Advanced Affiliate Program Management & Analysis

[email protected] ● Twitter.com/ePrussakov

Advanced Affiliate Program Management &

AnalysisPresented by: Geno Prussakov

CEO, AM Navigator LLCChair, Affiliate Management Days

URLs: www.AMNavigator.comwww.AffiliateManagementDays.com

Telephone: 1-888-588-8866

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Advanced?


Five Pillars


Five Pillars


The Plate


Advanced?Essential


Outline

• Analysis & Optimization Questions

• Common Problems & Challenges

• Outcome: 5 Action Points


Analysis & Optimization


Affiliate Applications

[email protected] ● Twitter.com/ePrussakov7

10 Red Flags:1. URL-related mismatches

2. Trademarks in URLs

3. Nonsensical sounding URLs

4. Nonsense descriptions for promotional methods

5. Incompatibility of promotional methods

6. Inappropriateness of affiliate content

7. Inaccessible (or dangerous) website

8. Affiliate relying on adware, toolbars, BHOs, etc

9. Lack of response (give them 72 hours)

10. Strongly negative feedback



Quote to Remember

“…the chief distinction of a diplomat is that he can say no in such a way that it sounds like a yes.”

(Lester B Pearson)


Don’t Burn Bridges!

We are sorry, but the website(s) and/or promotional methods listed on your affiliate profile do(es) not meet our approval criteria. We have therefore declined your application.

If, however, you feel that we have overlooked your potential, we would like to hear from you. Just email us a brief explanation of how you were planning on marketing our product/service, and we will gladly reconsider your application.


Key Performance Indicators


Good Question

Lets say you had an existing business, with an affiliate program already up and running for several years. You have a large amount of affiliates in that program, some very productive and some not at all.

You then hired someone to be your affiliate manager…

If you could base that manager’s success/productivity on 5 pieces of measurable data, would they be?


KPI #1

Affiliates Recruited

Number of new affiliates recruited into the program.


KPI #2

Activity Index

Percentage of affiliates active in the program over a given period of time.


KPI #3

Activation

Number of previously stagnant affiliates activated within a given time period.


KPI #4

Traffic

Increase in hits/clicks sent to your website by affiliates.


KPI #5

Sales / Leads

Increase in sales (focus on monetary figure) or leads referred by affiliates.


Split Testing


Definition

Split testing – method of marketing testing whereby the performance of 2 versions of the landing page are being tested one against the other.

Goal – determine which version performs better (lower bounce rate, better conversions).


Example

© 2007-2011 WiderFunnel Marketing Inc.

Test Page:Pluraleyes Software Landing Page

Audience: Affiliates, Search, Direct

Goal: Software Downloads


3 Challenger Pages Tested

A: Minimalist B: Screen Shot Isolation C: Video Player Isolation


Controlled Test Result

<< Winner: 17% CR Lift!

© 2007-2011 WiderFunnel Marketing Inc.

What Did They Test?

• Value Proposition headline

• New persuasive copywriting

• Clear call-to-action

• Clarified product features

• Testimonials


How-To

What to Test?

• Headlines• Calls to action• Page style & layout• Images• Descriptive copy• Pricing & promos.


How-To

What to Test?

• Headlines• Calls to action• Page style & layout• Images• Descriptive copy• Pricing & promos

Tools to Employ

• Google Website Optimizer• Visual Website Optimizer• LiveBall• A/Bingo• PickFu• Vertster• Unbounce• Sitespect's A/B Testing• Five Second Test• Vanity


Worth Mentioning…


Worth Mentioning…


Competitive Intelligence


Definition

Competitive intelligence – “the process by which companies inform themselves about every aspect of their rivals’ activities and performance”

(Christopher West, Competitive Intelligence, p. 12)


What to Monitor: Technologies used Product/service features Price levels Customer-oriented promos, discounts, rebates Distribution channels Delivery methods Perceptions they create for their brand Means of creating perceptions online Online marketing methods employed Affiliate-oriented promos Affiliate program specifics (commission, cookie

life, performance incentives, etc)


Focus: Practical Application

“The real purpose of competitive intelligence is to learn and to act” …not merely collect data or “develop information”.

(Seena Sharp, Competitive Intelligence Advantage, p 101)


ABCs, or 5 Ways to Spy:

1. Analyze their performance stats

2. Become their customer & affiliate

3. Create automatic monitoring campaigns

4. Do friend and follow them

5. Employ traffic measuring tools


Misleading Metrics


Example


CommonProblems & Challenges


Coupons


Value?


