ThinkForex CEO Nauman Anees explains how to structure a successful IB and affiliate program

A longstanding effective method of onboarding customers and reducing the cost of doing so among retail FX firms has been to use introducing brokers and affiliates instead of a direct sales approach.

This model has become widespread, and the cost of operating an affiliate network and keeping introducing brokers (IBs) engaged has also increased, due to what has now become a competitive sub-sector within itself.

Introducing brokers in many regions around the world require more attractive commissions, and good quality systems in order to manage their client bases and are well aware of the options that are available to them from companies that require their custom, and are now in a positon in which they can make demands on brokerages.

Today, FinanceFeeds spoke to Nauman Anees, CEO of British FX, CFD and spread betting company ThinkForex, which has launched a new affiliate program, in order to gain Mr. Anees’ perspective on what is important when operating affiliate programs and working closely with IBs.

What are the main points that need to change with regard to current affiliate programs?

Affiliate marketing comes with its pros and cons, overall it’s an excellent and much needed add-on for FX and CFD brokers, however it needs to be managed in a cost-effective and efficient manner to avoid issues such as duplications and abusive practises that can hinder the programme.

Brokers need to offer affiliates more advanced feature and tools and at the same time offer them guidance on how they can maximise these, affiliates are often active on building and managing their sites and they need help in maximising being an affiliate, hence our dedicated team of experienced affiliate managers are able to support our affiliates.

Which is the best method to attract IBs and affiliates cross culturally?

Every market and region is unique and depends on the goals and investment objectives of the end-user, in emerging markets, IBs and affiliates are more active in communicating and liaising with their clients and prospects to foster conversions, attracting these IBs and affiliates is tougher then from developed markets as it requires a complete sales process that sits alongside the e-marketing initiates, you could say that affiliates from emerging markets are more cost-intensive to on-board, by having a multi-lingual recruitment team in-house this enables us to cater to their specific needs and facilitate them. On the other hand, in established markets, price is King and a competitive offering is the most common factor that influences affiliates, of course sound regulations, a good stable platform and round-the-clock client service are mandatory, areas we have mastered through having dual-regulations in the UK and Australia.

What in your experience do affiliates look for in a firm to ensure they keep bringing business and that the lifetime value is high so that it maximizes the efficiency of a partners dept. within a company?

Needless to say conversion is vitally important to affiliates to ensure their users become active traders. This is why we are focused on optimising our user’s journey and we have worked very hard to do so by constantly reducing the time it takes for clients to complete their application, coupled with fast and simple payment channels. Other important factors to affiliates are finding brokers that have an engaging trading platform and tools to keep their users active, a strong brand reputation and a variety of payment methods.

Mr. Anees explained that the company’s new affiliate program is aimed to attract affiliate partners by paying very high CPA rates, whilst offering customized digital marketing solutions to affiliates to support their business needs.

Called ThinkAffiliates, the ethos is to provide essential tools to affiliates to promote ThinKForex’s services by using technologically advanced marketing and reporting tools that provide data and metrics on how affiliates are performing.

The program, according to ThinkForex, has a library of marketing tools which enale affiliates to use multiple channels to promote the firm, covering comparison websites, blogs and social media groups.

Mr. Anees concluded by making a corporate statement with regard to the rationale behind the ThinkAffiliates program

“ThinkForex has always had a strong digital presence and since inception we have worked closely with our partners to gain exposure online, the ThinkAffiliates Programme is an extension of our offering and with high CPA rates, a sophisticated Affiliate Portal, and qualified team members at hand, the program is expected to disrupt the current affiliate marketing industry for the FX/CFD Sector.”