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.

The world of affiliate marketing is just one element of this digital mix, and it certainly has evolved over the last year.  There are many technology developments which have had an impact, namely the increased popularity of smart phones and tablets.

The captive audience that was once chained to its computer can now engage on multiple platforms and this is rapidly transforming the market.

The past two years has seen the dramatic rise of mobile which is now a well-established, major player in the market.  However, there are many other platforms that are set for a similar rise to fame.

Offline to online is becoming accessible with pay per call, and publisher businesses are developing into corporations and established businesses at a much faster rate.  We’re set to see more innovation from publishers, shopping comparison has evolved to vouchers and group buying, and these create forms of commerce will only grow over the next three years.

In addition, Social Media has provided another marketing platform within the affiliate channel having developed as a key affiliate business model in the past year.

There is one major issue that is going to transform the digital marketing space and that is the EU cookie legislation.  Commission Junction is heavily involved with the IAB and Affiliate Marketing Council in developing plans to ensure the affiliate community adhere to the derivative and it has as little impact on the industry as possible.

Of course, there needs to be substantial consumer education to ensure potential customers are aware of the impact of the ‘opt in’, but it’s a major development and one that publishers and advertisers will need to fully understand.

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.

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.

However, the news does come with a shocking statistic as well. Half of respondents said that knowledge of affiliate marketing at CEO level was ‘little’ or ‘none at all’.  With affiliate programmes now accounting for around 15-20% of over-all sales for some of our key clients, it is worrying to hear that affiliates may not be getting the recognition they deserve at board level.  True, our channel moves at break-neck speed and the sheer volume of promotional methods that come under our umbrella can be baffling to the outsider, but the industry has evolved dramatically over the past five years and it is a shame that the professionalism and influence of our channel is not on the radar for key decision makers.  My hope is that Digital Britain and Race online 2012 will make some CEOs, who currently have their head stuck in the sand when it comes to the complex online world, stand up and listen.  One of our objectives for 2012 is to encourage brands to push for affiliate marketing to become fully integrated with more traditional marketing channels, especially as the industry continues to grow in the face of an increasingly gloomy economic outlook.

The new PayPerCall programme allows affiliates to use a unique telephone number to display across any form of media, this call is tracked and commission is given to the relevant affiliate.  In essence PayPerCall technology bridges the gap between online affiliates and offline conversions, meaning that affiliates wont lose out on commission if their sale is converted offline, everyone receives reward for their hard work.

We’re excited about the prospects that the technology brings and can’t wait to see some of the results from our ‘maiden voyage’ with Directline Holidays.

If you think about it, there’s a tipping point where peoples behaviour changes, if something is expensive or the process is complicated you want to talk to someone about what you’re buying, it’s just human nature to get some reassurance.  Commission Junction has been running PayPerCall programmes in the US for a while now and has shown that calls convert more purchases than online adverts for high value purchases such as holidays.  We really hope that Directline Holidays can help pave the way for developments in the affiliate sector.

If you want to get involved or have any questions about the new programme please feel free to contact us, we always like hearing from clients, customers and consumers.  Email loconnell@cj.com or leave a comment and we’ll get back to you.

This is a fantastic opportunity to share your opinions and viewpoints with your peers so make sure you take part.  The deadline is on Friday and completing the census only takes ten minutes.  So grab a coffee and take part – you get a free copy of the report if you do.

Two years ago a similar report was compiled which provided unique insight into affiliate marketing, the time has now come to revisit the subject.  The online world moves so quickly that the research is sure to bring different topics and new perspectives to the forefront of the industry; mobile is now on the scene and video has developed as a leading proposition within affiliate marketing.

We’ll be discussing the findings at the A4U Expo in London in October, along with Andrew Firmin, affiliate manager at Argos. So you can hear more about it all there – questions are always appreciated as well.

Argos Affiliate Hub V3

Here at Commission Junction we realise that communication is a vital element of any affiliate programme.  Not only do we endeavour to be transparent and work efficiently with our clients, but also to maintain great relationships with our affiliates.  We have therefore introduced a range of ‘affiliate hubs’. The hubs are co-branded affiliate resources offering a one stop solution for programme tools, creative and FAQs. They also provide a direct link to the merchant and Commission Junction team, just in case publishers have any questions or queries.

These have been so successful that we’ve dedicated even more time to expanding them – we’ve just launched the Argos affiliate hub V3.0.  We’ve expanded on the existing features and have worked hard to make sure the platform has all the information an affiliate might want.  It includes promotional material, affiliate news, industry insight and a useful links sections with plans to expand this out even further with V4.0.

The Argos Hub has also got its very own blog; allowing affiliates to follow future developments as well as keeping up to speed with marketing plans directly from the Argos. It’s fair to say the hub has become more than just a platform; it’s become a resource centre.

UK2.Net is one of the biggest and fastest growing web hosting companies in the UK and has been a leading player in the hosting industry since 1998, having sold over a million domain names and being host to thousands of websites and dedicated servers for customers across the globe. Their affiliate program has been on Commission Junction since 2007. We recently caught up with Liz Ponsford, the affiliate manager.

Describe yourself in three words

LP: Confident, cheerful and insightful

When and how did you get into affiliate marketing?

LP: After the recession hit in about 2008/9, my media sales profession clearly needed some serious thought. I went on one of these “Traffic Summits” where top internet marketers try and sell their courses and mentoring. Being smart I waited until the last day and signed up with Alex Goad and Brian Johnson and his Google Conquest course which included a multi blog management tool. This taught me all I needed to know about keyword research, finding markets, building, SEO, PPC, ad networks, social media, and a host of other underground methods for driving traffic as well as providing me with a network of other like minded individuals.

What were the main challenges you faced as an affiliate?