Problems

1. Last-minute coupon search

2. Pseudo-couponing

3. Coupon affiliates joining no-couponers programs

4. Coupon scraping


1. Last-Minute Coupon Search


2. Pseudo-Couponing

Police& Enforce


3. Joining No-Couponers Programs

Solution: Affiliate-referred visitors are not shown the coupon code box


4. Coupon Scraping

buy.at’s solution


4. Coupon Scraping

Impact Radius’ solution


Result? Affiliate confidence


Adware & Toolbars


Beware of…

Downloadable applications, browser add-ons (aka BHOs) that may interfere with one or all of your online marketing channels.


Example #1


Example #2


What to Do?

1. Have a TOS Clause on Adware

2. Monitor & Enforce Compliance

3. “Play Without the Ball”


TOS ClauseAffiliate shall not transmit any so-called "interstitials," "Parasiteware™," "Parasitic Marketing,"

"Shopping Assistance Application," "Toolbar Installations and/or Add-ons," "Shopping Wallets" or "deceptive pop-ups and/or pop-unders" to consumers from the time the consumer clicks on a qualifying link until such time as the consumer has fully exited Merchant’s site (i.e., no page from our site or any Merchant.com’s content or branding is visible on the end-user’s screen). As used herein a. "Parasiteware™" and "Parasitic Marketing" shall mean an application that (a) through accidental or direct intent causes the overwriting of affiliate and non affiliate commission tracking cookies through any other means than a customer initiated click on a qualifying link on a web page or email; (b) intercepts searches to redirect traffic through an installed software, thereby causing, pop ups, commission tracking cookies to be put in place or other commission tracking cookies to be overwritten where a user would under normal circumstances have arrived at the same destination through the results given by the search (search engines being, but not limited to, Google, Bing, Yahoo, and similar search or directory engines); (c) set commission tracking cookies through loading of Merchant site in IFrames, hidden links and automatic pop ups that open Merchant.com’s site; (d) targets text on web sites, other than those web sites 100% owned by the application owner, for the purpose of contextual marketing; (e) removes, replaces or blocks the visibility of Affiliate banners with any other banners, other than those that are on web sites 100% owned by the owner of the application.


Resources

Ben Edelman - www.benedelman.org

Kellie Stevens - www.affiliatefairplay.com

my YouTube channel - youtube.com/eprussakov


Trademark Violations


For example…


Remember…

Do not call it a “violation” unless you’ve defined it as such in your TOS!


…and Be Clearer than:


What to Safeguard: TMs (and domains) as PPC keywords, TMs in domain names; … “misspellings and variations” wording


How to Police:

In Paid Search Campaigns:

• iTrademarkBidding – www.itrademarkbidding.com• Brandverity PoachMark – brandverity.com/poachmark• SearchMonitor – thesearchmonitor.com/affiliate_monitor• AdGooroo Trademark Insight – www.adgooroo.com

In Domain Names:

• CitizenHawk – www.citizenhawk.com.


FTC Compliance


FTC's Rules on Endorsements

In essence…

• merchant-affiliate = sponsor-endorser relationships

• relationship must be clearly disclosed by marketer

• advertiser responsible for educating, equipping, and policing compliance


What to Do:

1. Sub-clause of Affiliate Obligations clause in TOS

2. Provide affiliates with disclosure template(s)

3. Routinely (and yes, manually) analyze sites of top performers

4. Look into solutions like SearchReviews.com, or invest into a tool of your own


Sub-clause ExampleWe strongly advise affiliates to stay compliant with the Federal Trade Commission

(FTC) guidelines on testimonials and endorsements. All endorsements, reviews, testimonials on CompanyName.com’s products and services, as well as relationships between other types of content websites (forums, blogs, microblogs and other Social Media channels) and CompanyName must be clearly disclosed in a separate policy on the affiliate sites. FTC points out that “when there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product” it is imperative that such connection is “fully disclosed”. FTC deems the relationship in an endorser-sponsor light, and believes that the end user has the right to understand that one exists [more on FTC.gov]. We share the undergirding idea of this approach, and strongly encourage our affiliates to adhere to the FTC’s rules. We also reserve the right to terminate

relationship with any non-compliant affiliates.


Resources:

• www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005EndorsementGuidesFNNotice.pdf or http://1.usa.gov/FTC-affiliates

• http://1.usa.gov/FTCGuides-videos

• http://bit.ly/FTCGuides-FAQs

• www.amnavigator.com/blog/tag/ftc-disclosure-rules


In Conclusion…


Example

Performance-based

doesn’t mean effortless


Thank you!!

Action Points

1. Screen applications

2. Analyze KPIs

3. Test (to optimize)

4. Spy on competition

5. Monitor:

a) Coupon violations

b) Adware & toolbars

c) Trademark abuse

d) FTC compliance

www.amnavigator.com/blog | www.AffiliateManagementDays.com

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Advanced Affiliate Program Management & Analysis