Loyalty Programs

With the economic downturn, many of us are tightening our belts. What does that mean for travel marketers? Are people still traveling? Should we downgrade our revenue expectations?

Here’s some good news. According to a PhoCusWright report, the U.S. online travel market continues to grow at a pace that far exceeds the overall travel market. Travel is the No. 1 sector in the affiliate industry, and affiliate shoppers tend to buy more than the average shopper. So there are still many opportunities for affiliates in travel – especially when you focus on the trends.

There are a lot of ways to approach affiliate marketing. Here are a few of my favorite tips.

Feature Co-branded Messaging –
Among the fastest-growing areas of affiliate marketing, loyalty and cash-back sites have come to play an increasingly important role in affiliate programs. Given that these types of sites are responsible for delivering a huge number of sales and often have a very loyal member base to benefit from, maximizing conversions is obviously key.

How does one achieve this? Through co-branded initiatives.

Linda Woods, CEO of PartnerCentric, an outsourced affiliate program management group, says that affiliate recruitment is the hardest thing affiliate managers have to do.

"There is no software that spits the names of affiliates out," she says, adding that there is no easy way around the arduous process of finding, meeting and building a relationship with the appropriate affiliates.

Food has recently been called everything from the new theater to the new porn. Regardless of how you think about food, you certainly can't avoid it.

As every good bounty hunter knows, capturing your target requires exacting execution of a well-designed plan. But unlike intrepid fugitive hunters such as reality television star "Dog" Chapman, earning sizable rewards by corralling customers online doesn't require risking life or limb.