Pros & Cons of Utilizing Multiple Networks by Brian Littleton

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

The three things to look out for when making this important decision

As affiliate managers grow their programs, it is common to seek other avenues to branch out. With the influx of new networks on the scene, programs in multiple networks are on the rise. Below are three key areas affiliate managers should consider when launching a program in multiple networks:

DUPLICATE TRACKING

As one might imagine, having an affiliate program on multiple networks increases the risk of duplicate payment on a single transaction.

For example, “Affiliate 1″, participating on “Network A”, drives a consumer over to a “Merchant”, but does not complete a purchase. Later in the week, that same consumer changes her mind, does a Google search to find the “Merchant” again, clicks a link from “Affiliate 2″ on “Network B”, and completes the purchase.

That consumer will have tracking from both “Network A” and “Network B”, and the merchant ends up paying double commission.

SELECTIVE PIXELS

In order to avoid paying duplicate commissions, affiliate managers are focusing on channelization methods to selectively display network pixels. For example, instead of an inbound link like http://www.example.org, the affiliate manager will setup two links:

http://www.example.org?sourcenetwork=NetworkA
http://www.example.org?sourcenetwork=NetworkB

Any consumer that comes through the “Network A” link will have a “Network A” pixel displayed on their shopping cart, and “Network A” will receive tracking information about that sale, and vice-versa.

Unfortunately, consumer behavior cannot be perfectly predicted.

For example, “Affiliate 1″, who participates on “Network A”, drives a consumer to a “Merchant” through http://www.example.org?sourcenetwork=NetworkA , but does not complete a purchase.

The consumer is still interested and writes down the “Merchant” URL. Later in the week, they retype http://www.example.org (leaving out the network URL string) and complete the purchase.

Since the consumer came through a direct URL on the second visit, it is common for the “Merchant” to fail to send tracking information to “Network A”, resulting in an improperly attributed transaction, and failure to properly commission a sale.

DIFFERENT COMPLIANCE RULES

Network policies regarding affiliate compliance present another complication. For example, some networks have strict policies regarding adware/spyware, while others see it differently. It is imperative that the rules and regulations of a merchant program are identical across networks to avoid significant issues regarding dual tracking.

Additionally, terms such as commission rates, cookie durations, bonuses, etc., must match, as savvy affiliates will leverage the difference, resulting in long-run channel inefficiencies.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If a merchant wishes to expand their reach, my recommendation is to task the affiliate manager with recruiting affiliates. With few exceptions, it should be possible to recruit any affiliate regardless of network preference.

However, if two or more networks are being used, it is important to provide proactive solutions for the points above. Some affiliates will pass on a “dual network” affiliates program unless assured the issues are addressed.

Brian Littleton is the President/CEO of ShareASale.com, Inc., a retail focused affiliate network for businesses of all sizes.

Download issue 1 of FeedFront at http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue1.pdf.

Five Ways to Evaluate a Merchant’s Landing Page by Dan Murray

Minimize your risks and maximize your returns in paid search arbitrage

Our business is paid search arbitrage and most of the time we send traffic to the merchant’s landing page directly from search engines. That means we live and die by the conversion rate of the merchant’s page and we have to very carefully evaluate a landing page before we begin working with a new merchant.

In this article, I’ll outline some of the things we look out for when it comes to landing pages.

Toll-free phone number on the landing page

In most cases, when a prospect calls the merchant’s phone number, the affiliate will not get credit if there is a sale. So when a merchant puts their phone number on the landing page, especially in a prominent location, that can serve to “siphon” legitimate commissions away from the affiliate.

Recently, I was assessing a landing page for a weight loss merchant through a major affiliate network. When I tested the landing page link, a huge popup window appeared, that was half the size of the entire screen, obscuring almost everything else and urging the visitor to call the company’s 800 number. Needless to say, this is not an affiliate-friendly practice.

Advertising for other merchants or products on the landing page

As a paid search affiliate, when I send highly qualified traffic to a landing page, my intention is obviously to drive a sale of the product featured on the page.

When merchants place banner ads for other companies on the page, which can bleed away our precious traffic and decreases the potential to close sales and earn commissions.

Is there navigation on the page for other parts of the website or other products from the merchant?

Since we are trying to drive orders by bringing highly targeted traffic to a merchant’s sales page, if the visitor starts wandering around to unrelated parts of the site, we can often lose the sale.

In some cases, however, the prospect does need to visit some other pages to make a purchase (to check product specifications, for instance). Be sure the merchant’s landing page only links to other pages that are mission-critical for making the sale.

Pop-up windows on the landing page

I don’t think there’s anything more distracting than visiting a landing page for a product and seeing a pop-up window that advertises something completely unrelated to the product featured on the page.

If you see this practice, be sure to talk to the merchant and either ask to share in the revenue they receive from the pop-up window or, better yet, request that they kill the pop-up.

Targeted content on the landing page for the product you are selling

If you are promoting, say, “men’s Nike running shoes,” be sure the landing page is specifically geared to that product.

Any more general page — for, say, running shoes, or Nike shoes or men’s running shoes will not perform nearly as well as a page geared exactly to men’s Nike running shoes. If your merchant doesn’t offer these deep-linking landing pages, request that they be created.

Dan Murray is Internet Marketing Strategist and Founder of Ravenwood Marketing, Inc., a high-volume paid search firm based in Boulder, CO.

Download issue 1 of FeedFront at http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue1.pdf.

Ad Networks, Vertical Ad Networks, and Affiliate Networks by Peter Figueredo

The basics that every advertiser and publisher should know

I recently attended ad:tech San Francisco, which boasted nearly 15k attendees. I enjoyed catching up with old friends, having brainstorming sessions over drinks, and even accepting an ad:tech finalist award for “Best Affiliate Marketing Campaign” (congrats to Schaaf Consulting who was the category winner).

