Affiliate Software for Loans

Key Features to Look for in Lending Affiliate Software

Running a loan company with services like payday loans, consumer loans or other kinds of loans? Thinking about diving into affiliate marketing? You’ll need a tool that does more than the basics—one that’s packed with advanced features just for your industry. You’re probably here for the advanced stuff, right? We’ll skip the basics then. But hey, if you wanna peek at those too, they’re all listed below.

But now, let’s dive into the really interesting stuff.

Cookie-less Conversion Tracking

But… isn’t tracking kind of a basic feature? We get it, it seems like it should be standard, but believe it or not, it’s still not as common as you might think. Basically, when cookie tracking falls short, you need to bring cookieless tracking into the mix. But there’s more to it—lending usually doesn’t happen instantly within a session. You often need to approve the client, maybe even call them for verification, and so on. So, cookie-based tracking just doesn’t cut it for your needs. You’ve got to have cookieless tracking in your arsenal. It’s a pretty complex topic, so we’ve put together a dedicated article to cover all the details.

In Paldock, we got you covered. Check our article about Tracking.

Lead Generators and Brokers

In your business, working with lead generators and brokers is inevitable. If you’re not collaborating with them yet, rest assured, they’ll start popping up like mushrooms soon. In an industry where only a fraction of leads turn into loans, their involvement is given. But here’s the upside: they’re your best affiliates, driving the highest volumes your way. If you’re not working with them, you’re basically leaving money on the table.

When choosing affiliate software, it’s crucial to keep this in mind so you don’t miss out on the biggest affiliate partners. Or so you don’t have to switch your software later. Usually, companies like yours either use a custom solution for managing leads and a separate SaaS tool for tracking affiliate clicks, or they use two different SaaS tools: one for leads and another for clicks. Until we created PalDock, there wasn’t a single tool that combined both features in one app. And there still isn’t a proper PalDock alternative.

But anyway, back to business. Lead generators and brokers need API integration with your systems and iframe forms to embed on their websites. Now we’re entering more complex territory where it’s easy to make a mistake or not think things through thoroughly (heh, English…).

What to Watch Out For

Choosing the right software isn’t easy, and we recommend paying close attention to all the features you need – not just now, but also in the future. In fact, future needs might be even more important. It’s easy to identify your current requirements, but it takes more thought and planning to anticipate what you’ll need down the line. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide below to help you choose the right affiliate software. However, moving forward, we’ll focus specifically on the unique needs of your industry.

Check our series about the selection procedure.

Structure of Leads

You need to be able to set up a structure for the types of leads you’ll accept. Your affiliate partners might only need basic info like name and contact details. The upside? A higher conversion rate because it’s quick and easy. The downside? These short leads are lower value, which means lower payouts. On the other side, some partners might prefer a lead structure for the full application. They’ll gather all the data you need, which gets them the highest payout possible. But the trade-off is the drop-off rate. Users are more likely to abandon the form because it’s longer and requires more effort to complete.

The best approach? Have both lead structures. Offer a short lead option and a full application option. Why? Not only can you accommodate all types of partners, but here’s a PRO TIP: those collecting full applications can send you abandoned forms as short leads. That’s extra value for them – and for you. Win-win!

What does this mean for you? When picking affiliate or leadgen software, make sure it supports leads with multiple lead structures. Not just for short and full leads, but also for different products – since each might need its own lead structure. Oh, and don’t forget to check how easy it is to set up and manage all of this!

In Paldock, we got you covered.

Lead Validation

Structure is one thing, but you definitely don’t want to deal with fake or rubbish leads – you need to validate them. Sure, you could throw some validation into your API, but that comes with its own headaches. It means extra work for your developers to set it up initially and every time something needs to be updated.

Plus, API-based validation isn’t exactly user-friendly. The user submits the full form, only to be hit with a bunch of errors they have to fix. Not great for UX, right? And worse, it doesn’t stop them from entering rubbish in the first place. It just lets the bad data through until it’s too late. Not ideal! That’s why it’s super important for the tool to have built-in validation features. Here are four easy ways to get good data:

1. Data Validation
   This keeps the data clean and accurate. You can set rules like what kind of input is allowed (digits, text), how long it can be, and other little details to make sure the data is solid.
2. Format Masking
   Make it easy for users to fill things in correctly by formatting the input as they type. For example, showing phone numbers in the way they’re used to (with spaces or dashes) helps avoid mistakes compared to just smashing everything together.
3. Calculations
   Why ask for a ton of fields when you can just calculate some based on others? Fewer fields = fewer mistakes.
4. External Validation
   Need to check if an email or phone number is legit? Use an external API to validate it instantly—no extra work for you. It’s like, BAM, no fake leads sneaking through.

In Paldock, we got you covered.

API integration

The API is the most complex part of all this. Now, lead generators and brokers have different needs.

Leadgens might be fine with just one API method to register the lead, get the result (whether you accepted it or not), and find out where to redirect the lead. Optionally, they might want an additional method to check if you’re interested in the lead without registering it. This can be useful for lead bidding, where you return the price you’re willing to pay for a specific lead, and the leadgen starts an auction among bidders.

Brokers are a whole different story. They don’t just want the full application – they need the entire process to happen on their side. That includes everything from verification to processing. This adds a lot of requirements to your API infrastructure because you’ll need to do more than just accept lead data. You’ll also have to provide various responses, like prefilled contracts, pricing lists, API methods for triggering verification or processing steps, and returning the results. It’s a more complex setup, but it’s crucial to meet their needs.

In Paldock, we got you covered.

Reporting

The best part? In PalDock, you get to track both clicks and lead performance seamlessly from one dashboard. No more juggling two separate tools or building a custom solution for lead generation. Just a simple, organized view of all your affiliate traffic.

In Paldock, we got you covered.

Looking for More?

There’s only so much we can squeeze in here. If you feel something’s left out, take a peek at Paldock or drop us a line. Just remember, we’re truly dedicated to catering to every phase of Affiliate marketing. So if there’s a feature you’re after and we don’t have it yet, rest assured, we’ll get on it for you!