Navigating PPC

Print | Email | Digg This

In the beginning there was affiliate marketing, and it was good. Retailers around the country began opening up affiliate programs left and right and clamoring for more affiliates. Merchants looked to this new channel as an incredibly cost-effective method of attracting customers – both new and repeat shoppers. Many did not fully understand how affiliates were driving traffic and sales to their site, but at that time, it didn't matter.

Affiliate programs then began to mature, or grow up. They began to contribute larger and larger percentages to the company's bottom line, and people took notice – people like CEOs, VPs of other divisions, investors and accountants. E-commerce managers then began to look more closely at these programs to ensure not only that they are getting as many sales as they can, but that they are getting them as cheaply as they are able to.

Merchants started to learn more about what affiliates were doing to drive sales, and started to determine what was good for their company and what wasn't. Merchants sometimes became outraged – and I use that word purposefully – at some of the activities and made, what I think, were irrational decisions. They began terminating affiliates daily and reducing their programs drastically. Pay-per-click affiliates got caught in the crossfire and were usually the target of the attack.

So affiliate programs began to sway drastically from one philosophy, allowing anyone to pretty much do anything, to another; no trademark bidding and/or no bidding at all. Now we see a movement away from either extreme, to a more logical, methodical approach of cooperation and maximization of search results page. So how do you navigate this new and sometimes hostile environment of pay-per-click marketing in affiliate programs? How do you help educate your affiliate managers on concepts like "shelf space"? Allow me to give you some pointers from eight years of being in the trenches as a merchant and an outsourced program manager.

1. Things affiliates can do to better navigate this landscape:
   1. Read terms and conditions and get to know their policies.
   2. Research related terms, both trademark and otherwise, so you can speak intelligently with the merchant.
   3. Be sure to know some of the more advanced PPC practices that can benefit both you and the merchant and be ready to educate them on these practices.
   4. Be aware of your affiliate manager's constraints and his internal battles.
   5. Reach out to your affiliate manager in a professional manner.
   6. Be ready to build content-appropriate, well-designed sites that users will want to go to.
   7. Don't expect immediate movement; this may be a process that takes time to bear fruit.
   8. Demonstrate your ability and commitment to working WITH the merchant. This builds trust over time and opens up new opportunities for you.
   9. Police your own listings and notify your affiliate manager of any obvious infractions.

Jamie Birch is Director of Affiliate Relations for Converseon, a leading digital communications agency specializing in social media and affiliate marketing.

Print | Email | Digg This