ASW19

1. #ASW19

2. The Panel
Mike Allen
@mta1
Jeannine Crooks
@Jeannine_Crooks
John LoBrutto
@JPL65
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

3. DO Prefer Networks Over In-House
What are the differences?
In-House:
• The advertiser owns the relationship
• Direct 1x1 relationship with partners
• Limited to internal or 3rd party provider development
• Exclusive community – may be by invitation or referral
Network:
• The network usually owns the relationship
• Access to larger marketplace, new markets and different partner types
• Better program scalability, tracking methods & technology
• Friendly process and payment platform terms
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

4. DO Prefer Networks Over In-House
Why is it better to work with a network?
• More comprehensive publisher & advertiser profiles for communications
• Better publisher support and ability to work with multiple advertisers
• Better tracking methods and clearly defined attribution
• Multiple commissions structures & payment options
• Effective and more comprehensive reporting and analytics
• Higher investment into overall technology behind the network
• Support for GDPR, ITP, Parallel Tracking and more
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

5. DON’T Only Work with Amazon
• One day cookie / lowest commission rates
• Easily removed from program – over 25 different ways to trigger removal
• No advanced technologies, i.e. cross-device tracking, convert-a-link, API
• Smaller sellers avoid Amazon
• Everyone promoting same products
• No free products, no sponsored posts, no personal promotion opportunities
• Limited presentation options
• Can’t sell to family or friends
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

6. DO Use Technology & Best Practices
• Network tools – don’t forget coupon code tracking
• Other helpful tools:
• Affluent (affluent.io)
• FMTC / Coupilia
• Datafeedr
• Skimlinks / VigLink
• WordPress
• Very configurable – affiliate marketing-friendly
• FTC compliance plugins
• Link management (ThirstyAffiliates & PrettyLinks)
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

7. DON’T Use GA for Affiliate Tracking
Google Analytics
• GA designed to help sell Google products – Google AdWords, search, Google Marketplace
• Network tracking designed to track affiliate transactions
• Different cookie length – same for all merchants, longer, regardless of program
• Networks use last click. GA uses “unique click”
• Ad blockers will affect GA results
• Merchant/Network’s numbers determine the commission amount, not Google
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

8. DO Create Customer Loyalty
Social Media
• Use but not exclusively – that’s rented space!
• Don’t fully rely on YouTube (host your own videos too)
Grow / Build Your Own
• Content & following – on your site
• Unique value proposition + excellent customer service
• Reputation – expert authority
• Email list (consider group text messaging)
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

9. DON’T Confuse Traffic with Shoppers
Traffic and shoppers are not the same thing!
• Traffic will not buy and may be interested in viewing content different from your offerings
• Traffic may be a click error, a redirect or spam
• Traffic may hit your site, but not click through or view additional pages
• Shopper will spend time on your site and view your pages, even if they do not click through to advertisers
• Shoppers usually have intent to buy or comparison shop for an imminent or future purchase
• Know what percent of your traffic are shoppers
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

10. DON’T Confuse Traffic with Shoppers
How do I know if I have more traffic than shoppers?
• Does the traffic convert?
• Is the traffic quality a match to the advertiser campaigns?
• Do I have a lot of page drop offs?
How do I encourage productive shoppers?
• Identify the right demographic for each product or service
• Know how well your traffic converts and optimizing
• Is the traffic quality a match to the advertiser campaigns (quality is key to advertiser-publisher success)
• Are my readers/shoppers the key demographic for each product or service I offer
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

11. DO Develop SEO Relevance - Be Current
• Don’t go overboard chasing the changing algorithm
• Solve problems people have
• Answer questions (“how do I…” voice searches)
• WordPress plugins:
• Yoast SEO – free and premium
• SEOPress.org – free and premium
• Bruce Clay SEO – in beta
• Provide a resource that is unique, valuable and trustworthy
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

12. DON’T Write Content Solely for Google
• Google doesn’t buy anything!
• Write for the shopper, make it easy, conversational and grammatically correct
• Consumers come to a site looking for answers to a problem
• Readers will keep reading as long as the content is useful
• Don’t target a specific word count
• Don’t write for Bing or Yahoo either – Google will know and penalize
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

13. DO Use Metrics to Understand Revenue
• Do you know how you get paid?
• CPS/Rev Share – Cost per sale. Paid a portion of sale amount
• CPL – Cost per lead. Usually paid a fixed amount
• CPI – Cost per install. Paid when an app is successfully installed
• What products or services are selling the most & not selling at all
• Am I getting paid on gross or net sale and what is the validation period
• How do cancelations & return rates effect my commission
• Am I getting paid on gross or net sale and what is the validation period
• Do you understand how click-through, conversions and cancelations effect commissions and revenue?
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

14. DO Use Metrics to Understand Revenue
Example A: High Volume (Optimized)
Impressions 25,000 Results
CTR - Click Through Rate 4% 1000
CR - Conversion Rate 3% 30
CX - Cancelation Rate 10% -3
CPA - Cost Per Action $200 27 x 200
Publisher Revenue $5,400
Impressions 25,000 Results
CTR - Click Through Rate 4% 1000
CR - Conversion Rate 1% 10
CX - Cancelation Rate 20% -2
CPA - Cost Per Action $200 8 x 200
Publisher Revenue $1,600
Example B: Low Volume
Performance dramatically effects Publisher’s Revenue
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

15. DON’T Get Lost in the Metrics Weeds
• Keep things as simple (and actionable) as possible:
• How much am I making? Who are my the top partners?
• What products or services are selling the best?
• What is not selling well? What can be done?
• Set up a dashboard to monitor activity using the same metrics
• Focus on CR (conversion rate) and EPC (earning per click)
• Identify data anomalies – positive and negative
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

16. DO Use Unique Offers / Landing Pages
Why is it important to have unique / optimization pages?
• It adds value to the user experience
• Validates you as a referral source for the advertiser
• They are usually the advertiser’s highest converting pages
• It creates SEO relevance and improves organic search results
• Provides the user with a unique benefit and creates loyalty
• Custom pages have competitive pricing and unique offers
• Gives you a defined target audience and improves conversions
• Builds a closer relationship with the advertiser
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

17. DON’T Only Use Banner Ads
• Why? Text links tend to perform much, much better (test for yourself)
• Display ad CTR is 0.05% -- just 5 clicks per 10,000 impressions! [Smart Insights]
• Average CTR on Google paid search ads is about 2% [WordStream]
• Flash animations – security risks plus not supported on iPhones
• Logo banners work nicely to compliment text links (branding and trust)
• Make text links easily visible and natural – we’re trained to click them
• Tip: Summarize sources and link options below main content
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

18. DO Read Advertiser Correspondence
What do advertisers communicate?
• Commission changes & changes to program terms
• Transaction issues payment updates
• New content & promotions
• Special affiliate links
• Best practices
Why is this important?
• Know the latest on their program and products/services
• Understand how best to sell
• Have the most recent content and optimized pages
• Make the most revenue from each click
• Develop a relationship with advertiser
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

19. DON’T Wait to Start Affiliate Marketing
• Traffic volume can still be small
• Once site is 12-20 pages, networks/merchants can discern your style
• Much easier to incorporate from the beginning
• Appears like you’re working with major brands – because you are!
• Use technology to help pull links
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19

20. Q&A: Your Turn
Mike Allen
@mta1
Jeannine Crooks
@Jeannine_Crooks
John LoBrutto
@JPL65
#ASW19affgeek.com/asw19