Forrester projects B2B (business-to-business) interactive marketing spending to hit $4.8 billion in 2014, over double an estimated $2.3 billion in 2009. We believe that affiliate marketing will be a big component of that growth.
B2B affiliate programs have taken a back seat in the industry, despite the fact that many B2B businesses already rely on contractors to drive sales offline. Nonetheless, business advertisers have not gained the attention of online affiliates because of long sales cycles, latent transactions, offline conversions and high customer acquisition costs.
That is all about to change thanks to better tracking technologies and creative new ways of structuring programs. Here are several ways that advertisers can collaborate with affiliates to build dynamic, successful programs:
1. Advanced call tracking – Losing qualified leads due to offline channels is a legitimate concern for affiliates running B2B offers. Advertisers can calm these concerns by using a simple call tracking solution. In short, call center agents enter affiliate IDs (presented under the advertiser’s phone number) into customer records during phone calls.
2. Lifetime commissions – B2B businesses often lose money on the first sale but earn profit over the lifetime of that customer. Offering residual commissions on lifetime referral revenue will help affiliates compete. Eliminating the cookie window is a good start, but a cookie is only good if the customer uses the same browser forever and cookies aren’t deleted.
3. Commission structure– It can take months for leads to convert into acquisitions due to multiple touch points, various decision makers and high value purchases. Affiliates want commission on leads, but businesses are concerned about quality. One option is to offer hybrid commissions, paying a modest bounty on leads, but also a substantial bonus for each lead that converts.
4. Batch file reporting – Tracking pixels will not capture every action over the length of a program. Creating a spreadsheet of all actions on a regular basis is the answer. Importing this batch file ensures affiliates garner commissions on all sales the pixel misses, offline transactions and latent conversions.
5. Offline sales force – Remember the Avon women that sold door-to-door? B2B merchants are empowering field sales agents, tele-reps and even cable TV affiliates to promote products and services on a performance basis. Setup, reporting and payouts are all handled via the network platform.
6. Endemic affiliates – Your list of prospects is much narrower than in the B2C world. Proactively uncovering, recruiting and building relationships with niche affiliates with content related to your business is a solid strategy.
Outside of the affiliate arena, it seems B2B marketing has found success in every media channel. For instance, on television with Bloomberg and CNBC, search with Business.com, online content with BizJournals.com or Entrepreneur.com and even print with Crain’s, Inc. magazine and others.
Agencies, program managers and networks can now educate advertisers and affiliates on not only their barriers to entry, but also the available solutions. There are huge, untapped opportunities in the B2B sector, and it is poised to ride shotgun with B2C affiliate marketing.
Todd Bloch is a Director at PartnerCommerce, a B2B affiliate network located in New York.
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FeedFront issue 11 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2010/07
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Excellent article and under served market. I often get asked about doing B2B programs and generally push then to B2C networks.