is affiliate marketing really worthwhile?
TRANSCRIPT
Is Affiliate Marketing Really Worthwhile?
Matt BaileyHead of Affiliate
i-level
YES...if it’s managed correctly
What are we going to talk about?
• Context – Why are we asking this question?
• Looking past the last click• More than a single channel• Are all sales the same?
• Maximising your campaign effectiveness
Who Am I?
• Head of Affiliate at i-level
• Chair of IAB’s Affiliate Marketing Council
• Passionate advocate of performance marketing
Unprecedented Times
Uncertain Climate
How online is doing
• Economy shrank 2.9% in Q1 2009
• Unemployment up by 29% in the last year
• 17p in every £ spent online
• 50% spent online by 2014
Sources: ONS (April 09), National Staistics, IMRG CapGemini e-Retail Sales Index
Performance Marketing in a Recession
• Low risk marketing channel
• Paying after the money is in the till
• Scaleable
LET’S NOT WASTE A GOOD RECESSION
SCRUTINY
What clients want...
• Lower cost per sale
• More sales
• Incremental sales
• Better sales
Looking past the last click
Last Exposure
The last event
SaleSale
Event type
Display Impression
Display Click
Paid Search
Natural Search
Affiliates
Sales journeys are complex
E1 Conversion Event
E2
E3
E4
E5Event type
Display Impression
Display Click
Paid Search
Natural Search
Affiliates
Sale
Evidence for both incremental sales and interception
1. Affiliate–onlyJourneys (+)
2. Other→AffiliateJourneys (-)
3. Affiliate →OtherJourneys (+)
Sale
What you pay for
Affiliate Only
Other to affiliate
Last click sales
True Value
Affiliate Only
Other to affiliate
True value
Affiliate to other
Determining the worth
100 sales
80 sales
20
30
90 sales
Last Click Sales
Affiliate Only
Affiliate to other
Other to affiliate
True Value
More than a single channel
PPC Brand
New Technologies
High Traffic/ PortalTrue Content
Price Comparison
Voucher Code
Loyalty/ Cashback
Affiliate types interact in different ways
Event type
Content
Price Comparison
Incentive
Voucher
Paid Search
Other
Transaction
Share of journey events
01 Jan 09 – 04 Mar 09
Breaking out affiliates by category
Display Click
Natural Search
Affiliate Voucher
Affiliate ContentAffiliate Cashback
Paid Search
Sale
What types of activity feeds sales, by type
Display Click
Natural Search
Affiliate Voucher
Affiliate ContentAffiliate Cashback
Paid Search
Affiliate Content1%
14%
11%
70%
1%
4%1%
13%
10%
14%61%
2%
Affiliate Cashback
0%
16%
15%
41%
3%
24%
Affiliate Voucher
Clear difference in journey lengths
% Sales
Number of exposures
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sales %
Affiliate Cashback
Affiliate Content
Affiliate Voucher
What does this show?
• Different affiliates operate in different ways
• They require specific:
– Approaches– Marketing collateral– Remuneration models
Are all sales the same?
• Can you use affiliates to:
– Make people spend more?– Drive new customers?– Stay with you longer?– Buy sooner?
Average basket value
CompetitionContent
Incentive sites
Other Price CompVoucher Affiliate total PPC
£0
£20
£40
£60
£80
£100
£120
£140
New vs Existing Customers
• Where is the brand loyalty, with you or the affiliate?
• Would the sale have come to you anyway?
• Reward affiliates for driving new customers?
Lifetime Value• Some affiliate models
promote switching
• Do you measure the lifetime value of sales through different channels?
• Should an affiliate be rewarded for driving better customers?
Affiliates convert sales quicker
Sale event typeDisplay Click
Paid Search
Affiliates
Natural Search
Using this information to maximise your
campaign effectiveness
Looking past the last click
• Analyse what you are paying affiliates
• Remember last click isn’t everything
Determining the worth
100 sales
80 sales
20
30
90 sales
Last Click Sales
Affiliate Only
Affiliate to other
Other to affiliate
True Value
Determining the worth
100 sales
80 sales
20
50 sales
50 sales
Last Click Sales
Affiliate Only
Affiliate to other
Other to affiliate
True Value
More than a single channel
• Understand different affiliate types
• How do they interact with each other?
• Bespoke approach for each one
More than a single channel
PPC Affiliates
Cashback and
Incentive sites
Voucher Code Sites
Emerging Technologies
Email affiliates
Long Tail Content
Can they be used to complement your existing
search strategy?
Do they add incremental value or simply cannibalise other
channels?
Are you providing them with the right tools to promote you?
How do we stay ahead of the curve whilst protecting
ourselves at the same time?
What offers should we be pushing and how do we retain
control?
Incremental value or cannibalisation? How do we
harness them and achieve our aims?
How can we use affiliates?
Pull
• Capture all traffic looking for your products
– Price Comparison
– Product based content sites
– Brand/Generic PPC
• Get your brand on front of online shoppers
– Voucher sites
– Cashback
Push
EPC = CPA & CTR & OSC
Pay affiliates more
•Compelling creative
•Strong consumer offers/ voucher codes
•Securing good placements on the
affiliate site
•Deeplinking to specific products
•Reducing the customer journey
•Easy site to use
Are all sales the same?
Plan
ExecuteTest
Optimise
Making people spend more
CompetitionContent
Incentive sites
Other Price CompVoucher Affiliate total PPC
£0
£20
£40
£60
£80
£100
£120
£140
Driving new customers?
• Can affiliates be incentivised to drive new customers?– Pay a bonus for new customers
• Is it something they can influence?
• Does it vary for different affiliate types?
Driving better customers
• Do certain affiliates/ affiliate types drive better customers already?
• Do merchants measure this?
• Would certain affiliates be better incentivised working on a lifetime rev share model?
Aiding conversion
SaleSale
• Some (content) affiliates are losing sales
• Instead of paying them more, how can we help them convert?
Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It?
• All marketers are under intense scrutiny
• Incredible opportunities for us all
What you need to demonstrate
• Affiliates is a key solus channel
• You treat affiliate types differently
• You understand what different affiliates are delivering for you.
• Always be in beta
