It takes minutes to explore a website and understand a little bit more about it, but with over 60,000 publishers in the CJ network cataloguing them is a major task! So why bother?  Well, it’s important to really know what each of our publishers do, how they work and then make sure that we pair them with advertisers to ensure sales are achieved and we’re targeting the right audience with the right adverts.  It helps both publishers and advertisers so it really is worth the effort.

We produce these nifty graphs for every affiliate

To ensure we get through all our publishers we take on the approach of divide and conquer.  As soon as a publisher is earning they’re automatically added to our publisher portal ready for review by a member of the Commission Junction team.  The review process is easy but thorough as we refer to it a lot when building programmes for advertisers.

Not only do we classify each and every site on the CJ network, but we sub categorise as well.  We look at the business model, category covered and content style to classify each and every publisher.  It then allows us to track each publisher and report more thoroughly for our advertisers.  We’re completely transparent and honest with our advertisers and it helps us build bespoke programmes and design successful affiliate marketing plans.

Local charities are important to Commission Junction, over the years we have raised thousands of pounds to support some of the charities in and around ValueClick HQ in Putney.  This Christmas, two teams of intrepid ValueClickers are heading to the most Northern reaches of Lapland where they’ll be competing in the Kids Company Arctic Biathlon.  It all starts with an early morning flight on the 4^th December followed by a connecting flight to the outskirts of the Arctic Circle.

...not sure the ValueClickers will look this erudite

The disciplines will be perilous tasks including ice fishing, dog sledging and long distance skiing. Everything will be undertaken on traditional Norwegian skis – so it’s not the relaxing holiday that most of us are looking for this Christmas.  The team needs as much support as possible for their task and are trying to raise £6,000 for Kids Company.

Kids Company raise money for children who live below the poverty line so it’s an incredibly important cause and worthy of every penny.  If you can spare anything you can help in many ways – you can donate via our Virgin Money Giving Page or join in with any of our fundraising events.  Next up is the pub quiz in Brixton, let us know if you fancy coming by joining the facebook group.

Thanks for your support and please do wish us luck!

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.

Last week marked the launch of the first ever PerformanceIN Fashion & Beauty event, courtesy of our good friends, the a4u. A motley crew of four (Hardeep, Jay, Ellie & I) made out way down to the stunning Hurlingham club in Putney Bridge for a fun filled day of fashion, networking, seminars and lobster! CJ cleverly parked up closely to some rather fetching cupcakes (thanks eConversions!) so we were well placed to entertain some of our favourite merchants, publishers and fashionistas.

We set up the stand to showcase how we as a Network can grow Fashion brands, learn about what’s new in the affiliate fashion world and to meet and greet new potential partners. Fashion retailers are an important part of the affiliate marketing mix and it was great to see an event tailored specifically for this vertical.

Over the course of the day we had the opportunity to chat with new affiliate partners and re-engage with our existing ones. The a4u had organised an excellent programme of seminars focused on getting the most out of the affiliate channel in the fashion sector. It was great to hear a range of perspectives from some of the most influential advertisers in the industry and to get a taste of how things stand from the blogger’s eye view.

The lobster lunch was a clear winner (as well as the constantly replenished pastries!) and the atmosphere was electric throughout the day making room for great networking opportunities. With this event a4u proved, yet again, that they’re at the forefront of the affiliate marketing industry.  We’re looking forward to the next PerformanceIN Travel event, taking place in November.  After the success of the initial fashion event, the PerformanceIN series is set to be on our agenda for a while to come.

 At CJ we have three job roles available for a Account Manager, Publisher Development Manager and a Sales Executive.

VCMedia is a digital advertising company that offers a complete range of advertising solutions for advertisers and publishers. They are also looking for a Sales Executive to join their team.

Finally PriceRunner, one of Europe’s most comprehensive shopping sites for price and product comparison, are looking for a Sales Executive, PPC Manager and Head of Paid Search/SEM Director.

Opportunities at ValueClick are not limited to the vacancies shown here. So please don’t be shy about contacting us, even if the above roles are not the right fit for you. As an innovative company, we are always on the lookout for exceptional people who can help us grow and expand into new areas.
 
