get longer lasting and more satisfying merchant-affiliate relationships
DESCRIPTION
Affiliate/Merchant relationships are important, and Skimlinks' Senior Merchant Manager Jenny Williams is the expert at building and maintaining them. Michael Wheeler, Head of Paid Media at Shop Direct Group, joins Jenny to talk about the value, barriers, solutions and results they experienced working together.TRANSCRIPT
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)