By Chris Trayhorn, CEO and Founder, mThink/Blue Book Most affiliate marketing networks are pretty cautious about connecting their advertisers directly with publishers. The risk of them setting up a direct business relationship - cutting the network out of the deal - is real. This kind of disintermediation is a major risk to the revenue streams of networks and … [Read more...]
Do Advertisers Need A Real Agency?
Imagine you are a new advertiser using affiliate marketing to acquire customers. The affiliate network you’re using is doing great: recruiting new publishers, building ad creatives, providing you with tracking and attribution metrics. All seems right with the world. Do you need an agency? I raise the question following a conversation I had last week with a rising advertiser. … [Read more...]
Four Publisher Must-Haves when Working with an Affiliate Network
Affiliate marketing continues to offer brands and publishers countless opportunities to reach new customers and increase sales, providing a gateway for creating and nurturing long-term business partnerships. For publishers, having the backing of a strong network will make it easier to partner with top brands, create relevant content, and earn money, with a dedicated network to … [Read more...]
New Personalization and Publisher Tools Drive Retail Growth
Interview with Adam Weiss, General Manager and SVP, Rakuten Affiliate Network Should advertisers or publishers care about whether their network partner(s) are investing in new technology or are innovating? Absolutely! The key to improving performance in affiliate marketing is by harnessing data to make better informed decisions. But, advertisers and publishers will … [Read more...]
BuzzFeed’s Affiliate Network & Google’s Destruction Of Publisher Revenues
Last week saw the release of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s year-end report for 2016. The good news is that digital ad revenue in the U.S. grew by more than 20% last year to a record $72.5 billion. The bad news is that virtually all of that growth went to just two companies: Google and Facebook. What has come to be known by industry analysts as “The Duopoly” vacuumed … [Read more...]
What Do Publishers Want?
Performance marketing is on a roll. Big data is finally giving tech-forward networks a real competitive advantage. Major advertisers are increasing their performance-based marketing spend. But what about publishers? What do they want and need? It has always been the case that 90% of affiliates who try their hand at performance marketing are unable to make a go of it. It’s … [Read more...]
Leading the Way in Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has noticeably changed the affiliate marketing industry over the past few years. Advertisers look to influencers to provide native, authentic content to readers making the relationship between advertisers and influencers one of the most valuable in the industry. As the popularity of visual content grows, influencers are leveraging social channels and new … [Read more...]
Inside View Of A Nutraceuticals Network
Imagine a new advertiser coming to you to launch a new product. What's the process between contract and launch? This is a matter that we take very seriously. As we are a health focused network, we get pitched on things all the time and we cannot possibly say yes to everything that comes our way. We have to be picky. So, when a new advertiser approaches us to promote their … [Read more...]
What does professionalism mean to you when it comes to ad networks?
Does it mean that they deliver the performance that they promise, pay on time against reliable tracking, and provide good service? I suspect that’s close to the definition that most people would agree upon. But if that’s the definition, are Google and Facebook “professional”? And what about your favorite CPA or CPS network? How do they match up? This week, as the research … [Read more...]
Businesses Exist to Make Order Out of Chaos.
Tom Goodwin, SVP of Havas Media, published a fascinating article on TechCruch a few months ago that helps put that concept in perspective in today’s world. “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles,” he said. “Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest … [Read more...]
The Publisher’s Guide to Affiliate Marketing
In the fall 2012 edition of this magazine I wrote an article, The CMO Guide to Affiliate Marketing, that established the basic principles every marketer needs to launch an effective affiliate marketing program. Now, I’m turning my attention to the entrepreneurial side — the affiliate/publisher. As an affiliate myself for the better part of a decade, I know that none of the … [Read more...]