NATS or not NATS?
 

Hi all!

I'm thinking to switch my affiliate program to NATS and would like to hear your opinion what do you prefer as affiliate webmaster - NATS or not NATS script?

what are you switching from?

A good question indeed.

Be careful asking here. There are a # of people lurking here who have other agendas or aren't even webmasters. Make sure you listen to the "why do it" not just the "what to do".

imho, NATS isn't the best of the bunch. Just the best marketing. Check out MPA3/Executive Stats/etc before going with NATS

What do you feel is better about MPA3/ES/etc.?

i hear lots of good things about Nats...

Nats has been incredible for us. Everything is top notch and I would recommend them 100%

Mark

from an affiliates point of view i prefer NATS. why? campaign codes, encoded/unencoded links, easy link to join links.

I'm a big fan of nats, both from sponsor and affiliates point of views...

NATS baby! all the way :thumbsup

Don't waste your time, NATS da best!

I like nats too.

I prefer NATS over ccbill if that is what you might switch from.

Without remembering too many specifics (It's been a couple months since I reviewed the features of all the products out there), some offered some great features, but lacked completely in other areas. There's no true winner that I found with any of them for someone seeking something truly feature rich.

On the affiliate side of things, I've only promoted one program using NATS for any amount of time, and the interface was frustrating enough to me not to seek out further programs running it. I'm not even sure what specifically put me off, but it didn't have a very good "flow" to it. Navigation could definitely use some big improvements.

(I meant all of the above as constructive criticisms, not to bash you. NATS is a very solid product with some great features).

What is bad from a sponsor POV? It's interesting to hear end user info :)

Hah, it's actually quite the oposite. MPA has better marketing then NATS as they snag'd some big contracts latelly, eventho they carry an inferior product. Imho, NATS burned alot of bridges with some of it's marketing campaigns latelly.

We use NATS and love it, but what would prompt you to make the change?


The question of what script you are you using for affiliate management currently is a very good one. And what program this is for. There are a few programs that even the almighty himself could help.

NATS would have to be one of the best affiliate tracking systems money could buy :2 cents:

I have to say that i like the layout of mpa3 much better then that one of nats. for the admin and the aff

I love using NATS as an affiliate.

nats of course nats

If you want your affiliate program to offer nothing more than a lot of other programs out there, then use NATS! :)

What it all really boils down to is what you desire & need in the product.
You need to take a look at the systems you're thinking about using & see which is more compatible & functional to suit your needs. Also, you need to consider the product's compatibility with your current billing system, as well as its compatibility with any other systems or programs you would be running concurrently alongside the tracking software.
Next factor you should be considering is the level & treatment of customer service you expect from the tracking software staff. You surely would like to be treated with respect, courtesy & professionalism.

Another thing you need to be thinking about when making your decision is about your own skills & qualifications in regards to use, installation & admin of the system. I'm not up to par with quite a few of the systems available, but I am certain all of them offer large amounts of assistance when it comes to these issues.. Nats, I believe, is the most helpful when it comes to installation, so I hear.

You're gonna hear/see both yay & nay on just about any product, so, take into account alot of things.. not just what people say.

In my opinion.. for my own program, I would not switch from CCBill to nats, due to previous known facts about the compatibility, or conflicting systems.

I would not use nats if I was to expect respectful, courteous, professional treatment from staff.

Otherwise, there's no real reason you should not use it.


btw.. in regards to treatment, Oscar Oystein of MPA3 is very personable & great fellow to deal with

theres many areas to look at ...

Flat out my nats sponsors dont perform as well as non-nats sponsors.. could be purely coincidence or something more, i wont get into that..

As far as "box" software , its about as good as it gets and well recognized..

If you already have a good affiliate base built up and the software your currently using isnt lacking in any way , i dont see the need.

If your a smaller affiliate base and you need more features or dont have the investment money to have a custom software created fr you i think nats is the perfect solution.

Having your affiliate area look much like all the others can be both a good thing and a bad thing.. Makes it easy for new affiliates to navigate as they are used to the layout , but also tends to make you stand out less , so you better have something quality to make you stand out amongst the others

Just to give my 2 cents here... you can create your own navigation and dont have to follow the NATS work flow. If you know HTML--as we all should in this biz--you would be fine with incorporating your own design.

Also, from having to manage a 40+ site affiliate program using NATS, I can tell you that its best equipped for programs with more than 1 or 2 sites.

Good luck in your search.

The backend is simply wonderful, easy to get into, easy to understand, easy to work with. The support documents, the video training, everything is fantastic.

As far as changing the work flow, I guess most program owners running it are lazy, they all look the same to me. lol.

Yawn ..... sig spot :)

Nats is good, but if you are looking to own your own code, check out Executive Stats

http://www.executivestats.com

NATS are good but they are way overpriced.I mean 12500$ plus install fee for few functions?It simply doesnt worth it.

NATS is a great affiliate software. It was designed with both the program owner and affiliates in mind. The navigation is top of the line and when I say that, I mean its easy, fast, and well thought out. I have yet to find something it will not do. Customer Support is excellent to understate it a tad.

Nats of course, offers everything we need and is the easiest for the affilaites to use

What's your program?

as an affilaite nats is the coolest for me to use.

You're right. The default affiliate templates we provide to programs on install are dated and not very good. We left them very basic under the assumption that most would want to give them their own look & feel. We were wrong on that and most seem to want something out of the box that they can just use. A few of the larger programs love to tweak and edit everything to their own style but the smaller and a lot of o the mid-size guys want to just get something up and going.

We are in the process of creating a "standard NATS affiliate skin" which will be included with all programs and available to their affiliates to choose. This skin will be clean and is going to take the input from affiliates such as getting link codes easier, having all FHG links for all sites given at once by default, using non-encoded link codes by default, etc. If anyone has any input on the interface now would be the time to send it our way so please do.

I'm sorry I jumped on you the other day in that thread. I was frustrated with the way this board has been lately and I directed it towards you. I apologize for it.

I love NATS! I would not use anything else.

nats is ok

and they have some good anti-fraud module which you will probably like.

Sorry John, it's just a joke :)