Affiliate marketers often have to make astute decisions when it comes to selecting a viable affiliate marketing program. You should weigh the pros and cons and the expected returns before you decide to dive in. As an affiliate marketer, you should make sure that you choose a decent program before pouring your time and effort into it.
Many industries that were popularly promoted by affiliate marketers are now drying up, and most affiliate marketers are now on the lookout for more profitable options. The hosting industry not only offers good returns but also offers very convenient choices for affiliate marketers. Thousands of affiliate marketers are moving towards programs offered by SaaS and PaaS companies. So, if you are thinking of making the switch, you might want to explore your options in this category.
We came across an affiliate program offered by a managed cloud hosting provider by the name of Cloudways, and were quite impressed with their affiliate marketing program. In the following review, we shall detail the affiliate marketing program that Cloudways has created and whether it’s a good choice for your affiliate efforts.
What is Cloudways?
We have already mentioned that Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting provider, but what is that? You might not even have heard of the company if you don’t know much about the hosting industry, but when it comes to cloud hosting providers, Cloudways is one of the best web hosting providers for small businesses that you should look at.
Basically, Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform where you can launch and manage cloud servers (and applications). Instead of doing all the legwork yourself, the company handles the deployment of the server, allowing you to focus more on business growth.
Cloudways provides a platform to help you choose from five leading cloud infrastructure providers – AWS, GCE, Vultr, Digital Ocean, and Linode. But, the features aren’t the only thing you should look at when selecting an affiliate program. So, let’s move on and talk about their affiliate program offering.
The Cloudways Affiliate Program
One look at their affiliate program page and it’s easy to see why so many people are eager to join it. They have put in a lot of effort to make the program as friendly for an average affiliate as possible. Instead of you having to work out the basics, you can benefit from comprehensive guides and start right away.
All affiliates get access to a portal along with a dedicated support section with detailed information on all the topics that might confuse you. This support page also includes an extensive FAQ section for affiliate marketers.
Users of the platform can always get in touch with the support team through live chat or dedicated ticketing system. The company also offers three levels of add-on support, so there’s something for everyone.More importantly, you can market these levels of add-on support to potential customers, which will help you get more referrals.
As an affiliate marketer, you will have access to a wide range of resources that will allow you to promote their managed cloud hosting.
The Cloudways blog also offers valuable information and a host of marketing insights to affiliates, allowing them to enhance their skills and ultimately generate more referrals.
So, now that you have a fair idea about why this is such a great product to promote, let’s talk about the payout models.
Three Commission Structures
Cloudways offers three main commission structures – Slab, Hybrid, and Custom. Let’s break them down.
The Slab Payout Model
The Slab model gives higher rewards depending upon the number of referrals you bring. Entrepreneurs and performance marketers stand to gain the most from this payout structure.
In this model, the final payout is calculated on the final number of referrals that the system records. For example, if you are nearing the end of the month with five referrals and end up getting two more before the month ends, your total commission will be calculated on the basis of Slab 2 since you got seven referrals. Pretty simple, right?
Hybrid Model
If you want to play the long game, opt for this structure. This isn’t for aggressive marketers, but for people looking to have their earnings spread out over several months.
This structure suits freelancers, bloggers, and digital agencies the best. Under this structure, the affiliate will make a $30 up-front bonus, as well take 7 percent from the referred customer’s monthly invoice. As long as the customer maintains the account with Cloudways, the affiliate marketer will continue to profit.
Custom Structure
If you think that you can bring in a higher number of referrals, this structure is best for you. Cloudways understands that aggressive marketers can bring in quite a lot of business, and thus want to reward them accordingly. This plan borrows a bit of both from the Hybrid and the Slab structures and ultimately provides a higher commission for each referral.
A Suitable Affiliate Program for Generating Passive Income
When you choose an affiliate program designed for generating passive income, your commission will continue to grow, the longer you stay with the program.
Cloudways understands this and has designed the Affiliate Program to cater to the needs of several important affiliate marketing segments such as ….
Bloggers
Bloggers want to make as much money as possible from their blogs. But, monetization these days could take a (long)while for an average blog owner. One of the best things that you can do is to join an affiliate program and start promoting the products to your audience. As more traffic lands on your blog, the commission would grow.
Trainers
Trainers can benefit quite a bit from both the Hybrid and the Custom payout model because they have access to groups of users who are interested in what they have to say. With multiple training opportunities, they are able to set themselves up to generate long term commissions with ease.
Freelancers
For freelancers, this program adds another inflow to their income. By referring Cloudways to the clients, they can generate a considerable amount of money on the side.
Digital Agencies
Digital agencies work with a diverse range of clients, many of whom want to select a suitable hosting platform. By reselling Cloudways hosting, these agencies can also make a substantial amount of money and add to their revenue.
Now, let’s focus on the features of the Cloudways Affiliate Panel
Main Features
The Affiliate Panel serves as the central hub and offers the features to help you set up, track ,and deploy your affiliate marketing campaigns.
The Affiliate Panel
When you join the Cloudways Affiliate Program and log into the panel, this is the screen you will be greeted with. The panel is divided into several panels like your Campaign (for analyzing campaign marketing metrics), and Reports (for analytics purposes), and several support options.
Your unique affiliate link is given right at the top, as you can see here:
Reports Tab
From the side menu, you can head on to the Reports tab. This is where you can see the detailed analytics about how your program is performing. There’s the Quick Stats option, which brings up your day’s stats. You can always switch to the previous day or check the stats for the entire month.
Important stats like the Click to Sales ratio, Earnings per click, and average commission are all mentioned here too. This is a live dashboard that is updated in real time and you can always add custom filters to see the data accordingly.
Then, there’s the Trends tab which makes it easy for you to analyze commissions, trends, impressions, and clicks. The Payouts tab gives you a brief overview of the paid and outstanding commissions.
The Campaigns Tab
This gives you access to a host of creative resources, making it easy for you to customize your site with the latest promotional materials released by Cloudways. There are numerous banners and other marketing materials that you can use on your site.
SubID Tracking
The SubID tracking feature allows affiliates to monitor several ad channels and analyze the traffic that they are getting. There are a couple of custom parameters that you can append, allowing you to figure out which channel is working the best for you.
The SubID tracking feature also allows you to properly attribute the exact affiliate link which generated the conversion.
Cookie
The affiliate panel gives you an overview of the data and the status of your current affiliate marketing campaign. Each cookie placed through the affiliate link is capable of storing the data for more than 90 days.
How Do You Join the Affiliate Marketing Program at Cloudways?
As you can see, this is a pretty good affiliate marketing program. The program is well-managed, and is also quite easy to promote. If you are interested in joining the program, you can visit their affiliate marketing page. There’s also a detailed guide that you can check out here, which gives you all the information you need. And, if you have any queries, you can get in touch with them at affiliates@cloudways.com.