Get Longer Lasting & More Satisfying Merchant-Affiliate Relationships

A4U Expo London, 17th October 2012

Mike Wheeler (Shop Direct Group)Jenny Williams (Skimlinks)

Michael Wheeler Head of Paid Media - Shop Direct Group

• Shop Direct Group 9 years

• Advertising background

• Worked across all online acquisition channels • During the 9 year period specialised in PPC

predominantly. Previous role Head of Search at SDG, responsible for the PPC and SEO teams

• Last 4 months heading up Paid Media• PPC• Price comparison• Affiliates• Facebook direct response

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/mike-wheeler/2/281/88

For affiliate related queries please contact our account management team at Affiliate Window https://darwin.affiliatewindow.com/merchant-profile/3090

Jenny Williams Senior Merchant Manager - Skimlinks

• Silicon Valley Boston Australia LA London

• Previous experience: Affiliate and Merchant sides of a health & lifestyle website, and national commerce brand

• Within Skimlinks: Marketing, Publisher Sales and now on the Merchant side managing Merchant and Network relationships

Affiliate/Merchant Relationships Why are they important?

Mutual GoalsDifferent sets of expertise combined

Industry growth requires

participation from both

parties

Affiliate/Merchant Relationships What barriers exist?

Too much focus on short term ROI

Diseconomies of scale

Differentexpectations

Not all affiliates are the same

Affiliate overload

Affiliate/Merchant relationships How to overcome the barriers

Flexibility Communication

Managing Expectation Transparency

Focus

Skimlinks & SDG What makes them a viable case study

Mutual Goal

For the good of

the industry

Combined

Expertise

Skimlinks & SDG The Campaign

Brand InsertionDrive traffic from hundreds of content sites to Very.co.uk by creating links and inserting branded flyovers into relevant content. 

Why run this campaign?Content publishers drive purchase intent. They shape buying decisions, but don’t necessarily benefit under the last click model. By running brand insertion we can increase traffic among content affiliates to get a sample size large enough to validate research into their role in the path of conversion

Skimlinks & SDG It wasn’t all smooth sailing

Different expectations

Communication

Diseconomies of scale

Skimlinks & SDG What went well

Allocated budget generated enough transactions to warrant a valid test

Both parties contributed significant account management

Key relationships built will lead to future campaigns

Campaign delivered on time and to budget

Attribution data generated as planned

Results proved hypothesis

Both parties happy with evaluation

Skimlinks & SDGResults

Skimlinks contribute a large number of first click conversions but are not being rewarded based on the last click model. It seems that quite often Skimlinks are instigating a conversion path, but what is a fair reward?

Skimlinks & SDG Weighted attribution model

Touchpoints to Order

Marketing Channel

Time to Order

Assess each customer journey by applying a score to the 3 key components of a journey

Skimlinks & SDG The results

How should Skimlinks be rewarded?

*Transactions in which Skimlinks was only click have been removed

Contrary to assumptions, voucher code and cashback affiliates do not frequently trump content affiliates based on the last click model.

However, in 94% of the transaction the Skimlinks click was not awarded the sale; with SEO, PPC and DTU being the largest last click winners.

Skimlinks & SDG The results

Who’s getting all the credit?

Skimlinks clicks

vs.

Other channels

Channel A1Channel B2

3Channel C4Skimlinks

Channel D5Channel E6Channel F7Channel G8Channel H9Channel I10Channel J11Channel K12Channel L13Channel M14

*Based on average weighted contribution

Skimlinks & SDG The results

Are Skimlinks being rewarded fairly based on the last click model?

Are Skimlinks being rewarded fairly based on the last click model?

Do Skimlinks contribute significantly to the path of conversion?

Do Skimlinks contribute significantly to the path of conversion?

Should retailers be rewarding content affiliates for an assist?

Should retailers be rewarding content affiliates for an assist?

What should Skimlinks be paid for an assist?What should Skimlinks be paid for an assist?

Skimlinks & SDG Conclusions

Paying last click

only

Paying last click

only

SDG weighted

model

SDG weighted

model

What should

long-tail affiliates

be rewarde

d?

What should

long-tail affiliates

be rewarde

d?

Further AnalysisFurther Analysis

Implement fully

attributed

affiliate payment model

Implement fully

attributed

affiliate payment model

Skimlinks & SDG What’s Next?

Thank you!

ANY QUESTIONS?

Special thanks to Gemma Warrington (Shop Direct Group) and Jamie Crews (Skimlinks)