Marketing

CJU Course: PayPerCall: Dial Up Your Marketing Results

Posted on Oct 26, 2011 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

Want to take advantage of a marketing channel that has conversion rates as high as 50%? Want to successfully promote high priced items and services through the affiliate channel? Advertisers and Publishers in this session learned all about PayPerCall and how they can use unique, trackable, phone numbers to attribute calls to various efforts.  The solo presenter was:

• Nicole Ron, Manager, PayPerCall

There’s not much to share here since it was largely a demonstration of the platform, but wow.  This was what I needed to want to explore it more.  Now, unfortunately for my limited forays into being an affiliate there’s not much on the PayPerCall platform that’s in-line with my ideas, but here’s to hoping they grow!  A personal note for Nicole if she reads this – I LOVED the Wizard of Oz theme & analogies in the presentation!

Bullet Point Review!

• How does it work? Advertisers create a PayPerCall campaign and publishers apply and select unique toll-free numbers. Publishers run promos online or off. When a consumer places the call, CJ tracks it and it connects to the advertisers call center.
• PayPerCall is powered by RingRevenue.
• Three ways to get paid: Phone Leads, Phone Sales, and Both!
• Phone Lead: commission granted for qualified calls based on duration or other factors.
• Sales: commission granted for sales that result from referred calls.
• Hybrid: commission granted for quality calls AND from sales from a referred call.
• More high end products and services do well on PayPerCall. There’s more personal contact which means up-sell and a higher AOV.
• Tip for Search Publishers: include the phone number in the ad. Lends credibility. Good for mobile.
• Tip for Display Publishers: advertisers provide the creative and CJ pops in the unique phone numbers you selected.
• Tip for Blogger Publishers: phone numbers fits nicely into a blog in a write up or review.
• The average conversion rate on PayPerCall is 20-30%

CJU Course: Kerri Pollard’s Opening Remarks

Posted on Oct 25, 2011 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

Despite our impressive growth rates, performance-based model and in-depth relationships, why does affiliate marketing continue to play in the minor leagues? Commission Junction President Kerri Pollard challenged us (advertisers, publishers, agencies, and CJ employees alike) to become major players in the overall media mix — aka, the “big leagues.” Not only do we recognize that there is life beyond the last click, but we can — and we do — add value to many of the critical stages of the consumer life cycle that lead to the purchase.

As usual, Kerri’s opening remarks were engaging, energetic  and encouraging.

Bullet Point Review!

• The industry thinks we’re too small, we don’t deserve as much attention in affiliate marketing.
• Benchmark Capital says “Affiliate marketing is slowing” but they’re the only ones that think that.
• We know we’re growing; those outside our industry and those above us do not.
• We can ignore these doubtful questions or we can answer them by demonstrating our value.  Answering them will allow us to do more in the future.
• How do we create more outliers to increase commissions?
• Are we having the right conversations?
• We need to focus on incrementality.
• Loyalty publishers have a 171% higher AOV, their users shop more frequently, and they have less returns (within CJ, anyway).
• We need to look at what’s happening in other channels and address the concern, money can be funneled elsewhere.
• We need to focus on profitability.
• Revenue: cost of goods sold – operating expenses = profit.
• Reach: who is your audience?  What are their preferences?  Do they match advertiser goals?
• We can do more.
• 5% of CJ publishers have a mobile experience or mobile website.
• Only 10% of advertisers have mobile shopping experiences.
• Starting November 3rd, CJ will be offering impression to conversion.  The click will always trump the impression.

CJU Keynote: So what drives customer engagement, anyway?

Posted on Oct 24, 2011 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

2011’s keynote speaker was the very informative Dr. Jeffrey F. Rayport, Ph.D. Jeffrey coined the term “viral marketing” and brings an incredible knowledge of the online commerce space. He advises businesses in rethinking how they interact with their customers. His keynote focused on how the networked world requires new approaches to drive customer engagement, which in turn is changing the face of online and multi-channel commerce.

Last year’s keynote was informative, but dry.  This year’s keynote was awesome.  Dr. Rayport was informative as all get out while being funny and engaging all at the same time.  I’d love to see him speak again, and I definitely ended the keynote feeling jazzed to keep learning more and energized for my meetings!

Bullet Point Review!

