Using Social Media For Commodity Affiliate Programs

Using Social Media with Affiliate Programs

Dave Taylor, Principal, Intuitive Systems, LLC

http://www.DaveTaylorOnline.com/

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

The challenge…

Affiliate Marketing is a Commodity Business


It all comes down to placement…


Or Is It About Design

Are you more likely to buy from an attractive Web site than an ugly one?

Really?


So how do you differentiate?


Why do people decide to buy?

“People rationalize buying decisions based on facts, but they make buying decisions based on feelings.” Bryan Eisenberg, ClickZ News

Source:blogs.psychologytoday.com


Influential sites can charge more

Price elasticity is the extent to which sales drop as prices increase

If people buy based on emotion, make ‘em love you and they’ll pay a higher price.


Ergo, you need…

AuthorityCredibilityTrustworthiness

But how do you get it?


Become an influence leader


Are You An Influencer Already?

Which one are you: Connector

sociable personalities who bring people together

Mavenlike to pass along knowledge

Salesmanadept at persuading

the unenlightened

DullardNo comment


What is Social Media?

Just about any site that involves social interaction…FlickrYouTubeFacebookMySpaceTwitter

Don’t forget blogs and podcasts!


What networks to utilize?

Socialize where your customers are

That’s the secret.

Really.


Find your customers online

You need to identify your potential customer base byAgeSocio-economic statusGenderRaceReligion

Maybe it’s time to survey your customers?


Popular Social Networking Sites


By Number of Members

Source: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/leading-social-networking-sites-still-growing/(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

What are Up and Coming?


Geographic Differences: Digg

Source: http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/2008-social-network-analysis-report/(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Geographic Differences: Flickr


Geographic Differences: Indianpad


Geographic Differences: LiveJournal


Geographic Differences: Orkut


Geographic Differences: YouTube


Geographic Differences: Facebook


Facebook Demographics?

Source: http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/2008-social-network-analysis-report/(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Exemplary Target Market: Children

Primary data source: Businessweek.com(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

The Goal of Your Efforts

Gain Influence by Becoming a Leader

“A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leaderinspires them with confidence in themselves”


Is there a Formula for Influence?

The six principles of ethical persuasion Reciprocity, Scarcity, Liking, Authority, Social proof, Commitment/consistency.


What can you accomplish?

Ghastly:distribute press releases

Boring but Useful: customer service

Interesting: market research

Cool: customer engagement


Benefits of Social Media Marketing


How to Engage

Have a genuine presence!

Pay attentionto yourcustomers

Have fun?


Example: Twitter


Example: Blogger Giveaway

Source: http://www.gearlive.com/(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

31 Days of the Dragon Campaign

Nine months after launch, no sales of $5000 laptopGave 31 laptops away, one per site, to top 31 tech sitesResults:

380,000 inbound links to the 31 sites discussing the contest Combined, bloggers received over 25,000 contest entries Bloggers saw 150% increase in traffic (on average) Net sales increase in HP laptop? 85%

Sufficiently successful that they did it again Dec 2008: The “HP Magic” campaign

See: http://www.31daysofthedragon.com/


Example: YouTube Videos

Blendtec Inc.Results:

Viral VideosYouTube Channel

Subscribers: 153,833Channel Views: 2,964,042

Sales increase: 700%

See: http://www.blendtec.com


Example: MySpace

Island Bicycle Co., Galveston, TXMySpace search revealed

22,000 users lived within 10 miles of the store…

Result: 2-3 people/week buy bikes at the store, having heard about them on MySpace.


Example: Facebook

Launched in May 2007

Have $2.5min sales

7-10% of salesdirectly attributedto Facebook

“designed to reinforce company values and connect with customers on a more personal level”


Example: Flickr

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acmephoto/

Acme PhotoScottsdaleArizona

41% of his prophotographicbusiness comesfrom Flickr


Heck, you can Tweet aff links


Thanks!

Dave Taylor Intuitive Systems, LLC

www.intuitive.com

www.DaveTaylorOnline.com


Using Social Media For Commodity Affiliate Programs

Business

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