Meet…Katie Sebire at Directline Holidays

Here at Commission Junction we ensure that we speak to our clients on a daily basis – we learn a lot about the ins and outs of their brands to ensure we’re designing an affiliate programme which is suited to their specific needs.  We thought it was worth sharing some of these issues and concerns, it’s interesting to see what other people in the industry think.

We picked up with Katie Sebire, online marketing manager at Directline holidays.  She talked about what she thinks are the biggest gripes within the affiliate industry and what Directline holidays is up to at the moment.

CJ: How long have you worked in affiliate marketing?
KS: I have been in affiliate marketing for over five years now.
CJ: What attracted you to the sector?
KS: The affiliate landscape is always changing. We’re seeing new affiliate business models emerging all the time with innovative and exciting ideas and technologies. There are always things to learn and affiliates to meet which helps to keep the industry fresh and exciting. I have enjoyed moving from the network side to the merchant side as I’ve been able to put  all I have learned (through working on some top affiliate programmes) into practice to benefit and grow the Directline Holidays affiliate programme
CJ: What technologies are you investing in at the moment? Continue reading

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Meet…Simon Bird from Savoo

Here at CJ we like to work extremely closely with our affiliates. Sometimes we like to have a catch up with them to discuss the industry in general. These conversations often shed some great insight on current industry trends which are great to share here. So please meet Simon Bird, Managing Director of Savoo the site for savvy shoppers.

Tell us a bit about Savoo….
Savoo promotes savvy shopping, deals and discount codes and is the international arm of the US deals giant Savings.com.  Savoo.co.uk, launched in 2009, is dedicated to offering consumers the best user experience while working closely with merchants and agencies to promote deals in a controlled and transparent way.

Recent examples of consumer driven innovation from Savoo include launching Savoo Personalisation where consumers complete a short wizard about their shopping preferences, and in return get their own personalised deal feed offering deals on exactly what they like.  Other recent innovations include Savoo Local, which features local restaurant deals, and Savoo Compare offering mobile, broadband and, soon to be launched, holiday and flight comparison. Continue reading

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Stop Online Piracy Act – The Wikipedia Blackout

Earlier today (18/01/2012) at 5am the English speaking version of Wikipedia began to stage  a 24 hour blackout protest, the first of its kind in Wikipedia’s history – in fact I can’t think of another time in the internet’s history when a prolific site staged such a protest.  The entire thing is a result of legislation being proposed in the US SOPA (stop online piracy act).  If made law, this legislation will expand the ability of US law enforcement and copyright holders in the fight against the online trafficking in intellectual property and counterfeit goods.  Things that happen in the US are always important, we are now a global society connected by the internet, so it’s vital we keep up to speed with the laws and legislations being discussed and implemented across the globe.

In a nutshell the bill would allow the US Department of Justice and copyright holders to seek court orders against websites accused of facilitating copyright infringement. This could bar online advertising networks from doing business with the websites in question. Supporters of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market and industries; whilst opponents, such as Wikipedia, claim it’s a violation of the first amendment and freedom of speech.

So what does this mean for sites such as Wikipedia? Well if we take the site under the label of internet search engine, it could be forced under the new legislation to remove links to hundreds of sites deemed “infringing” of the new laws. Then it would mean trawling through thousands of links every time one site is deemed an infringement of the new law. Smaller, free knowledge sites may not have the resources to undertake such a task and could be forced to shut down entirely. 

 The structure of the internet is fantastic and revered because of these smaller sites and because everyone has a voice – and don’t forget, some of the larger sites with teams that can handle this were once small teams.  The internet could be a very different place if this becomes legal. It will be interesting to see if today’s events have any bearing on the legislation being passed, whether Wikipedia will get their message across will remain to be seen.

I think that this law could have huge, detrimental impact.  Whereby piracy is a huge issue within the online world, I don’t see how this is the answer.  There’s a huge lack of knowledge behind the legislation and it’s our job, those of us who are employed in the online world I mean, to ensure people are educated and understand the inner workings of one of the largest sectors of society.  I’m sure there are similar concerns within UK government and discussions on how to attack online piracy, and if this is passed in the US it may only be a matter of time until we’re hearing similar murmurs.

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Meet – Kegan Hill, a new addition to our South African based team

So here at CJ we don’t let the small matter of being based on separate continents stop us from introducing our team members to the affiliate world. So without further ado we would like to welcome our new account manager Kegan Hill to the South Africa office; to help you to get to know Kegan a little better we have asked him a few choice questions. So if you want to find out who Kegan’s hero/heroine in life is (and believe me you do) then read on……

CJ: Where are you from?
KH: I’m from Durban, born and bred.

CJ: What did you do before CJ?
KH: I worked in finance for a company called VATit. I enjoyed my time there and made good contacts but I felt it was time for a change.

CJ: What are your impressions of CJ so far?
KH: Great! I already feel like I fit in and I’ve learnt a lot in the few days I have been here.

CJ: What do you think about affiliate marketing?
KH: I think it’s a great industry to be in, lots of exciting developments, I’m looking forward to it.

