Hi,

We've just signed up with Linkshare to  provide our US affiliate marketing programme. They estimate that the integration should take max 2 days but our web build/design agency is saying 4 and wants to charge c £3k. I'd be grateful for any feedback re what others have been charged for affiliate integration - £3k seems mightily steep to me.

Thanks for your help

Di

Di,

I would say the set-up & Integration shouldn't be taking all that long. 2 days is a very safe assumption to go ahead with. Its all about inserting the script to track conversions (be it sales, leads or clicks) through the networks platform, so that the reporting & tracking are synchronized & real-time.

I can say this since we are also a UK based Affiliate network 'ePurple Media' & we have operations across the globe. Currently, the currencies we accept are GBP, Euro, Dollars & INR. In case you wish to advertise with us, I would like to share with you that:

1- We do not charge any set-up fee
2- Except for a nominal monthly maintenance (to support the costs incurred on account of tracking & reporting software support, Programme promotions, Affiliate recruitments & dedicated account managers we provide you with) &
3- A minimum adjustable deposit, that is a floor price.
For more information, feel free to e-mail me at smita.s@epurplemedia.co.uk

Generally integration should only take a day or two - integrating affiliate tracking code is rarely more difficult than integrating code for say Google Analytics - typically it will only be a few lines of Javascript.

What can take the time, particularly if you have a  bespoke checkout which was not written by your current web agency, is finding where in the code to integrate the Javascript so that it only triggers on completed sales.

Having said all that, maybe you should be looking to change your web agency - some of us will work for far less that £750 per day ;)