dare to be different - naomi brown - firebox
TRANSCRIPT
Dare to Be DifferentAffiliate Programme Brainstorming
Naomi Brown
Online Marketing Manager
Today’s Presentation
• Background and statistics
• The importance of programme USPs
• Brainstorming new programme ideas:Research
Development
Implementation
• Real life examples
• Questions
Today’s Presentation
• Background and statistics
• The importance of programme USPs
• Brainstorming new programme ideas:Research
Development
Implementation
• Real life examples
• Questions
About Me
• Online Marketing Manager for Firebox.com (have managed affiliate programme for over 2 years)
• Firebox is a leading retailer of gifts, gadgets and games.
• 2007 turnover was 11.2 million, with about 15% (over 1.6m) through affiliates.
• Affiliate programme one of the oldest in the UK, having been setup in 2000
The UK Affiliate Marketing Industry
• Uk4profit.co.uk, a site that aims to list all the affiliate programmes in the UK, has over 3500 listed.
• According to Affiliatelaunch.co.uk, over 90 new programmes were launched in August 2008 alone.
• New entrants to the market find it increasingly difficult to stand out
Today’s Presentation
• Background and statistics
• The importance of programme USPs
• Brainstorming new programme ideas:Research
Development
Implementation
• Real life examples
• Questions
Unique Selling Points• Crucial, given the size of the market• USPs for an affiliate programme are different from
the selling points used to customers (service, price, range etc)
• Common Affiliate USPs include:Competitive commission (higher or calculated differently)
High conversion rates
Compelling affiliate incentives
Helpful and friendly affiliate management
Unique affiliate tools
Unique Affiliate Tools
• A different way to make your programme stand out
• Cannot be quickly or easily copied by competitors
• Big sales driver
• Don’t have to cost lots of money to develop
Today’s Presentation
• Background and statistics
• The importance of programme USPs
• Brainstorming new programme ideas:Research
Development
Implementation
• Real life examples
• Questions
Step One: Research
What other people are doing:
• Look at what your competition is producing
• Can you improve upon it? Are they doing anything wrong?
• Also look at what non-competitive merchants are producing in other industries
Step One: Research
Technology:
• What can your network support? (don’t always be limited by this though)
• What new technology is popular on the web at the moment? (eg Video, Facebook apps etc)
• Use forums such as Affiliates4u to see what’s being talked about
Step One: Research
Your affiliates:
• Ask them what they would like to see
• What types of affiliates work best for you and what would be useful for them? (PPC tools, content)
Different tools for different affiliates
Content:
• Videos
• Content units
• Search Boxes
• Gift finders
• Games/ Flash-based interactive content
• Article sources
PPC:
• Live product feeds
• Feeds of top/new products
• Stock amounts in feed
• Suggested advert text for products
• Keywords in feed
Voucher/Reward sites:
• Feeds of new deals and offers
• Dynamic voucher code banners
• Page peel creative (for offers)
Example: the Firebox Affiliate Video Player
Research
• One competitor already producing video
• Video popular talking point amongst affiliates
• Content affiliates perform well for Firebox
Step Two: Brainstorming
You will need:• Research notes• A very large piece of paper• A pen or multiple pens• A quiet room• Some spare time
Put everything you can think of down, then refine
Implementation
• Talk to your technical and design teams about what’s possible
• Write a clear brief for the tool
• Set some deadlines
• TEST- both with affiliates and network
Ideas for different industries
Affiliate tools aren’t just useful for retail
Mobile phones: dynamic tariff selector box
Gaming/Gambling: live feeds of odds or prize funds
Travel: flight search tools, dynamic hot deal boxes, travel information tools (live weather updates, flight news), video reviews for resorts
Fashion: videos of catwalk shows, outfit selector tool.
Today’s Presentation
• Background and statistics
• The importance of programme USPs
• Brainstorming new programme ideas:Research
Development
Implementation
• Real life examples
• Questions
Today’s Presentation
• Background and statistics
• The importance of programme USPs
• Brainstorming new programme ideas:Research
Development
Implementation
• Real life examples
• Questions
Conclusions
Points to take away with you
• Your programme needs USPs, which should relate to affiliates not just customers
• Unique tools aren’t difficult to produce and can be an excellent USP, whatever your industry
Questions?