Mystic predictions: affiliate marketing in 2010

TAGS: Affiliate marketing | Strategy

A new year is upon us and with it comes the trepidation and exciting prospect of new opportunities and the frightening truth (gulp!)- There will be obstacles and challenges! Hold on to your crystal balls as Emma Adcock, Client Service Manager at Silverbean consults her charts (statistical ones!) to divine what the future holds for affiliate marketing…..

Let’s Get Serious

The wind of change has been slowly building momentum throughout the merchant/client community in 2009. Whilst some cottoned on to the benefits of affiliate marketing almost immediately and have used it for some time, others have been slightly reluctant when it came to enlisting the massive sales force available to them on the net.

Well 2010 heralds a big shift in online thinking client-side.

And this change is being brought about by the U.S.; marketeers across the pond are freely talking about their impression levels, identifying their top PPC affiliates and negotiating commission levels with cashback sites.

In short affiliate marketing is now being taken very, very seriously; it’s classed as a core component in the media and marketing mix, and more and more brands (big and small) are devoting extra time and attention to it. And as per other well known U.S exports we are likely to see it’s growing popularity and importance for businesses in blighty.

What does this mean for merchants/clients, the online market place and the affiliate community? Well in many ways it’s a very positive occurrence, greater knowledge of and investment in affiliate marketing will help to bring about and highlight the benefits and lucrative impact of a well-executed affiliate program. The affiliates and agencies involved in the program will gain greater recognition, and the overall effect will stimulate higher competition levels in the online marketplace.

Getting to Know You

Affiliates are now being monitored through increasingly sophisticated technology as the networks vie for the attention of the merchant/clients, creating dynamic and real-time reporting tools. Segmentation of active affiliates naturally follows this trend, and companies in the U.S. definitely know who’s who in their affiliate portfolio, the role
each affiliate has to play in their online strategy and their affiliates comparative strengths and weaknesses.

This segmentation strategy can take many forms and employs various filters from function and to audience type, frequency of clicks and the promotional activities undertaken by the affiliates themselves.

Resulting in customised messages and product feeds for affiliates, exclusive commission levels per group and a bespoke and interlinking campaign where each affiliate group complements one another to form a cohesive whole. Which makes for a highly persuasive online campaign; ensuring a consistent consumer message and, as an added bonus- helps to protect the brand and talks to the online consumer in a meaningful relevant way.

Clean Up on Aisle Two

Influential affiliates or super affiliates, usually ranked in the prestigious “Top Ten Affiliate” list are causing a big stir client-side. Although the illusive “Top Ten” is usually specific to the client in question i.e. a mobile phone client may enlist a different affiliate to a mountain bike manufacturer, there remain some generic, high-traffic affiliates (usually cashback or vouchercode sites) that always top the client’s Christmas wish list.

And those affiliates know it.

Whilst the essence of any great affiliate program is volume i.e. you look to spread your sales message as far and wide as relevant to the context of your affiliate’s site and your brand parameters will allow; there are affiliates some clients wouldn’t be without. Some quarters are starting to realise this may bring about a Tesco-effect, where super affiliates wield a kind of power similar to the might of the supermarket giants.

And you could be forgiven for thinking this may come about- as the super affiliates have the same physical problem .i.e. limited space.

“But they are websites!” I hear you proclaim “surely they just build another page if they have limited space?” Whilst this is absolutely the case, exposure levels are key. And exposure levels mean a lot of foot stamping and negotiation to attain pole-position on their home-page, where space is a valuable commodity.

Yes you could say why not just rotate the clients/merchants shown on the home page and many affiliates are now using scrolling bars to increase the amount of merchants they can show. Also being ranked within the categories is nothing to sniff at and does create good exposure too. However it’s interesting to note the well known brands and big promotions are those which grab the “shelf-space” on the home-page as per actual merchandising.

Consumer Savvy

Interestingly traditional media has played a big role in the consumerisation of affiliate marketing, reporting on useful cashback sites and promoting vouchercodes, to help out the cash-strapped public. Fed with these titbits the vast majority of consumers are becoming well informed about the advantages of using an affiliate to complete their online purchases, receiving regular newsletters to keep to update and selecting affiliates which feature their favourite shops or fit with their lifestyle or spending habits.

Consumer loyalty to select affiliates is emerging.

Reports are mounting to suggest consumers are now opting to select a voucher code or cashback affiliate as their home page rather than search engines, to ensure they don’t miss out on deals, which is an interesting turn of events to say the least. Don’t worry though there mutterings to suggest Google aren’t far from entering the affiliate arena………watch this space in 2010 or the first year of the “teenies.”