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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?
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Five Pillars
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The Plate
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Advanced?Essential
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Outline
• Analysis & Optimization Questions
• Common Problems & Challenges
• Outcome: 5 Action Points
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Analysis & Optimization
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Affiliate Applications
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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
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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)
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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.
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Key Performance Indicators
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Good Question
Lets say you had an existing business, with an affiliate program already up and running for several years. You have a large number 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?
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KPI #1
Affiliates Recruited
Number of new affiliates recruited into the program.
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KPI #2
Activity Index
Percentage of affiliates active in the program over a given period of time.
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KPI #3
Activation
Number of previously stagnant affiliates activated within a given time period.
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KPI #4
Traffic
Increase in hits/clicks sent to your website by affiliates.
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KPI #5
Sales / Leads
Increase in sales (focus on monetary figure) or leads referred by affiliates.
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Split Testing
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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).
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Example
© 2007-2011 WiderFunnel Marketing Inc.
Test Page:Pluraleyes Software Landing Page
Audience: Affiliates, Search, Direct
Goal: Software Downloads
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3 Challenger Pages Tested
A: Minimalist B: Screen Shot Isolation C: Video Player Isolation
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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
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How-To
What to Test?
• Headlines• Calls to action• Page style & layout• Images• Descriptive copy• Pricing & promos.
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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
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Worth Mentioning…
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Worth Mentioning…
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Competitive Intelligence
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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
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Misleading Metrics
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Example
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CommonProblems & Challenges
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Coupons
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Problems
1. Last-minute coupon search
1. Pseudo-couponing
2. Coupon affiliates joining no-couponers programs
1. Coupon scraping
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1. Last-Minute Coupon Search
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3. Joining No-Couponers Programs
Solution: Affiliate-referred visitors are not shown the coupon code box
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Result? Affiliate confidence
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Adware & Toolbars
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Beware of…
Downloadable applications, browser add-ons (aka BHOs) that may interfere with one or all of your online marketing channels.
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Example #1
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Example #2
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What to Do?
1. Have a TOS Clause on Adware
1. Monitor & Enforce Compliance
2. “Play Without the Ball”
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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.
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Resources
Ben Edelman - www.benedelman.org
Kellie Stevens - www.affiliatefairplay.com
my YouTube channel - youtube.com/eprussakov
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Trademark Violations
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For example…
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Remember…
Do not call it a “violation” unless you’ve defined it as such in your TOS!
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…and Be Clearer than:
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What to Safeguard: TMs (and domains) as PPC keywords, TMs in domain names; … “misspellings and variations” wording
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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.
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FTC Compliance
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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
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What to Do:
1. Sub-clause of Affiliate Obligations clause in TOS
1. Provide affiliates with disclosure template(s)
2. Routinely (and yes, manually) analyze sites of top performers
3. Look into solutions like SearchReviews.com, or invest into a tool of your own
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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.
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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
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In Conclusion…
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Thank you!!
Action Points
• Screen applications• Analyze KPIs• Test (to optimize)• Spy on competition• Monitor: a) Coupon violations b) Adware & toolbars c) Trademark abuse d) FTC compliance
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