The Metrics Diamond – The 4C’s of Affiliate Revenue

The Metrics Diamond

THE 4C’S OF AFFILIATE REVENUE

Click through Conversions Cancelations Commissions

Introductions

52 Years of Combined Experience!Click through Conversions Cancelations Commissions

John LoBrutto Director of Affiliate Solutions & Partnerships, Liquid Web, LLC

16 years experience in affiliate & online marketing

Mike AllenAffiliate Solutions Provider,

Businesswright Consulting LLC18 years experience in affiliate marketing

& management

Jeannine CrooksClient Services Manager,

Affiliate Window18 years experience in affiliate

marketing

Overview High Volume Affiliate campaigns are strategic partnerships between Advertisers and Publishers, managed within an Affiliate Network. Publishers need to maximize the cost of traffic and Advertisers need to manage the cost of sales – both needing to develop a favorable ROI.A question of cost vs. revenue

Maximize the program revenue

Partner with profitable campaigns

It’s not just the commission rate

Understanding the metrics


Why is this topic important?

4C’s of Affiliate MarketingExercise 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







Exercise B: Low Volume

Performance dramatically effects Publisher’s Revenue

4C’s of Affiliate MarketingExercise A: High Volume (Optimized)














Exercise C: Low Volume (High Commission)

Performance dramatically effects Advertiser’s Commission (Payout)

Click through Publisher: Volume traffic is expensive and prime ad locations need Advertisers who can perform. Testing multiple ads and Advertisers is essential to maximize site revenue.Are Impressions clicking through?

Positioning of Product/Services/Special offers

Site organization above/below the fold

Cost of Traffic

Paid Traffic vs. SEO

New or Existing Window


Is testing ads important?

Click through Advertiser: High Volume campaigns begin with traffic volume and quality. First step is to get customers to the offer, the next step is to have a great offer!Are Impressions matching traffic volume?

Is the Traffic Qualified

Appeal of offer

Exclusive offers

Coupons

Do the links work?


Is my ad getting any attention?

Click through Network: Tracking and reporting each phase of the click path is the network’s primary role. Sharing the information with both the merchant and affiliate ensures both can optimize the shopper’s path for maximum results.Are Impressions tracked?

Tracking & Reporting value

First or last click

Use of sub id

Product level tracking

Can Google Analytics help?


Do I need a Network for Tracking?

Conversions Publisher: Traffic is expensive and if it doesn’t convert, there is no ROI. Publishers must compare advertisers and know what works best for their site.Is the Product or Service accurately described?

What is the Advertiser Value Proposition?

Is the Landing Page Co-Branded?

Can I get an Exclusive offer?

EPC (Earning Per Click)

Testing…Testing…Testing!


How can I help maximize conversions?

Conversions Advertiser: Effectively monitoring the conversion metrics is an important focus in optimizing campaigns. Advertisers hold the responsibility of providing a product or service that sells to the Publisher’s audience.Is the offer compelling and converting

Is pricing competitive?

Advertiser Landing Page Optimization

Does Deep Linking help?

How many clicks to purchase/ Cart Optimization

Are Add On Items commissionable?


Why are conversions so important?

Conversions Network: Capturing the conversion data is critical for everyone. While the information involved is basically the same, each network processes the data differently, making the choice of the network/merchant pairing vital.What constitutes a conversion?

Can I manually update an untracked sale and does it report?

Reporting, Attribution and Recording assists

Pixels, Cross Device and other tracking methods

How does ad blocking affect the tracking?


Am I getting paid for all the sales I generate?

Cancelations Publisher: Cancelations are the least controllable metric for Publishers. It is important to understand their impact to the campaign and net commission.Is the offer “too good to be true”?

Is the Product/Offer positioning accurate?

How do cancelations affect my Revenue?

Net vs. Gross Commission payments

What are the Lock periods?

Is there coupon tracking & attribution?

What is the Return Policy or Free Trial timeframe?


Does the sales volume offset cancelations?

Cancelations Advertiser: Even if everything goes as planned through the sales funnel, a customer cancelation or return negates everything!Is the traffic generating a large volume of Fraud?

Is the Traffic Quality a good fit for my product or service?

Can the Product Positioning be improved?

Are customers canceling after a Free Trial period?

Is my Support & Response time effective?

Is there an issue with Product Quality?


Are my cancelations controllable?

Cancelations Network: Controlling cancelations is vital. Both affiliates and merchants should study available data to identify and remove cancelation triggers.Tracking, trends and granularity of reporting

Detailing cancel codes and understanding the reasons

Manual updates and partial commissions

Lock Periods

Industry standards and recommendations


Cancelations affect Networks too!

Commissions Publisher: It’s not just about commission, it’s about what gets commissioned. Negotiate based on revenue expectations and work with the Advertiser dynamically as a partner.What is the EPC?

Net vs. Gross commission and Lock Period

Evaluate Investment recovery and Maximize Revenue

Work with Multiple partners

Are there commission deductions for coupons?

Is the advertiser slow to pay?


Are my Revenue expectations being met?

Commissions Advertiser: The question is… Can I maximize performance to minimize the commission amount per sale? Optimize…Optimize…Optimize!Different Commission Terms for different Publishers

Do I have a Fraud protection policy?

What is the overall Rev Share strategy?

Evaluating Commissions vs. Marketing spend

Am I constrained by a Budget?

Percent vs. Flat Rate vs. Volume tiers

Attribution of New vs. Existing customers


How do I manage costs while increasing sales?

Commissions Network: A network’s job is to ensure that merchants pay the right commission to affiliates. Comprehensive tracking and reporting is mandatory to confirm this for all parties.How can the Networks set up Commissions?

Problem Resolution / Untracked or Disputed Sales

Advertiser accountability / Funding Status

Ability to expire Publisher as fraud prevention

Reporting of all metrics

Payment timeframe & methods


Does the network meet my needs?

Let’s Review: 4C’s of Affiliate Marketing


Optimizing a High Volume Campaign by working through the Sales Funnel







Advertiser Branding / Publisher Traffic Volume Appeal of Offer & Landing Page Optimization Stickiness of the Sale / Support of Product Negotiate the bottom line

Maximize Revenue Opportunities


Open Discussion

Consistent Testing and Optimization of the diamond metrics will yield the best possible results for your campaigns. Publishers, Advertisers and Networks must work closely together to find out what works and what doesn’t.

Each campaign is unique and sometimes you need to walk away and try again with another partner or partners. Once a working model is developed, it can then be duplicated.

Just like cutting a Diamond, the results take time to shape, form and polish… until the perfect gem is created!

Q&A Time

Thank you!


John LoBrutto [email protected]

Mike [email protected]

Jeannine [email protected]