However, my major take away from the conference was that our industry is flooded with affiliate networks, ad networks, and vertical ad networks, as evidenced by the volume of booths in the exhibit hall claiming to be the leading network. While the growth in the ad network space is certainly not new, it has exploded over the past 12-18 months.

The growth of vertical ad networks makes lots of sense, since many advertisers are frequently looking to tap into relevant niche websites. Where ad networks include a broad mix of many websites (for example, advertising.com), vertical ad networks are much smaller, but highly targeted to particular content areas (for example, traveladnetwork.com).

Why Should You Care?

Publishers need to cut through the noise and decide which type of network (or combination thereof) to associate themselves with. Advertisers need to build strategies to effectively utilize an optimal mix of these marketing channels.

Value to Publishers

All three of these marketing channels offer publishers access to many leading advertisers through a system that streamlines the process of:

• finding advertisers
• launching campaigns
• tracking performance
• receiving payments

Where they are different requires a closer look:

Value to Advertisers

The ability to easily run ad campaigns across a multitude of websites speaks to the scale offered by these channels and highlights one key advertiser benefit offered by these marketing channels.

Many sites that appear in these marketing channels would never make it to a media plan on their own, because of their limited audience and reach. However, they can work with leading advertisers through these channels and reap the rewards of those relationships.

Here are some differences:

Summing Up

If you decide to explore any of these channels, do your homework first. While there are a number of benefits in doing so, there are also pitfalls, such as how to ensure your ad network buys do not poach your affiliates etc., but I will save those for future articles.

Peter Figueredo is the CEO and Co-Founder of NETexponent, a performance marketing agency that is efficient, evolving, and ethical. Their suite of services includes Affiliate Marketing Management, Media Partnerships, and PPC Search Marketing.

Download issue 1 of FeedFront at http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue1.pdf.

FeedFront Issue 1 Editor’s Note: You Are What You Read

Blogs, Tweets, newsletters, forums, and the like. They shape our paradigm of the industry when we read them.

“Affiliate marketing is bullshit.” You might have read that was the gist of the keynote from Jason Calacanis at Affiliate Summit 2008 West in Las Vegas.

Many others heard it in person, or did they? The phrase was all over the Interwebs for the last
several months.

And yes, that is how he opened his talk. Then the crowd laughed, and he said, “That’s what you all
expect me to do… I’m not going to do that.”

Some folks heard the first line, got aggravated and tuned out. Others were so peeved that they left the room.

Anyone who wasn’t there likely heard the version that the whole keynote was focused on skewering
us, affiliate marketers – and that could not be farther from the truth.

In fact, Jason called out affiliates that think in the short term and reflect poorly on the industry, and
he praised many as well. See and hear for yourself at AffiliateSummit.tv.

After Affiliate Summit, Jason joined up with affiliate networks and started experimenting with affiliate marketing on Mahalo.com.

Jason opened affiliate marketer’s eyes, and we did the same to him.

Anyhow, thank you for taking the time to read FeedFront, a magazine dedicated to bringing ideas,
resources, and opinions from Internet marketing innovators to you before your next project or venture.

Get the insight on the front end, rather than feedback after you’ve executed.

This magazine is for the futurists; the next-gen marketers; the early adopters in affiliate marketing.

Read. Test. Learn. Succeed.

Like we were saying, you are what you read.

Missy Ward & Shawn Collins
Co-Editors in Chief

Download issue 1 of FeedFront at http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue1.pdf.

Download Issue 1 of FeedFront Magazine

The first issue of FeedFront magazine is in the mail, but if you can’t wait or are not currently subscribed, we’ve upload the digital version for you.

Download the PDF of the first issue and take a look.

We’d love to know what you think.

First Issue of FeedFront is in the Mail

I just got some copies of the first issue of FeedFront in the mail, and I’m excited for all of the subscribers to get their first look.

Anybody who subscribed by last Friday or attended one of the past two Affiliate Summits (and lives in the U.S.) should be getting their issue by mid-June.

Since it’s going out via bulk mail, it takes a good bit longer than first class mail.

The cover features Jason Calacanis during his keynote address at Affiliate Summit West this past February in Las Vegas.

We look forward to your feedback to make this magazine as useful as possible to affiliate marketers.

FeedFront Articles in Issue 1

We’ve wrapped up the first issue of FeedFront magazine and we’re sending it to the printer.

Issues will be mailed in June 2008. Here are the articles in the first issue:

• Editors Note: Missy Ward & Shawn Collins
• Five Ways to Evaluate a Merchant’s Landing Page: Dan Murray
• Pros & Cons of Utilizing Multiple Networks: Brian Littleton
• Twitter Grabs Attention: Lisa Picarille
• GTD in Affiliate Marketing with Web 2.0: Sam Harrelson
• Affiliate Marketers Give Back: Missy Ward
• Online Video Advertising: Tim Carter
• Nobody Would Use a Search Engine with Paid Results: Dan Gray
• Building Profitable Customer Relationships by Following These Simple Email Axioms: Tom Kulzer
• Are You the Next Super Affiliate Blogger?: Zac Johnson
• Ad Networks, Vertical Ad Networks, and Affiliate Networks: Peter Figueredo
• Affiliate Manager Compensation: Shawn Collins
• My 3 Favorite Blogs You May Not Visit: Wil Reynolds
• My 3 Favorite Tools You May Not be Using: Wil Reynolds
• Get Off Your Butt and Start Making Videos: Jim Kukral

Visit http://feedfront.com/free-subscription/ for details on getting your free subscription.

« Previous Page