Affiliate Summit East 2006 gave merchants the ability spend quality face-time with affiliates, as well as the staff from networks that may power their programs, such as LinkShare, CJ, Performics, and Share-A-Sale. This important process helps solidify relationships and boost camaraderie- essential for a business that is so virtually oriented.

In addition to those priceless connections, Orlando’s agenda gave merchants the chance to answer some of the questions that continue to dominate discussions during weekly affiliate strategy meetings.

The following are the Top 5 Questions I think “Merchants” could have effectively addressed during the show:

1) Are Coupon Site Affiliates Bad? Panel participants in the session “Debate: Benefits and Liabilities of Coupon Affiliates” hashed out the pros and cons of coupons sites. And, as is usually the case, there is not a simple yes/no answer to this question. David Lewis of ThisNext and 77Blue, represented the CON side. He said it best with his assertion that he’s not against all coupon sites, just bad coupon sites. Coupon affiliates, according to David, can be thought of as “value-added pre-sellers.” He suggested that those sites that add real value are most likely asking themselves how what they’re doing benefits their consumers. Kudos to David for encouraging all of us to ask that question, every day.

Merchants and good coupon affiliate sites need to work together to make sure that codes are not expired, and that offers represent the brand appropriately (something that is answered uniquely for each merchant). The idea of using exclusive coupons for specific affiliates was also suggested as a positive approach – and one that we use often.

The bottom line is that there is no one definitive strategy for working with coupon sites. But I can tell you that whatever policies you decide, it is important that you publicize your stance on key issues in MORE than just your T&Cs. That means – telling affiliates in all the touch point areas (Create Links, Join Programs, Splash Pages) how you prefer to work with coupon sites.

2) Should We Have A Corporate Blog? Dave Taylor , Principal at Intuitive Systems, Inc. gave the crowd blogging best-practices during his session on Tuesday. With great humor, and great ideas, Dave’s presentation would lead any savvy merchant to answer this one with a resounding yes. His follow up newsletter summed it up:

“…Your company won't get to realize its long-term marketing and sales goals without coming out of the cellar, without meeting the varied residents of the blogosphere and engaging them in your quest and efforts. Not crassly, not like a stick over someone's head, but subtly, with respect for the existing values and interests. Done right, it can be astonishingly successful and an example of how your time and effort can often be far, far more valuable than any specific monetary investment.” (Blogsmart News, 7/13/06)

Continue reading "Notes from Affiliate Summit East - Part II" »

Posted by at 4:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Affiliate marketing is growing. Shawn Collins sent some interesting stats last week: The inaugural Affiliate Summit in November 2003 sported only 200 people. I recall it vividly because I moderated the Speed Networking Session; we used a whistle in the old days, not a social networking platform. The following was in June, 2004, and 230 people attended. In June, 2005, there were 550 people. This past January, 2006 in Vegas, the Summit swelled to over 1,200 people.

Since Affiliate Summit East 2006, held in the middle of summer (traditionally a quieter time for events) and not in Vegas, the staff at Affiliate Summit estimated only 800 to 900 people. In a surprising turn, they were very excited to once again top 1,200. Notable since that was more than double last summer.

That’s impressive growth. Beth Kirsch points out, it has indeed become an “institution”.

At the November, 2003 event, held at Baruch College, we wore those peel off name tags. I didn’t because I hate name tags, but you know the drill: My name is ______ [get out your black magic marker].

We’ve come a long way baby. In Orlando, attendees all received big, almost-greeting-card-sized nametags that hung from branded lanyards and which state very clearly, whether you are an “Affiliate”, “Merchant” or “Agency” (with corresponding color-coding, of course).

Badge accessories were also very popular in Orlando. The more obvious “Speaker” and “Exhibitor” ribbons, were complimented with Blogging Pins from the ReveNews Crowd, and even one MSFT MVP pin. I’d like to see “Legend” Ribbons for Wayne Porter and Tim Storm added next year.

The conference reinforced the idea that the most important lesson for merchants is building a positive relationship with affiliates and communicating clearly with the channel. Every merchant has different issues, based on the size of your business, your margins, and the available internal resources. But in any case it’s important to move away from the Us vs. Them mentality. At Commerce360, it is our mission to help our clients understand this space and adopt this attitude.

During my “Introduction to Affiliate Marketing for Affiliates” panel, one message in particular seemed to resonate: affiliates should not be shy to reach out to merchants. Well-informed merchants will embrace the conversation.

On a final note, I appreciated and identified with Jim Bouton’s closing message in his keynote address: He reminded us of the two most important things in building a successful business:

• have fun
• be persistent

I naturally embrace both. From what I saw at Affiliate Summit East 2006, so do the majority of individuals committed to affiliate marketing. We are a fun crowd, a forward-thinking crowd and the most persistent people I know.

Shawn has posted other Affiliate Summit Wrap-Ups as well as all of the show presentations, which I highly recommend you check out. Lisa Picarille also did a fine job of summarizing this event; as did many fine bloggers on ReveNews.

Many colleagues got down to the business of writing their blog wrap-ups on the plane ride home. I decided to take a few days to reflect and let the experience steep in my mind like an aromatic tea. Sitting here in New Jersey at my kitchen table, looking out on the flowers on my balcony, wearing my “I heart Affiliate Marketing T-Shirt” (courtesy of Kristin Anderson Hall at Performics - all I can say is – I can’t wait for Vegas- after years of work our industry has finally come of age.

Thanks to the entire Commerce360 team, Shawn, Missy, the great partners we work with every day, and to all my wonderful colleagues and favorite people (you know who you are).

Stay tuned for Part II – Top 5 Questions Affiliate Summit Answered for Merchants!

Stephanie Agresta is VP, Affiliate Marketing at Commerce360 Inc.

Posted by at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Oh-My-God-Did-You-Hear-What-Google-Did-Now crowd is gaga today about Google testing a CPA program, even though I first informed the blogosphere of this program a full two months ago. But my petty credit aside, let's look at what this really means.

• First, this is an obvious move. They had done CPC, they had done CPM, it didn't take a genius to figure out that CPA was next. I had even suggested, to some people in the position to do something about it, that Google should have purchased Linkshare when they were for sale a few months ago, as that would have gotten them very significant infrastructure to really do CPA right.

• Second, there is no right or wrong in CPA, CPC, CPM - they can and will all exist together and different buyers and sellers will be attracted to each. All the discussion of any killing the other is 'who needs radio now we have TV' all over again.

• Third, as for Google Adsense CPA really impacting ValueClick or Linkshare, as some have suggested that's very nieve. Sure some of what happens in those networks is simple 'link distribution' but the programs generating the vast bulk of the revenue are much more complicated in nearly every way - diversity of offers, range of creative, value added content produced by the affiliate, tiered or negotiated commision rates, etc. Google creates a mass-market simple system, but at least initially it won't change the high-volume side of the affiliate world.

Funny that this should break today, as I had lunch at the Linkshare Symposium at Chelsea Piers in NYC, and had dinner with Linkshare Founders Stephen and Heidi Messer in Philadelphia along with many other Internet Capital Group Alums. I'll try and post more about those two events tomorrow.

Posted by Craig Danuloff at 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)