Navigating your affiliate network: Rakuten

Program Description

  1. Login to your Rakuten account

  2. From the homepage, click on Account > Advertiser Settings

  3. Scroll down to find the Program Homepage - make any relevant adjustments to your program information here and click Save to save your changes

    1. Here’s where you want to showcase what your brand and program is all about – give a description of your company, highlight your commission rate and average order value, and specify your cookie duration here as well.

Keywords

  1. Go to Account > Account Settings

  2. Under Program Branding, select Policies > Paid Search

  3. To let publishers bid on keywords associated with your brand, select Yes next to the relevant restrictions at the top of the page

  4. Scroll down to the text boxes

  5. Enter Restricted Keywords (publishers CANNOT use) in the first box

  6. Enter Allowed Keywords in the second box

  7. Click Save to confirm your changes to this page before leaving

Text links

*A good rule of thumb is to have a text link for each of the following (or more): your homepage, shop all, best sellers, and links to any coupons you’ve set up

  1. Select Links > Text Links from the navigation menu at the top

  2. There are two methods for uploading text links, Add New Text Link or Import Text Links using a CSV file

  3. To create an individual text link select Add New Text Link

  4. Enter what you want the link to display as in the Link Text field

  5. Paste the associated link in Landing Page URL

  6. Give the link a Name and product Category (or assign to Default)

  7. Designate the Start and End Date for your link’s visibility in your network

  8. You have the opportunity to restrict access to certain affiliates or give everyone access under Assign Link

  9. To add a link with similar specifications, you can copy the link and update the landing page URL

  10. Make sure to Save your new link before leaving the page

Coupon Links

*Note: Coupon links do not need to be actual “coupons” ; they can be evergreen offers like “Free shipping on orders over $50” or “10% off your first order”. You can even set up coupons links to highlight your best sellers!

  1. First, make sure coupons are enabled by going to Account > Advertiser Settings

  2. Under Program Branding on the left-hand side, click on Policies > Coupons

  3. Make sure Yes is selected for “Do you ever provide coupon codes for your publishers to promote via the affiliate channel?”

  4. Next, select Links > Text Links from the navigation menu at the top

  5. Select Add New Text Link

  6. Include the discount code in the Link Text

    1. For example, “Use code LTK10 for 10% off”

  7. Specify the page you want to direct to in Landing Page URL

  8. The Name can be the same as the Link Text

  9. Give your coupon a product Category (or assign to Default)

  10. Specify the Start and End Date for your coupon

  11. You have the opportunity to restrict access to certain affiliates or give everyone access under Assign Link

  1. Make sure to Save your new coupon before leaving the page

Banners/Images

*Make sure banners include branding elements and a call to action. Keep in mind affiliates use these images as their promotional materials without modification so they must be effective ads in and of themselves, not requiring additional design elements or text by the affiliate.

See examples of well-crafted banners here: https://instapage.com/blog/banner-ads/

  1. Select Links > Banners

  2. You can Add New, Import, or Bulk Upload banners in Rakuten

  3. To add an individual image select Add New Banner

  4. For image URL select Hosted by Rakuten Advertising and upload your image

    1. Images must be 1,000kb or less

  5. Add a Landing Page URL for the image to direct to

  6. Give the image a Banner Name and Description

  7. Specify the Start and End Date for the image

  8. You have the opportunity to restrict access to certain affiliates or give everyone access under Assign Link

  1. Make sure to Save your new link before leaving the page

Product Feed

*A product feed is a CSV file of your inventory that gets uploaded to your network so affiliates can have a live view of what’s in stock and what they can promote

  1. For more information regarding Rakuten’s product feed please read their article here

    1. You will need to make a file based on the parameters specified in the article above

  2. Login to your Rakuten account

  3. Select Links > Product Links

  4. Click on Import Product Links

  5. Click Browse to find the saved file on your computer and Upload

Adjusting Commission Rates

  1. From the home page, click on the Publishers drop-down menu.

  2. Click on “My Publishers”.

  3. Search for the affiliate whose commission rate you want to adjust.

  4. Click on the name of the affiliate.

  5. Scroll down and click on “Go to this Publisher’s full profile”.

  6. On this page, click “Extend Offer”.

  7. On this page, select the offer you want this affiliate to utilize.

    1. To create a new offer, click on Offers drop-down menu.

    2. Select “Create New Offer”.

    3. Fill out the name/details of this offer.

    4. Save when completed all pages.

  8. Be sure to click on “Confirm” to save your changes before refreshing or leaving the page!

For additional questions regarding Rakuten support