• Consumers have changed over the decades
• Consumer 1.0: Demand was greater than supply
• Consumer 2.0: Demand was equal to supply
• Consumer 3.0: Supply is greater than demand
• We’re all in the business of demand generation.
• Engaging and captivating consumers is key.
• Toyota’s Scion is a great cast study of how to do it right.
• Scion never spent money on TV advertising: 60% allocation of their marketing budget to events and 40% to online advertising.
• Made a lot of after market peripherals and accessories for the car.
• It’s changing the way car buying works.  Most owners customize their Scions online.
• Integrate social networks, read dynamic comments, follow Twitter streams.
• 2/3 of the 100 million streams of videos happen on exterior sites, not YouTube.com
• StumbleUpon now accounts for over 50% of all the referral traffic from the topographic social media sites.  There are 12 million SU users vs. 750 million Facebook users and yet SU just surpassed Facebook.
• Best Buy extends multiple-channel retail experience into many useful OUTGOING points of presence, such as Facebook, online magazines, mobile apps, Twitter-based customer service, and crowd sourced ideas.
• A single social graph can become a vast constellation of thousands of INCOMING points of presence.
• With the proliferation of local deals and offers, mobile couponing is growing rapidly in appeal.
• It’s expected that 16.5% of adult mobile phone users will be using mobile coupons by 2013.
• iPhone and iPad apps enable mobile access to flash sales with “call to action” offers for people on the go.
• To boost mobile sales, companies have provided a “virtual shop window” for the retail experience without the inventory.  Ocado in the UK has a store front, you can scan the barcodes on the window with your mobile phone and order items.
• Mobile smart phone apps provide branded city guides to deepen brand engagement and drive sales.
• Hulu’s move beyond online video streaming is fueling growth for it’s business and content owners, too.  It went from a website to having multiple platforms to provide premium content.
• The highest productivity retailer in the world as measured by retail sales per square foot is the Apple Store.
• Publishers and advertisers will win consumers not through Customer Relationship Management, but Customer Managed Relationships.
• Forget segments and niches in the traditional sense.

Dr. Rayport’s 5 Main Takeways:

1. Target your diehard fans: put them in the driver’s seat
2. Social the brand: make rewards matter
3. Work the web: let the outside in and the inside out
4. Experience is everything: form factors rule
5. Integrate the touch points: be savvy and seamless

CJU Course: It’s a TAXing Debate: Don’t Cut Me Off

Posted on Oct 20, 2011 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

So many states have implemented affiliate nexus tax laws. What does this mean to you as a publisher? What does this mean to you if you are an advertiser who does not have a store in the state? Come listen to our panel to hear how others are managing the challenge. The panel consisted of:

• Jennifer Lovette, Vice President, Client Development, CJ (Moderator)
• Rebecca Madigan, Executive Director, Performance Marketing Association

This was a very informative discussion, even for someone like me who tries to keep abreast of what’s going on in an effort to help however I can.  I should note that since CJ (since this info is about a month stale) that the Governor of CA has signed the deal with Amazon and many merchants have welcomed CA affiliates back into their programs.

Personally, I only accepted a few that I really liked before and declined the pushed offers from the others as I already did my link removal on my sites, but I’m the lowest level of affiliate in terms of how much I personally make, so it’s the bigger affiliates who can really make a difference in leveraging their income figures in this fight!

Bullet Point Review!

• Do we want to fight this on a state by state level or on a national level.
• Publishers aren’t mad at the advertisers, they’re mad at the legislature.
• On average affiliates lose 25-45% of their revenue, the state loses income tax revenue, and never collect the sales tax.
• There are a lot of names, which are confusing, but we’ve chosen affiliate nexus law as a general catchall phrase.
• Quill Corp v. North Dakota: advertising does not constitute physical presence or nexus. It became a constitutional issue.
• Passed: California, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Illinois, Connecticut, Arkansas.
• Big box retailers banded together this year to support this tax to try to get Amazon to pay tax. Rumor is they spent 11 million.
• The PMA surveyed California affiliates after the budget bill was signed here:
• 32% are moving out of state or plan to.
• 20% decided to shut down their affiliate marketing efforts altogether
• 35% of lost over half their income when the law passed.
• Amazon & CA have come to an agreement that will eliminate this tax for 1 year – we need to look at it more long term.
• They want to get a federal sales tax solution in place by July 2012. If they’re not successful, the law gets reinstated September 15, 2012.
• Streamline Sales Tax Project. 24 states have agreed to this. Main street fairness act needs to pass to allow SSTP. The chance of this happening isn’t very high.
• Amazon just cut a deal with the state that benefits their own business, so now all these other advertisers who haven’t been involved in the fight or the opposition will be forced to collect tax. Now is the time to fight for yourself & promote the federal solution.
• Board of directors of the PMA are new and still determining whether to fight nationally or state level.
• What can you do?
• Think before you act.
• Make Your Case
• Simplify actions
• Measure twice, cut once. Advertisers need to make sure you’re doing what’s best for your business before making a knee jerk decision to cut affiliates. Talk to a lawyer if you have to.
• There are ways to work together, identify your threshold of risk.
• Taxes will always exist, think long term when making decisions that are going to affect your business.
• No matter what side you’re on, WE can make a difference
• Things change quickly so don’t give up!

