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An associate program is an online marketing method used by a lot of small and large scale electronic businesses to generate additional sales. The method involves making a deal with another web site whose content is often relate

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

d to that of the main merchant's website. Simply put, the associate web site posts advertisments for the merchant web site, and also offers it's readers links to the merchant website. For each person who purchases items from th

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

merchant via the associate link, the associate gets a commission. From this simple system, associate marketing has grown rapidly to become larger and more elaborate so that today, entire books are written revolving around crea

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

ing and operating successful associate programs. Here are 7 basic criteria that both merchants and potential publishers should take into consideration when choosing or designing an associate program.

Compensation System - ther

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

are different types of compensation, and associate programs often use more than one in combination when making a package to offer to their merchants. The smallest and simplest types get paid a small, fixed amount every time a

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

iewer from the associate page clicks the merchant's link and gets redirected to it's website. Others are strictly commission basis and require actual successful sales to earn a percentage. A well designed compensation system sh

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

uld be fair for both the associate and the merchant.

Publisher Type - the type of associate program is very important in marketing. There are different categories, most notably Product Review Sites, Loyalty and Rebate Sites, C

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

omparison Shopping/Online Directories, Cross Merchant Associate Sites, and Personal Forums/Blogs. Choosing the right type of publisher to get as associates can allow a merchant to tailor different marketing strategies to suit.

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

Program Compatibility - this is a natural consideration to take for any web based endeavor. The compatibility of the associate web site's programming with the merchant's web site is extremely important. Imagine if, for example,

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

the merchant web site could not be properly displayed on certain browsers that the associate web site actually supported! To this end, both merchants and associates are advised to make their web sites compatible with as wide a

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

ariety of different programs as possible.

Marketing Approach - this is one area where marketing can get a bit sticky. While there's nothing wrong with advertising through the use of reviews, personal recommendations, and web b

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

sed graphic ads, some associate web sites use more aggressive marketing methods that may actually give the merchant a negative reputation. For example, rampant spamming and pop ups can get really irritating for most people and

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

an cause both an associate and merchant's web sites to get registered as "spam" on someone's firewall. Needless to say, this is counter productive.

Niche and Demographic Coverage - special interest niches and certain demograph

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

cs are always the target audience of a certain merchant. Because of this, the associate programs chosen should cater to the same groups. This does not need to be an exact match; for example, a publisher of fire arms magazines c

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

an approach magazine review web sites, gun enthusiast forums, and the personal web sites of gun shops as viable options to take as associates.

Online Interactivity Options - associate web sites MUST have a certain amount of on

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

ine interactivity for users. If it exists simply for the purpose of advertising affiliated merchant web sites, an associate web site would quickly run out of traffic going through it. Good associate programs keep the interest o

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

their visitors through various means, like having discussion boards, offering reviews and helpful articles, and publishing downloadable monthly e-magazines.

Multi Tier and Two Way Affiliate Marketing - these two types of asso

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

iate programs differ slightly from normal associate programs because they extend beyond the regular merchant-associate type of relationship. They actually involve multiple associate websites connected via links to each other. M

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

lti tier marketing is often seen in referral programs like multi level marketing, and in this case associates can also gain commissions by recruiting to and linking with other "lower tier" associate web sites. This provides lar

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

er exposure for a product. In two way affiliate marketing, two or more merchants act as each other's associate programs, so that both offer their own sets of products and at the same time provide links to each other's web sites

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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