It doesn’t take too long for most new paysite operators to realize that they are leaving money on the table through declined sales transactions and inadequate affiliate tools if they only rely on the services and technology offerings of a single billing provider. While some affiliates take comfort in promoting “CCBill only” programs, there are benefits to all from the use of high-end tracking systems, which we’ll explore below:
From the adult website or affiliate program owner’s perspective, there are a number of advantages to using a software system such as MPA3 (www.mpa3.com) or NATS (www.toomuchmedia.com), to boost revenues — benefits that include robust billing cascades to overcome declined transactions and more sophisticated referral tracking tools that improve traffic buys and affiliate management. These systems also make it easier for affiliate programs to provide promotional tools to their affiliates, which in turn generate more traffic, and ultimately, more sales.
From the perspective of prospective affiliates, a program’s software choices and payout options do make a difference.
From the perspective of prospective affiliates, a program’s software choices and payout options do make a difference; with the most fundamental issue being one of trust: “shaving” and “checks missing in the mail” are not issues with reliable processing firms, but plagues caused by fraudulent sponsor programs that cut their own payout checks for their affiliates and use their own proprietary tracking software to report the desired stats.
These statistics tend to be more accurate, and certainly more trustworthy, when they are delivered by an independent third-party — such as NATS or MPA3.
That doesn’t mean, however, that all programs that handle their own payouts and stats are fraudulent, as many power-players use their own merchant accounts for processing and thus do not have access to the tools offered by popular third-party billing companies.
It’s also vital to note that this software is not a replacement or alternative to using a single billing company. For example, a program may wish to use CCBill for processing and on-time affiliate payouts; but want the power of NATS tracking and billing cascades — a simple choice of configuration options makes it happen.
Although the systems offered by billing companies such as CCBill, Epoch, Verotel and Zombaio may meet the needs of many operators, for those willing to invest in more advanced tools, the returns can be substantial — even if you eschew affiliates and only rely on in-house traffic development, these tools’ advanced tracking features are helpful.
If you feel you’ve outgrown your current setup and are looking for more sophisticated tools for processing billing cascades, referral tracking and affiliate management, or just want to start out with the best system possible, then take a look at what MPA3 or NATS can do to put your operation in the fast lane.