If you were an attendee of CJU and registered for their (awesome!) CJUniverse network, you can download a PDF of Jennifer’s slides here.

Affiliate Marketing Fanatics 57: Geek Cast Wannabes

Posted on Oct 20, 2011 in Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Marketing Fanatics |

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Affiliate Marketing Fanatics – A couple of hyper-caffeinated affiliate marketers (Mike Buechele) and (Trisha Lyn Fawver) talk about all things Affiliate Marketing. From blogging to branding, social media to search, video and more!

It seems longing for a simpler time, back when we all religiously listened to Geek Cast, is a virus that’s going around.  Before the band got back together last week on Affiliate Thing, we had a similar idea to emulate that model for fun.  Mike is back, and we were also joined by Wade Tonkin of Fanatics and Drew Bennett of BenSpark.com. In in this episode we discuss:

• Our collective love of the original Geek Cast with Shawn Collins, Sam Harrelson, Jim Kukral, and Lisa Picarille.
• The passing of Steve Jobs… would the reaction be similar if Bill Gates had passed?
• CityCrashVille Hometown on iPad.
• Speculating on what Affiliate Summit Central will be.
• Upcoming Affiliate Summit West in January and how the session voting is going.
• Mike’s recap of the New York Comic Con

Find us on Twitter: @AMF_Podcast, @MikeBuechele & @TrishaLyn. Like us on Facebook! Be old fashioned and just leave us a comment!

Special thanks to GeekCast.fm for hosting Affiliate Marketing Fanatics!

How Does Content Monetization Work and Does it Matter?

Posted on Oct 17, 2011 in Guest Posts, Marketing | 2 comments

Guest Post by Murray Newlands

In short, content monetization is the process of earning money through written content.

There are a many ways to achieve this. You can earn money by either selling the actual content or by using internet-based writing tools. In the first method, potential buyers of your content can be anyone from news editors to artists to entertainment blogs. In the latter method, you can use one of the hundreds of possibilities available through the internet that enables you to make money from something aside from the actual content. Examples of some of these opportunities are the use of AdSense, sales of consultation or advertising for a small business.

It’s important to know these different techniques if you want to enhance your writing and reach your readers’ expectations. In order to grab the attention of your readers, you need to deliver the content while keeping your specific audience’s specific interests in mind. You need to convey to your readers the main reason you are writing the piece.

There are several ways that you are able to monetize your content. When writing for a newspaper, for examples, you need to write articles in a manner that can attract the reader’s attention. You earn money though writing a compelling piece that editors of the specific paper want to pay you for one time. You also need to make it an interesting, engaging article for those who want to advertise in the paper, so that the paper can earn from business relations, readers, advertisers, etc.

If you are an advertiser, you need to design the content according to the market—you need to make potential customers of your product or services know the qualities of your product. Your goal is to convince them to purchase your product or services.

If you want to sell your business ideas, you need to focus the content of the ideas. This enables your customers to see your ideas again and again and to get accustomed to them. And If you own a website, you can significantly raise your website’s income by advertising with the help of marketing tools such as Google’s AdSense, paid posts and link insertion.

But maybe you are a blogger that doesn’t make much money from your website. Why not earn money from your labor? Wouldn’t it be great if you could make money while working on your hobby? If you want to boost your blogging income, you can use link insertion as a simple tool for content monetization of your blog. All you have to do is to insert some java script code in your site and this can monetize your site automatically. The software will use words and phrases from blogs and use them to link it to relevant advertisers.

A useful tool for advertising is INTENTclick, which provides an alternative basis for your content monetization. This tool is especially useful for content, which are for advertisement of products or services in origin. You can find more details about these helpful internet advertisement techniques in the book “Content Monetization.”

So all said and done, content monetization really does matter, as it can be a great source of revenue for your website. Using the correct tools can help you reach optimization and make the most amount of money without upsetting your readers.

Disclosure: I am working for the company INTENTclick.