Microsoft Community Connections (MCC) Affiliate Program FAQ: Business Organization

Transcription

1 Microsoft Community Connections (MCC) Affiliate Program FAQ: Business Organization

2 FAQ Index MCC Affiliate Program Questions Clicking a question will direct you to the answer page. 1. How does the MCC Affiliate Program work? 2. Does my organization qualify to sign up for the MCC Affiliate Program? 3. How much does it cost my organization to join the program? 4. How will I earn money for my organization through this program? What is the payout amount for each product? 5. Will Microsoft market this program to my members? 6. Can I use any pre-made marketing materials to market this program to my membership? 7. What is the general help alias that I can use to ask questions about the program? 8. What are the steps to sign up for the Affiliate Program? 9. Once I sign up, how long do I have before I can advertise this offer to my members? 10. Is there support for me if I have questions about implementing and marketing this program? 11. Who will be providing support for the members who purchase Office 365 from our website?

3 12. Is there a resource to help educate members on cloud technology and Office 365 overall? 13. Who is Impact Radius and what is their function with the MCC Affiliate Program? 14. Is there a limit to the amount of money that we can earn through this program? 15. Who do we escalate program questions to? payment can I choose from? 24. If I have a question about a payment who do I ask? 25. If a member that I referred makes a purchase and then returns the order, do I still get paid? 26. What advertising materials can I choose from, and what landing page do they drive to? 16. Does the Microsoft Partner earn money from this program? 17. Should we find out if there is a Microsoft Partner that currently works with our organization? 18. Is there an application or agreement? 19. How many contacts can we have for the portal to review our information and licenses sold? 20. How are sales tracked? 21. What is the Referral Period? 22. When and how will I get paid? 23. What currency and methods of

4 FAQ 1. How does the MCC Affiliate Program work? Business organizations (such as local Chambers of Commerce and industry organizations) sign up to promote Microsoft products through their organization to their members. This can be done through links and banners, social posts, handouts and other communications to the membership base. Members who click or show interest are directed to a Microsoft site to subscribe to Office 365 or other products. Affiliates are paid a commission commission on any resulting new member sales of eligible products. 2. Does my organization qualify to sign up for the MCC Affiliate Program? Microsoft welcomes everyone to apply to the program. However, we reserve the right to refuse anyone that does not meet our quality and content standards. We periodically review affiliate sites to ensure our quality and content standards are being met. 3. How much does it cost my organization to join the program? Nothing. The program is free.

5 4. How will I earn money for my organization through this program? Microsoft supplies you with advertising materials to distribute to your audiences (e.g. banners, s, social posts, etc). When a member clicks on a link in the advertising materials and then purchases an eligible product, you are paid a commission for the sale. The commission amount varies by product and region. For U.S. sales, the bounties are as follows: Office 365 Business Essentials: You earn $40.00* Office 365 Plan K: You earn $10.00* Office 365 Business Premium: You earn $80.00* Skype for Business: You earn $20.00* Office 365 Business: You earn $35.00* SharePoint Online: You earn $20.00* Office 365 Enterprises E1/E2: You earn $20.00* Project Online: You earn $20.00* Office 365 Enterprise E3: You earn $100.00* Visio Online: You earn $20.00* Office 365 Enterprise E4: You earn $20.00* Exchange Online: You earn $50.00* * Commissions are based on customers sold, not seats sold

6 5. Will Microsoft market this program to my members? No, it will be up to your organization to market this program as you see appropriate. However, we have provided marketing materials for your use. 6. Can I use any pre-made marketing materials to market this program to my membership? Yes, there are a variety of banner ads, HTML templates, and text links that you can choose from. You can also create your own materials, subject to Microsoft s approval. If you are interested in creating your own materials, please submit a request to: o365affiliates@microsoft.com. 7. What is the general help alias that I can use to ask questions about the program? You can send questions to mcchelp@microsoft.com, and your will be routed to the appropriate resource.

7 8. What are the steps to sign up for the Affiliate Program? Simply contact us at microsoft.com and let us know that you are interested in signing up. After completing a short web form, your application will be processed within 48 business hours and you will be contacted via Once I sign up, how long do I have before I can advertise this offer to my members? Upon acceptance into the program, you can begin promoting it immediately. 10. Is there support for me if I have questions about implementing and marketing this program? Yes, you can your questions to o365affiliates@microsoft.com 11. Who will be providing support for the members who purchase Office 365 from our website? Microsoft customer support. 12. Is there a resource to help educate members on cloud technology and Office 365 overall? Yes, Microsoft Community Connections (MCC) and our Microsoft Partners that MCC can assist connecting you with. 13. Who is Impact Radius and what is their function with the MCC Affiliate Program? Impact Radius is the operator of the platform that hosts our program. It has a best-in-class tracking solution that hosts all ad creative, tracks sales activity, and issues payments to our affiliates. You will have access to a portal on Impact Radius where you view all activity and track your earnings. 14. Is there a limit to the amount of money that we can earn through this program? No. 15. Who do we escalate program questions to? Please send to o365affiliates@ microsoft.com. 16. Does the Microsoft Partner earn money from this program? No, not directly through the program. However, the partner has the ability to support your members in implementation and software services if you are interested.

8 17. Should we find out if there is a Microsoft Partner that currently works with our organization? Yes. You are encouraged to find out who your local Microsoft Partner is that your organization currently works with and if they are interested in learning about the program, and how they can help support your members. If you do not have a partner, feel free to mcchelp@microsoft.com and we will contact you to introduce you to several partners to choose from. 18. Is there an application or agreement? Yes. 19. How many contacts can we have for the portal to review our information and licenses sold? You can add as many users as you would like. 20. How are sales tracked? Sales are tracked using a unique tracking link generated by the affiliate program specifically for your organization. The member has a predetermined amount of time ( Referral Period ) after their last click on your link(s) for purchases to be eligible for commission. 21. What is the Referral Period? The Referral Period is the amount of time between the member s last click on your tracking link(s) and the date that the member made a purchase of an eligible product. This is commonly referred to as a cookie window. Microsoft will give credit to affiliates for eligible transactions for up to 30 days from click date. 22. When and how will I get paid? All orders generated by your referrals in a given month will become locked and eligible for commission on the last day of the next month. Payments for locked orders are issued on the 15th of each month. For example, if you refer a member who places an order on October 30th, that order will lock on November 30th and you will receive commission for that order on December 15th. 23. What currency and methods of payment can I choose from? You can choose to be paid in whatever currency you like. Payments are issued by check, ACH, or PayPal.

9 24. If I have a question about a payment who do I ask? You can any questions to o365affiliates@microsoft.com. 25. If a member that I referred makes a purchase and then returns the order, do I still get paid? If the member cancels an order before the lock date, then the commission on that order will be reversed. If the member cancels their order after the lock date, then the commission will still be paid to you. 26. What advertising materials can I choose from, and what landing page do they drive to? We have a variety of banner ads to choose from. Please see the default landing page. We also have some banners that are specific to our Exchange Online product, and these banners drive to this location.