LP: Friends’ negative attitudes to what I was doing and their unshared enthusiasm. Learning to not be the child in the candy shop after a keyword research session, and learning to focus in one niche and milking that for all it was worth. I spread myself too widely.

What top tips can you offer to other affiliates?

LP: Focus on one area of interest and build one main authority site with other feeder sites to link to it. Explore product feed based sites but be aware that you will still have to write unique content to rank well. Be selective in which webinars you watch as learning is easy but it’s the doing that will bring the pennies. Each week make a list and stick to it. Get to know affiliate managers and ask their advice on which banners are working the best, which products are selling best, what are the forthcoming opportunities etc.

What made you switch from being an affiliate to being an affiliate manager?

LP: Well, it wasn’t something I actively searched for. UK2 contacted me via Monster. It was originally to include PPC as well but it soon became apparent that the affiliate role needed more attention to grow and support it correctly. I went for a chat and within three hours had a job offer in my inbox – not bad in a recession and especially since it was a brand new career that would never have happened if I hadn’t been made redundant and had the time to learn something I was interested in.

What are the main challenges you face as an affiliate manager?

LP: Making sure affiliates are on the case with new offers. All affiliates are different and it’s impossible to cater differently for all affiliates across four networks all the time. Therefore we make sure a monthly newsletter goes out in quick, easy to read sections that always have a simple list of the top offers which could be made into extra voucher codes listings by savvy voucher sites (some already do this) and can also be used in affiliate reviews and so on.

I make myself available on Skype and IM too so that people can always ask me questions.

What do you love most about being an affiliate manager?

LP: All the entrepreneurial people you meet without a doubt – this industry is smart and always looking towards the future and it gives me a thrill to be a part of this technology revolution where there is something new to learn every day.

What are your top three tips for other affiliate managers?

LP: As a new affiliate manager, I found it all a little daunting, but it’s basically a role of servicing, developing, and communicating to the right audience. Know your top 20 affiliates in each network and know what they need as a business and what their web properties are and what turns them on. It’s already assumed they will get their commissions so always think about added value ideas. As well as this there will always be sites that haven’t set up the links yet so research via the listings in Google and make sure the top rankers have your links too.

Where do you see new opportunities for affiliate marketing?

LP: Lots of issues have already faced the affiliate marketing industry; the Google Slaps, Google Sandbox, Google Panda and now the recent Panda 2. This will always continue. The new E privacy laws are the next big thing but I think there will be some relaxing of the law as it becomes apparent that the user experience of the web will be too greatly affected and that there could also be the potential for affiliate cookies not to get tracked correctly.

As more and more companies make their sites mobile accessible, more and more mobile CPA campaigns will become available. The mobile advertising market is already growing as affiliates are taking advantage of this new wave and getting in there before extra rules come into place.

Why should affiliates promote the Uk2.net affiliate program?

LP: UK2.NET is a well established brand since 1998 and when you do the maths on the earning potential it can be massive on the right web site. Since our commission rates increase from 35% to 45% at six or more sales a month, then go right up to 60% after 21 sales a month, it’s not hard to see why more and more affiliates are sitting up and taking notice. The growth of the programme on CJ over the last year has been tremendous but really it’s been just about getting the word out, and with four networks it’s hard to make contact with everyone; but we shall keep going until we have.

How can people contact you?

Skype -  uk2.net-affiliates

Email – liz.ponsford [at] uk2.net

IM – affiliates [at] uk.net

Recently Commission Junction has completed a voucher code feed which is now available to all the voucher code publishers joined to your program. The purpose of this email is to provide you with some best practices to get the most out of your voucher publishers and increase your conversions whilst providing a positive user experience for your customers.

The feed will provide voucher publishers with more accurate data which will help them to comply with the IAB Voucher Code Policy of which Commission Junction is a signatory.

Many of your already provide voucher codes in two ways. The first way is to provide custom codes to small groups of voucher publishers. Typically, these codes can be exclusive to one or provided to a small closed group of publishers. The second method, used for providing codes to a wider audience of publishers is to flag your Commission Junction links as ‘coupons’. This email will discuss how to best use this second method.

This is what you would see when uploading or changing a link

Each of these fields will correspond to a particular column in the new voucher feed. For most of the fields you can fill these in as you would a normal banner. There are some notable changes to make however:

After naming your link, please select ‘Coupon’ from the ‘Promotion’ field. This means that this link will be picked up by the voucher feed. Next, ‘Set promotion start and end on’ field. If you do not have specific start and end dates, then choose the current date as the start, and enter a date far in the future for the end date (such as February 11th 2015). Do not choose ‘Ongoing’ as this will leave the end date blank in the feed which may lead publishers to think that this field is invalid or has been overlooked.

Now, continue to fill in the following fields as normal until you get to ‘Description’. It is in this field that you need to enter two things; the description of the offer and the actual voucher code. Please enter your description as normal. At the end of your description you need to display the code in this format: Code: EXAMPLE. Make sure that there is a space between the ‘:’ and the code. The code should be in capital letters. So voucher code ‘x7s9d’ should be inputted as Code: X7S9D.

An example below of the description followed by the code:

Free hamper worth £25 when you spend £50 or more. Code: XBM6

After you’ve completed the ‘Description’ field, continue to the ‘Publisher Group’ field. Please ensure that you choose ‘All Publishers’ as doing this will enable your voucher link to be displayed in the voucher feed.

Fill in the other fields as normal, taking care to make sure that the deep link URL is working and successfully landing on the offer. Whilst the feed will include all possible fields – coupon, free shipping, seasonal link, sale/discount etc – those links flagged as coupon need to have coupon codes included. For all other link types please follow best practices to ensure your promotional links have accurate descriptions, deep linking and start/end dates.

If you have any questions please do not hestitate to contact us.