beyond the banner...advancing your use of tools and merchandising to tap into the way consumers are...

Beyond the Banner…Retail Affiliates: Merchandising & Maximising Revenue

Presented by: Liane DietrichManaging Director, LinkShare Ltd.

Copyright 2008 LinkShare Corporation. All rights reserved.

Introduction• Liane Dietrich, Managing Director, LinkShare

Quick Industry trends

Beyond the banner

Copyright 2008 LinkShare Corporation. All rights reserved.

Quick recap of who we are

First affiliate marketing network – founded in 1996

Over 2.2 million publishers have joined the LinkShare globally

One of the largest performance marketing networks in the world based on Gross Merchant Sales (GMS)

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Some brands you wouldn’t expect…

Retail Expertise

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Quick Industry Trends

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Studies are still showing that people plan to do more shopping online

Latest data…

• Many studies: UK consumers to do more shopping online• Does not = higher spending• But millions of people will spend a greater portion of retail budget on Web

Copyright 2008 LinkShare Corporation. All rights reserved.

Why are they preferring online?

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Why are they preferring offline?

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Finding the info they want online

78% don’t get enough information from TV advertising

92% have more confidence in online information than salespeople

81% are doing online research “most of the time” before buying a product

73% conducting online product research several times a month

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Research is now part and parcel of shopping

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Across all sectors

How frequently do you do online research before you purchase each of the following types of products? (Most of the time / Occasionally)

Research is now part and parcel of shopping

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So how do we reach out to them?

43% of Recession Shoppers have purchased a product online that they wouldn’t

otherwise because of a voucher

69% have found a review by another consumer helpful

83% have used a comparison shopping engine

60% cite being able to research information as a reason for shopping online

“Online you can thoroughly research what you want before

purchase.”

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Beyond the banner1. Give the consumer what they want

2. Expand your approach for long-term goals

3. Make your life easier

4. Increase conversion through merchandising

5. Leverage existing influences

6. Test into what works

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Eliminate clicks between the consumer and the desired action on your site

1. Give the consumer what they want

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Deeplinking

• Link to specific pages on an advertiser site

• Send traffic to the most qualified page possible

1. Give the consumer what they want

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2. Expand your approach for long-term goals

Merchants (theoretically) ~ 80% of sales by top 20% of affiliates

Affiliates – Same: majority of income from the big programmes

Expand Partnerships – across verticals, outside the box

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2. Expand your approach for long-term goals

Focus beyond brands

Showcase your strengths rather than a brand logo

Copyright 2008 LinkShare Corporation. All rights reserved.

2. Expand your approach for long-term goals

Copyright 2008 LinkShare Corporation. All rights reserved.

3. Make your life easier!

Product LinkFinder

• Search across multiple advertisers for specific products

• Sort results by price, name or category

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Easy deeplinking solutions

3. Make your life easier!

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WordPress Plugins

1. RSS DealFeed• Display & manage RSS

feeds in your blog

2. AdMix• Use advertiser RSS feeds

as blog posts

3. LinkLookup• Create deep links• Search for product links

3. Make your life easier!

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Widgets

3. Make your life easier!

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How it was typically How it should be

4. Increase Conversion Through Merchandising

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Be creative

4. Increase Conversion Through Merchandising

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4. Increase Conversion Through Merchandising

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• Dynamic Rich Media

4. Increase Conversion Through Merchandising

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5. Leverage existing influencesSeasonal variations

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5. Leverage existing influencesMerchants know their own strengths

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5. Leverage existing influencesPress influences

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5. Leverage existing influencesPress influences

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5. Leverage existing influencesCelebrity

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6. Test What Works

Perfect industry to “test” what is bringing you the best commissions

Make sure you understand the reporting tools

Recreate success with other advertisers/websites

Copyright 2008 LinkShare Corporation. All rights reserved.

SUMMARY

Leverage the info-shopper

Expand your approach and maximise your long-term return

Use all the tools available to make your job easier

Merchandise – give consumers what they want