user and affiliate engagement in the travel sector

User and Affiliate Engagement in the Travel SectorOwen HewitsonClient Strategist, Digital Window30th March 2011

Agenda• The place of the affiliate channel in the travel sector• Methodology and Caveats• Advertiser promotions

o Overview of promotiono How many affiliates are involved in a sale?o How is the AOV affected by a promotion?o How is the latency affected by a promotion?o How does the path to purchase through the affiliate channel change –

who overwrites who?• Conclusions

The place of the affiliate channel in the travel sector

What does the average customer journey look like?

“There is no standard user path... Seek to understand and assign value to your customers’ unique paths” – Google/Nielsen: ‘The Customer Journey: Travel’, 2010

Methodology and Caveats• Each advertiser is exclusive to Digital Window• Two are OTAs; one specialises in transport• Each are large, brand-name advertisers with established programmes

• Data is limited to the affiliate channel – does not include what goes on outside it

• Travel bookings are considered purchases... and not just because of cost• Considered purchases usually have longer latency times... is this reflected

in the affiliate channel?• Users might be researching and booking on different devices – difficult to

build up a full picture of the customer’s path to purchase

Advertiser A - Transport

• Promotion: Customer-facing offer of substantial discounts on journeys promoted on site and through the newsletter of a well-known content site

• Promotion period: 10th - 11th November (newsletter went out on 10th)

• Comparison period: 3rd and 4th November

Across the programme as a whole, number of affiliates involved per transaction

For sales the affiliate was involved in, number of affiliates involved per transaction

Average Order Value

How quickly do all affiliates convert?

How quickly does the promo affiliate convert?

Which affiliate cookies are overwritten?

Advertiser B - OTA

• Promotion: Exclusive stretch and save code - £x off £x spend - given to two voucher code sites exclusively in the first and second half of the month.

• Promotion period: o Voucher code site A – 1st -16th Januaryo Voucher code site B – 17th – 31st January

• Comparison period: 1st – 28th February

Average Order Value

Advertiser C - OTA

• Promotion: Two promotions – cashback + voucher code, and cashback-only increase, for a major cashback site.

• Promotion period: o 5th – 11th July – 4% cashback, 5% discount codeo 26th July – 1st August – 9% cashback, no voucher

code

• Comparison period: 12th – 25th July – no voucher code or cashback increase

Average Order Value

Conclusions• Why so many single referrer sales?• Many touchpoints in the customer journey sit outside the

affiliate channel; many advertisers do the job of their affiliates• Why do we not see a greater mix between affiliates?• Typical make-up of a travel programme: a large number of

content and comparison sites, but a dominance of cashback and voucher codes

• What does this tell us about the part affiliates play in the customer’s total path to purchase?

• Affiliate sites do not play as significant a part in customer journey as in retail or mobile.

• Incentive-based traffic is an easy route to market; advertisers which invest in their programmes attract a greater mix of affiliates

User and Affiliate Engagement in the Travel SectorOwen HewitsonClient Strategist, Digital Window30th March 2011

user and affiliate engagement in the travel sector

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