Affiliate Apocalypse

A disclaimer

Duncan Popham – Total Search SolutionsSeth Richardson – DC StormJulia Stent – VodafoneHelen Southgate – Sky DigitalRobert Glasgow – WebgainsWe Love Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing 2009

• Extremely dynamic, multi-nuanced industry• Despite progress, more exposure at higher levels needed• Issues handled through multiple outlets, mixed messages• Collection of models held together through technology• Several thousand businesses involved• Limited central control• The predominate “pitch” is our payment model, yet our service offers

much much more• Four questions to answer

Single channel or multi• Many Affiliate Types:

• Pure Content• Cashback/Loyalty • Paid Search• Voucher sites• E-mail• User generated Content/Social Media

•If we accept that Affiliate Marketing is a collection of models, why do we treat them the same?

•Are valuable contributors to an acquisition often ignored?

•Commission and attribution sophistication are extremely rare

•Affiliate Diversification makes classification near impossible

Transparent or Opaque

All parties claim to want “transparency”? But what does that actually mean?

Merchants • Full disclosure on deduplication? • Margins disclosure?

Affiliates• Full list of promotional activities? • Sales by URL? • Profits on PPC?

Networks• Most profitable merchants? • Disclosure of override %?

What is needed is consensus on the limits of transparency.

Transparency and accountability may be uncomfortable in the short term.But long term will ensure the security of the industry.

Integration or IsolationAffiliate Marketing is a unique discipline but it does not stand aloneHow does affiliate marketing affect other marketing channels?

• Natural Search• Paid Search• Display

Increasing demand for “joined-up thinking”• Sales Deduplication• Post-impression• Reaction times• Optimisation

What demands do we make on advertisers and is this factored into a return?• Constant communication• Up-to-date with industry issues• Terms and Conditions• Ethical Merchant Charter

Does our inherent complexity cost us all money?

Volume or Value

• Our payment model dictates our volume focus.

• “Super-affiliates” are usually defined as volume drivers not value-adders.

• Many high value publishers input at the start of the purchase process.

• Tiers and incentives increase this problem

• Incrementality is advertisers key concern

• Analytics, analytics, analytics

• Are we in danger of losing our original USP?

In summary

Single Channel or Multi?

• Do we want our model to be genuinely understood, Rewards should mirror input

Transparent or Opaque

• Can partnerships work without honesty, can too much honesty hurt?

Integration or Isolation

• Could we become ghetto-ised (are we already)?

Volume or Value

• Out payment model shouldn’t define our working models. Our value is inherent within our reach.