Let’s presume you want to grab the attention and reward your hard working affiliates, yet at the same time, have them sell more of your goods or services.

Better still, how about motivating not only your top affiliates, but also the old, dormant affiliates – the ones who could suddenly turn out to be the NEXT BIG THING! How are YOU going to do it Mr Merchant?

The way you communicate your incentive, has to stand out from the 10′s of others we, as affiliates, receive on a daily basis. Be realistic as to who will be tempted by your incentive and who you are hoping to target in the first place.

A 2% increase in commissions is unlikely to tempt new or dormant affiliates, yet may gain extra exposure with existing, well performing ones.

In the past we’ve seen some merchants taking the decision to cull dormant affiliates when, in my opinion, opening up communication channels would have been mutually beneficial. I’m not suggesting every merchant should need to offer extravagant prizes or incentives, but a small cost (in money or time) could reap huge rewards.

One that recently caught my eye is being offered by DFDS Seaways. To promote their latest incentive, they aren’t relying on the usual email from a network, or a tweet or post on the A4U Forums grabbing my attention. They’ve actually gone and produced a video!

We also have the usual suspects who continually lead the way, ones that other merchants could learn a great deal from – and its not all about giving stuff away!

Prezzybox regularly offer great incentives and are this year planning on offering a “holiday or two” for their Christmas incentive and are open to other suggestions! As usual, they’re a step ahead most by already offering affiliates with the tools and seasonal support need for planning a Christmas site.

BuyAGift kick of their Q4 incentive that lasts for 3 months, meaning all affiliates have an opportunity of obtaining entry into the prize draw. With a possible jet set weekend to Monaco up for the offering, this is one most will want to win!

SunShine have in the past taken affiliates away to Barbados as part of Affiliate Futures annual networking event.

Red Letter Days have kicked off their Christmas Campaign, set to run for 3 months, with rewards for all affiliates at different tiers. Any affiliate that reaches a particular level is guaranteed a reward!

With such cracking incentives and rewards being offered already, it’ll be interesting to see what comes along in the next few weeks in order to tempt affiliates to promote one merchant over another. At this time of year, I’m greatful I’m an affiliate and not a merchant!