Failed as a buyer, I want to become an aff manager. How?

Part 1.

I had an acquaintance of a bayer who could not realize himself in his profession. He decided to reach the top as an affair manager.

This interview is for those buyers who have decided not to leave arbitration, but also realize that being a buyer won't work out for them, and they don't know what to do next.

Anna, affiliate manager of CPA-network ExGaming Partners, will tell what difficulties a buyer will face when changing his profession to an affiliate manager.

• 01. Is it safe to say that bayer already has the necessary hard-skills to be an aff manager? Why?

Yes, absolutely. Bayer a priori possesses hard-skills that are at the heart of affmarketing: he doesn't need to explain terms (GEO, targeting, creative, funnel, ROI, etc.), he's been pouring traffic himself. He knows how to work with trackers, set up postbacks, analyze EPC, CTR, CR and other metrics. This is a base of expertise.

‼️BUT!!! It is important to realize: the hard-skills of a bayer are an expertise within the framework of pouring. An aff manager, on the other hand, must not only understand how to flood traffic, but also:

• understand how the terms of cooperation are formed: for example, how the rates are formed;
• Understand what to do if traffic has not passed the KPI;
• Understand when you can give an affiliate the green light to scale traffic and when you can't.

• 02. What can a bayer not have?

The bayer typically lacks the social-communication and management component that is critical for an aff manager. A bayer is most often a «solo player» with a focus on launch, optimization and analysis. He does not always interact with the «outside world», i.e. with advertisers. In CPA networks, a sales manager is in charge of communicating about offers, terms and payments.

An aff manager (in a CPA-network) is an intermediary, a link between the advertiser and webmasters/buyers. Accordingly, he needs:

• negotiate with partners and advertisers;
• conflict resolution;
• Motivate and scale partners;
• to build long-term relationships;
• Be an «ambassador» for a product or CPA network.

I believe that without soft-skills and strategic thinking, even the most tech-savvy bayer cannot effectively fulfill the role of an aff manager.

• 03. What soft-skills will a buyer need in an aff manager position?

Basic soft skills of an aff manager:

• - Communication skills and empathy - the ability to listen, to understand the partner's requests and mood, to adjust the style of communication (whether it is a beginner or a senor-aff).
• - Negotiation and persuasion skills - particularly important when negotiating terms and conditions, resolving disputes (e.g., denial of payment), or retaining partners in a competitive environment.
• - Transparency and reliability - big players value honesty. If a manager hides information or makes inflated promises, trust is quickly lost and the affiliate leaves for a competitor.
• - Problem-oriented thinking - ability to find win-win solutions even in complex cases (for example, when an advertiser does not want to pay and a partner demands compensation).
• - Stress tolerance and multi-tasking - working with dozens of partners at the same time, constant deadlines, burning cases and endless calls.

These skills are not automatically possessed by the buyer, they need to be developed. The exception is stress resistance and multitasking, that's something the buyers have no problem with.