To find out more and view the full job descriptions of the above roles, check out our Econsultancy Job adverts here.

PriceRunner

PriceRunner currently has two positions available in their teams; these are for a Channel Development Manager in their Sales team and a Client Services Assistant in their Operations team.PriceRunner is an internationally acclaimed shopping comparison website that provides consumer s with easy access to impartial and comprehensive buying information on a wide variety of products.

Commission Junction

As well as these job opportunities with PriceRunner, Commission Junction also has two jobs available, we are looking for a new Account Manager and Publisher Development Manager to join us. CJ is a global leader in the online channel of affiliate marketing. We drive quality results, deliver superior service and develop sustainable relationships for advertisers and publishers through our performance-based solutions. For more information on these two jobs see our LinkedIn profile. 

If you feel you or someone you know would be right for one of these jobs email us on hr.uk@valueclick.com to get the full details and apply.

They are looking for someone who is enthusiastic and passionate about the industry, with great networking, communication and interpersonal skills to take on this job. You would also need to have experience in a similar role.

For a full job description, go onto the LinkedIn page.

If you think this job is suitable for you (or someone you know) please email hr.uk@valueclick.com

They are looking for a Marketing Manager with experience in multiple channels to look after all online marketing communications, manage acquisition and retention and develop marketing strategies.

If you know anyone or are interested in hearing more then please email hr.uk@valueclick.com

We were positioned right by the Online advertising theatre which we were also sponsoring, and quite often the queues to get in went way past our stand. Lots of people couldn’t get into sessions because they were so busy – but fret not! If you missed anything then you can get all of the content here. There were some great speaker sessions, especially (even if I do say so myself) Mediaplex’s Donal Kane talking about  ’The Importance of ad serving’ and ValueClick Media’s Richard Sharp talking about the new wave of behavioural targeting (very apt given all the major, mainstream coverage of it in the last few days).

Another one I would recommend is Rory Sutherland of Ogilvy who has to be one of the industry’s best speakers, he never disappoints.

Imagine combining a huge critical mass of consumer online experiences with the most advanced behavioural targeting technology. Then, add the ability to target precise interest segments across our  ad network……..

 If I’ve confused you, let me explain a little bit more in plain English: We anonymously place users into segments based on their actions and likelihood to click or convert in the future. When a user shows signs of being in the market for something that you want to advertise, we will show them your ad. With the market flooded with behavioural targeting solutions, this may not sound exciting, but I can assure you it is different:

 Profiles: In a nutshell we segment the audience in a much more detailed way. Other networks use technologies which deal with much broader brushstrokes and can only segment their audience in a limited way. Also, these technologies also only look at past behaviours and can’t predict future actions.

 Predicting: Our algorithm learns from past experiences and builds up knowledge or buying lifecycles for all product categories. So, if a user has been browsing on a number of motoring websites our technology will be able to decide whether or not the user is a car enthusiast or whether they are in the market to buy a car and only serve ads to likely buyers.  The image below represents a rough idea of buying time for cars, mobile phones and broadband. Once these times have been exceeded the assumption will be made that the user is not in market and we won’t waste your budget by continuing to advertise to them.

Data: The key to the success of this technology is to collect data at each point along the path to conversion from interest to purchase (see diagram below) so that our algorithm can use it to make the most accurate predictions on likely buyers. That is why being part of ValueClick is so important.

So, what does this mean for advertisers? Essentially, they give us what they want to sell and we will target those most likely to buy – not through broad ‘finger in the air’ guestimates, but by complex calculations. In beta tests one client experienced a 298% lift in conversion rates over an optimised control group.

For publishers it means that there will be more relevant advertising to your site users.

I know that Behavioural Targeting is a much-used phrase which means different things depending on who says it. There is a very interesting article on iMedia Connection wriiten by Joshua Koran, VP of Targeting and Optimisation at ValueClick Media which explains all the different types of BT here. 

We are really excited about this as a business, because of its potential to shake up some traditional marketing methods.  

Mike Soper, ValueClick Media