Affiliate Summit West2015

Merchant - John LoBrutto◦ 1&1 Internet

OPM - Rick Gardiner◦ iAffi l iate Management

Network - Jeannine Crooks◦ Affi l iate Window

Managing Real Estate - Landing Page Optimization

Turning Clicks into Sales - Cart Abandonment

Maximizing Network Performance Taking Amazing Care of Your Affiliates

Maintaining a high conversion rate is one of the biggest challenges in affiliate marketing.

Develop unique affiliate landing pages, focus the customer on a clear call to action. Shorten the sales funnel.

Optimize the anchor text or banner ad to focus on one clear offer and execute a simple message on the linked page.

Develop a unique promotion for the Affiliate channel and clearly display added perks, such a free shipping.

Test – Test – Test!

The average abandonment rate is 67.75% of all online shopping according to a Baymard Institute study.

After spending so much time optimizing landing pages, developing pricing initiatives, and perfecting your message, just about 7 out of every 10 people are leaving at the cart.

According to Forrester Research, the estimated total of annual abandoned shopping cart revenue will reach $31 Billion dollars in 2015.

So, why does cart abandonment happen? How do you recover abandoned carts?

◦Reason 1 - Unexpected Costs◦Reason 2 - Browsing◦Reasons 3 - Better Price Elsewhere◦Reason 4 - Price Was Too Expensive

Customers are not just changing their mind, they have tangible reasons to abandon the purchase. Recovery strategies need to remove these barriers.

Basket Recovery vs. Abandonment Recovery

Many players, but different approaches:

Key elements in a successful abandonment recovery campaign: Timing – the first recovery email should be sent within 24 hours, and then a follow up within 3-5 days.

Images – Show images of the abandoned items, add reviews and recommendations. Develop a single compelling call to action to bring them back.

Phone Number – Add an additional point of contact to ease concerns and answer questions.

Reminders – Promote satisfaction guarantees, return policies, shipping policies, and perks.

Coupon vs. no Coupon – Analyze customer trends and verify if adding discounts increase conversion or influences behavior

Essentials for Optimizing Website Real Estate

Know your audience – Who is your typical visitor and the demographic of people using your website? How are people finding you?

Improve your end-user experience – Use analytics and webmaster tools to understand how people are using your website.

Create Targeted Content – Create useful content specific to your demographic that will help them take that next step.

Take control of your ads – Evaluate how targeted ad rotations perform vs. AdSense (or similar programs).

How do I strategically improve the ROI and operational efficiency of our affiliate channel?

The Benefits of Having a Multi-Network Affiliate Program: Divide and Conquer – Additional network resources available to support different areas of your program.*Increased Brand Exposure – Multiple network marketplace listings provide more visibility for the merchant/advertiser.*

*Additional expenses may be incurred. Varies by network.

Flexibility for Affiliate – Partners choose which network they would like to join your program through.Flexibility for Merchant – More control over your Ad Spend. Better positioning for contract negotiations.Current Technology – Knowing competitive landscape enables you to identify networks with new or emerging technologies.

The Challenges of Having a Multi-Network Program:

Operational Inefficiencies – Workload increases exponentially as you add networks. Your operational playbook will include ad-hoc reporting and other network-specific tasks.

Data Inconsistencies – Additional work to normalize data between networks. Order reconciliation is required to address duplicate orders that artificially inflate data and increase your ad spend and expense.

More is (not always) Better – More networks does not equal incremental revenue.

Network Support Varies – Not all affiliate networks are created equal.

Source: AffiliateBenchmarks. (2014). 2014 Affiliate and Advertiser Research Report, U.S. Advertiser Version.

Who Manages Your Affiliate Program?

Current Banners◦ Affiliates don’t have time to swap out banners, so

do it for them; replace the old ones with new ones.◦ Don’t leave the old ones up forever

Work with your Account Rep – what can they do for you?◦ Holiday wrap-ups◦ Category focuses

Always Have an Offer!◦ Whether it’s free shipping, free gift with purchase,

discount based on basket value, sale on selected item(s), always have something!

Pay to Play ◦ Many large affiliates have special offers, premium

placement, newsletter inclusion in exchange for increased commission or payment. Test it, don’t just dismiss it.

Communicate◦ Regular newsletters – not just special offers, but

also discuss seasonal favorites, how to promote selected items or categories.

Contests◦ Very popular with affiliates UNLESS only the

same top performer can win.◦ One entry for every sale, extra entries for first time

sale, social media promotion, sales thresholds

Review Assists◦ Who is generating a lot of clicks but not closing

the sale? Analyze the whole click path.◦ Offer training, custom content or creative,

exclusive offers Respond◦ Most affiliates don’t contact merchants, but some

have special offers, opportunities, great ideas If they email you, answer them.

Approve on a regular basis◦ Don’t make them wait longer than a week◦ If they don’t make sense for your program, ask

before you decline. Payment◦ Timely payment secures relationships◦ Prompt approvals, prompt invoicing approval,

make sure AP sends the check on time

John LoBrutto◦ John.LoBrutto@1and1.com

Rick Gardiner◦ rgardiner@iAff i l iateManagement.co

m Jeannine Crooks◦ Jeannine.Crooks@Affi l iateWindow.

com