CJ: Where was your most recent holiday?
KH: That was to ‘The Berg’ (CJ: We are guessing Johannesburg Kegan?) for a family golf weekend. What made it even sweeter was winning and having the bragging rights for next year (it’s a pretty big thing in our family).

CJ: What did you want to be when you grew up?
KH: As far back as I can remember I wanted to be a professional cricket player.

Who is your hero/heroine?
KH: My mom! (CJ: Oh Kegan, really?)

CJ: Give us two interesting facts about yourself?
KH: I like to try everything at least once – I’ve been sky diving, so now I can say I’ve been there, got the DVD and WILL NEVER do that again. I am also an only child.

CJ: Very insightful stuff Kegan, good luck trying ‘everything’ at least once and welcome to the CJ team.

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Mining the long tail

So we recently had an article about feedback from all affiliates by CJ account director, Hardeep.  This is a really important topic and can create much controversy as everyone has different ways of doing things – our omnipotent leader, Mr Florian Gramshammer, went into further detail on Econsutalncy where he talks about how advertisers can target all publishers and how best to build an affiliate programme which works with not only the large affiliate corporations such as Quidco and MyVouchersCodes but also smaller, niche publishers.  If you’re interested and want to read more just click here.

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What’s happened in 2011 – a run down with the IAB

We’ve just contributed to the IAB’s blog – looking at the developments within the affiliate industry in 2011.  Here’s what we said…

The performance marketing space is now a truly multi-channel discipline.

It has grown significantly, from once being considered just search and affiliate, to encompass all forms of online marketing.

This growth is so much so that the field has broadened from an online channel to a digital one. Continue reading

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It’s all about feedback – we listen to our publishers, really we do

The landscape of affiliate marketing is constantly changing; particularly over the past five years as we have seen the growth of affiliate corporations.  There’s a lot of marketing opportunities with these corporation but there is still a plethora of affiliates that have a niche audience which brands want to tap into.  These smaller, but often more rewarding, sites are commonly known as the long tail.

It’s key to remember that the long tail will never deliver immediate returns, it’s an investment.  As an affiliate network we try to establish relationships with every publisher.  Of course, the big value corporation publishers are incredibly important, but there’s more to affiliate marketing than quick wins.  Programmes should be built bespoke; a holistic view is always going to have more of an impact.  Marketing is the art of communication for a brand, and the affiliate channel is no different.

An audience is at the heart of this – if we don’t know our audience how are we going to talk to them?  That’s why we try to speak to all our publishers and get feedback – it never falls on deaf ears.  Every piece of feedback we receive is discussed, otherwise how would we build an affiliate programme?

This may seem like obvious advice, but the basics are always the most difficult to master.  Advertisers who find their prime publishers in the long tail, invest in building relationships with them and use the feedback to shape an affiliate programme have the foundations in place for a long term, successful affiliate marketing programme which is exactly what we want to establish.

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IAB predicts affiliate marketing boom in 2012

As we mentioned in yesterday’s post, with 2012 fast approaching we’re all starting to set our New Year’s resolutions for the industry.  Predicting what’s in store for online marketers over the next year is a tricky game; while some things are unlikely to change, the dynamic nature of the industry means that there will undoubtedly be a few surprises along the way that no one could have anticipated.  Despite this, making educated guesses about  where the most growth is going to come from and where budgets will be best spent is a fundamental part of an Marketing Manager’s job.

Today, the IAB’s Affiliate Marketing Council have released research into advertisers’ opinions of the affiliate marketing sector and it’s good news for the affiliate channel with results showing that the market is set to enjoy significant growth in 2012.
The IAB talked to 140 brands to evaluate the affiliate marketing channel and any issues that the new year may bring.  The stats are great: 77% said that marketing spend for affiliates had grown and 71% expected it to continue to grow in 2012.

Continue reading

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Make sure you don’t miss out in 2012

Reuters announced some great news earlier this month; the latest forecast of the global advertising market predicts the industry is set to grow at a faster rate than the world economy in 2012.  There’s plenty going on to contribute to this, especially with the London Olympics in 2012, so maybe it’s time to start thinking about goals and objectives for 2012 – set some New Year’s resolutions!

Continue reading

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Welcome Owen Hancock, the newest recruit to join the CJ team

We want to welcome the delightful Owen Hancock to CJHQ so we’ve done a rapid fire, ‘getting to know you’ session below.  Owen is joining as an account manager working on Alton Towers and Weight Watchers, taking on board more clients as he learns the ropes.  So if you have any issues you need to address I’m sure he’s more than happy to answer your burning questions

CJ: Where are you from?
OH: I’m from Cambridgeshire originally; it’s flat as a pancake round that way so any sign of a hill makes me excited, but now I’m in Elephant & Castle which has its own particular charms…

CJ: What did you do before you joined Commission Junction?
OH: I was at a little social network called CitySocialising. The idea is to help people make new friends when they move to a city. It was great fun and I make some fantastic friends there, can’t wait to do the same at CJ.

CJ: What are your impressions of CJ so far?
OH: It’s been lovely. I’ve learnt a lot in my first few days and long may it continue (although perhaps not quite as long as Antonello’s tracking training ;) )
Continue reading

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