The online Oscars: what if you are not one of the big boys?
Wednesday 03 March 2010
TAGS: Affiliate marketing
Client Services Manager at Silverbean, Emma Adcock, assesses affiliate marketing’s potential for smaller brands, the possible pitfalls and how they can make their programs successful and profitable (whilst also talking about celebrities and shoes.)
I’d like to go to the Oscars. Yes the glitz and glamour is right up my street, just get me some Jimmy Choos or Louboutins and a Vera Wang dress and I’m there - my guess is I’m not alone in that wish! Sadly instead of being part of some huge Hollywood bash my Sunday night actually consisted of coco and a DVD. But it did get me thinking about the massive effort (and expense) of it all and the host of individuals who contribute to making films in the first place.
There are over twenty different award categories at the Oscars, and I don’t know about you but I can’t name who won best costume design or best make-up this year, but I probably could tell you who won best actress/actor - and at a push best supporting actress.
The well known actors and actresses naturally get the most coverage and media attention – a parallel remains in the world of marketing; the big brands also enjoy this focus and instant recognisability/acknowledgement.
So what if you’re more of a supporting assistant/runner/executive tea maker in the online brand stakes? Can affiliate marketing still work for a smaller brand? What do you need to do?
Well the answer is a resounding yes to affiliate marketing for the smaller/unknown brands (simply think of ASOS and Amazon.) That goes double for brands with great offline regional brand traction beginning to make roads into online retail. Although you will face different challenges to those national/established brands in the offline environment.
Affiliate marketing can work wonders for smaller brands - firstly it is relatively low maintenance for the merchant (if you work with a good online marketing agency and have structured strategy- find out more about that below), it is scalable and performance based - meaning you only pay for what you get and unlike traditional media is doesn’t have big entry costs. It arms smaller brands with the power to reach an enormous customer base and immediately start working with knowledgeable, savvy affiliates who know what to do to make sales and are actively incentivised to do so rather than simply posting adverts and paying lip-service.
The first challenge for smaller/lesser known brands (apart from actually setting a decent website up to begin with) – is a dedicated online communications and sales strategy. The fact that you aren’t well known/have a limited budget/don’t have 100 marketing professionals working in your marketing department means you have to be clever and inventive. Play to your strengths, know your customers well, but also think about how your customer’s behaviour will change when making purchases online (which it will), what will be important, what will help you make the sale?
This is a new introduction, I know this sounds obvious but you are now speaking to a global audience, even if you don’t focus on the entire world the potential is there.
Simply stating you need a strategy is of course the easy part, completing a detailed, in-depth plan is easier said than done, especially when you don’t know the parameters you are working with and what constitutes a reasonable budget to match and meet your objectives. Consultation with an online agency from the outset is advisable, good agencies will discuss your limitations and ambitions and be readily able to suggest the most effective means of achieving your goals.
The next step is choice. Choose a network, choose an agency (if you have not done so in the first step.) Affiliate networks act as a large transmitter and broadcaster to the vast affiliate community and often have different demographic and industry sector specialisms, and so in turn can connect merchants to the correct and most lucrative affiliates for them. Online agencies can assess which network would be the best as a professional agency will be “network neutral” meaning they work with all the networks and remain unbiased thus helping merchants to get the best out of the relationship.
The choice of service providers is pivotal for lesser known brands as they may have an experience/knowledge deficit in this area and will rest heavily upon the experience of their choice of network and agency to fulfil the areas they can’t.
OK so you have your plan, you have your agency and they have suggested a great network you feel is right, what next? Now comes the test and real work to convince affiliates you are award winning and deserve their devotion.
Unfortunately unlike larger/national brands affiliate recruitment will be tougher for the smaller brands. Affiliates know there is a large existing customer base for the big brands, inert potentially, but waiting to translate sales online, you remain an unknown quantity and therefore a risk.
Don’t despair though affiliates usually operate a portfolio system, spreading the risk and retail sectors and are usually willing to entertain the notion of using smaller brands if they prove viable. To ensure you get their attention website and sales statistics are invaluable. Sales conversion rates, website traffic figures and average order value should make up your affiliate recruitment arsenal, even a vast or exclusive product range would be interesting to affiliates. Don’t worry if your stats aren’t staggering, their mere presence reassures affiliates you mean business and understand what your doing, adding your future aims to these and the strategy you are about to employ will also impress them.
I could go on but like a good Oscars award speech brevity is everything and I’m skimming over the large chunk of work you should expect your chosen agency to complete, and there is a great deal, they should understand what your competitors are doing online (big and small), suggest promotions, understand the commission levels that will work for you, constantly communicate with affiliates on your behalf and already hold fantastic relationships with the super affiliates who could really make or break your efforts.
So in conclusion it may seem daunting to enter the affiliate marketing arena but remember smaller brands compete with the bigger brands offline everyday and survive and thrive so why not go for gold and ensure you get nominated for more sales and profit.
Emma Adcock is a Client Services Manager at Silverbean. If you have any questions or would like to discuss how Silverbean can help you achieve your marketing objectives through an affiliate marketing campaign; please contact our resident affiliate marketing agency expert using one of the following.