One of the advantages of the HOQU platform for merchants is the opportunity of choosing how to work with affiliates, through the network or directly.
The pros and cons of each approach:
When working through the network:
+ The merchant enters into a contract only with the network, provides it with data for creating an offer and ensures the availability of funds to pay rewards for leads attracted to it. The remaining tasks are assumed by the network: it creates an offer, attracts affiliates to the network, and makes payments. By being a professional player in the affiliate marketing market, the network can also help with advice and give recommendations on how to improve the performance of the offer.
- The network charges a commission.
When working with affiliates directly:
+ Savings on commission.
- The advertiser independently performs the tasks that the network assumes.
The mechanism of work on the platform through the network is quite simple, as the advertiser joins the network, and the network creates an offer for it. In this article, we will talk about how an advertiser can cover the network’s functions independently and work with affiliates directly through the platform.
On the HOQU platform, each participant is assigned their own functions:
Network:
- Creates an offer for the merchant upon request;
- Pauses or disables the offer;
- Pays the affiliates rewards for attracted leads.
Affiliate:
- Creates a campaign for the offer, attracts traffic.
Merchant:
- Provides network information for creating offers;
- Rejects or confirms leads;
- Ensures that the network has the funds to pay for leads that have been attached to it.
Accordingly, if the merchant wants to create offers on their own and work independently with affiliates, then the merchant should get the functionality available for the affiliate network, i.e. register as a network.
Below, we will share a brief instruction on how to organize this process step by step:
- Sign up as an advertiser.
Follow the link, create an account by selecting the Sign up for Merchants.
2. Register as a network and fill in the network information.
Follow the link, create an account by selecting Sign up for Affiliate Network. Use different email addresses for different accounts.
In the Network → Information section, fill in the required and optional fields. The data specified in this section will be displayed to webmasters in the network information section.
3. Join your network
All new networks are private by default, i.e. the visibility settings for advertisers and affiliates are disabled.
You can become a member of a private network by using the link generated by the network for you in the Invite Codes section (this functionality is being finalized).
4. Make the network visible to affiliates.
In the section Network → Settings → Affiliates settings enable the visibility. The network will be accessible to affiliates registered on the platform who will be able to send applications to join the network. View, approve or reject applications in the section Members → Affiliates.
5. Create an offer.
The offer is created from the network account for the account of the advertiser who is a member of the network.
Click on Offers → Create offer. A form for creating an offer will open. By using the panel at the top, you can switch tabs to fill in the data. For your offer to be open for working with, you need to fill in all the tabs.
Click on the Save button.
6. Integration and activation of the offer.
This step can be performed both from the network account and from the advertiser’s account.
The offer is created (“Created” status), but is not available to affiliates until the moment of activation. Also, all the parameters of the offer can be changed before the activation.
Before activating the offer, the website / landing being promoted must be integrated with the platform tracker. Go to Offers → Offers (for the network) or Pending offers (for the advertiser) → open the detailed information about the offer by clicking on the More button. The data for integration will be available in the Detailed information and rules section of the Integration tab.
To activate the offer on the page with detailed information on the offer, click on the three points in the upper right corner → Activate. After activation, the affiliates who are members of your network, will be able to see the offer and create campaigns for it. Offers can also be activated by clicking on the
Offer statistics will be displayed in the detailed information about the offer, lead statistics will be in the Leads section.
7. Confirmation and payment for leads.
Rejection / confirmation of leads can be done automatically or manually by the advertiser, or by the network. To approve or reject a lead, click on the three points to the right of the lead → select the appropriate action. Leads are confirmed automatically after the hold period expires.
8. Payment for leads.
Payments for leads to affiliates are made through a network account. The advertiser, in turn, must ensure that the network has funds to pay for leads attracted.
At the time of confirmation of the lead, the balance of the advertiser’s wallet in the network is reduced by the amount of remuneration for the lead, while the affiliate’s balance is increased by the same amount. There is a top up, but not a real payout.
The wallet for the advertiser in the network is created automatically at the moment of confirmation of the first lead attracted through the network. Information about the wallets of the advertiser is available in the section Wallets → Wallets. When an advertiser transfers funds to pay for affiliates, the network increases the balance by this amount.
Affiliates working with your offers also have wallets on the net. The balance of the affiliate’s wallet is the amount that has not yet been paid, but is the earned amount of rewards for leads. The affiliate’s balance in the network can be viewed in their profile (Members → Affiliates → Click on the name of an affiliate) in the right upper part of the page.
Applications by affiliates for the withdrawal funds from their wallet in the network will be sent to the network through the ticket system.
9. Disabling an offer.
The offer can be disabled or paused only by the network. To stop the offer, go to Offers → Offers → three points on the right of the offer with the “Active” status → Disable.
We hope that this guide was useful for you. More detailed instructions for each step will be available in the HOQU Knowledge Base, which we will soon publish for all platform participants.
Respectfully,
The HOQU Team
