob has remained relevant in an industry characterized by [...] more...
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
- PS Technical Writer - SEO Data Analyst
- Interactive Project Manager
- Media Buyer
- PHP Software Engineer (Facebook Platform/Social AP
- SEO/Marketing Internship at Green Education Startu
Recent Comments
- With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name – ADOTAS | ShopComs.com: [...] With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a NameADOTASADOTAS – It's no longer important how
- Domain Outlook : Latest Domain News » Blog Archive » With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name - ADOTAS: [...] With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a NameADOTASADOTAS – It's no longer important how
- With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name: [...] and Microsoft have little to worry about over names like UnitedThis and UnitedThat. The
- ReTargeter » Attacking Bad Banners: Inaugural Edition: [...] between 0.01% to 0.1%. Even with retargeted ads, which tend to have clickthrough rates
