1. Over the last two years has it become harder or easier for newbie affiliates to enter the industry and make money? Why?
Overall I believe it’s easier – there are many sources of education out there plus there are many tools to help you get and crunch data in order to be able to optimize it. I think that if you start with a solid game plan as an affiliate you shouldn’t have any problems making money. It’s true that the online educational resources for this are limitless, but from what I’ve seen, you really have to dig a lot in order to find good quality and actionable advice. You know – the basics like doing a little market research to find out what’s worth promoting, where to promote, how to promote, etc.
At the same time it might be harder for newbie affiliates to enter certain niches which are already saturated, at least on the big global markets (North America, Western Europe, etc.) – e.g. security software.
2. What did you learn from ASW?
Following my discussions during the show, I saw some trends:
- Clearly every advertiser is interested to know all about the customer journey from the affiliate’s cookie placement to the conversion point.
- Conversion optimization seems to be a topic of interest in the industry. The most notable presentation on this was Brian Massey’s Chemistry of Landing Pages, which I recommend you to check out.
- More software companies on the show floor and affiliates interested in promoting digital goods.
- A lot of companies still need the help of OPM agencies to grow and optimize their affiliate program. The main discussion point here is always about the ROI – whether it’s worth to invest in the affiliate program.
3. How is big data going to impact the performance marketing industry?
As a marketer, you want to have a very clear view of each promotion channel and attribute the sales correctly. We’ve all heard of the affiliates dilemma – whether they’re generating incremental sales or cannibalizing sales from other channels. And, unfortunately, companies sometimes choose not to invest in affiliates / performance marketing even though they don’t have any data to prove the cannibalization point, but just because they have already running campaigns in paid search or other channels and people that handle those are lobbying for that.
So, to answer your question, I’m very much looking forward to having big data available and the right tools to crunch it (!). This way, not only will we be able to see which channel performs better, but also optimize them and find the right mix to maximize the goals that we have as a company.
4. As networks begin to announce new optimization platforms, exchanges and “operating systems,” does this mean that investment in proprietary platforms will become a key competitive advantage again? Can commodity platforms like Tune and Cake keep up?
I think this is a normal evolution of affiliate networks. We’ve long reached a point where there are so many choices available and clearly technology plays an important role in the choice of a platform / network. Differentiation is the main goal here and one way to go at it is specialize – choose a particular vertical / niche of customers to go after. Clearly, development investments in proprietary platforms are meant to ultimately generate unique selling propositions, but they are also done following recurrent requests from their installed base.
In the case of big commodity platform players like Tune and Cake, having to address a large spectrum of customers from various verticals, I believe they have an even better chance than the others – think about platform “plug-ins” for major verticals, which can supplement the base platform capabilities. After all, their focus is the platform and its development, so they should have things rolled out quicker than proprietary platforms. In the end it all comes to the vision they have of going forward.
5. Over the last two years has it become harder or easier for newbie affiliates to enter the industry and make money? Why?
Overall I believe it’s easier – there are many sources of education out there plus there are many tools to help you get and crunch data in order to be able to optimize it. I think that if you start with a solid game plan as an affiliate you shouldn’t have any problems making money. It’s true that the online educational resources for this are limitless, but from what I’ve seen, you really have to dig a lot in order to find good quality and actionable advice. You know – the basics like doing a little market research to find out what’s worth promoting, where to promote, how to promote, etc.
At the same time it might be harder for newbie affiliates to enter certain niches which are already saturated, at least on the big global markets (North America, Western Europe, etc.) – e.g. security software.
5. If you were a CMO for a major brand, what would be the three most important questions that you would ask prospective network partners?
That would certainly depend on many factors: brand goals, other online promotion activities, affiliate program maturity, etc. But here are the top ones:
- What are the other companies you’re working with inside my brand’s vertical & niche? (this will help assess the overall expected performance and affiliate recruitment opportunities)
- What are this year’s main platform developments and partnerships you have in the roadmap? (see if the network is an active player on the market, being up-to-date with the latest trends, how they would respond to a feature request, if needed, etc.)
- How can you help my brand be successful in your network? (this will show the level of involvement they’re willing to get into and whether I’m considered an important customer for them)
About
Cristian is a seasoned professional in the digital landscape since 2005. He has been in charge with the Avangate Affiliate Network since 2008, coordinating its development and growing it many fold both in terms of affiliates joining the network as well as the software & SaaS product catalog. With hands-on experience in affiliate program management, Cristian is currently focused on developing alliances with technology and digital agency partners in order to maximize the customer lifetime value that the Avangate clients see. In his spare time, Cristian enjoys traveling and playing the piano.