Affiliate Marketing Blog

Affiliate marketing news and opinion from Shawn Collins, co-founder of Affiliate Summit.

Archives for July 2007

Decline of the Booth Babe

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Booth babes are an institutionalized component of trade shows, but does their presence present more risk than reward to exhibitors?

The slang term ‘Booth Babe’ has occasionally been used to refer to a trade show model. The term focuses on physical appearance, or specifically on wardrobe, which, depending on the type of trade show, can be thematic or sexy. For example, at a builder’s convention a model may be dressed as a construction worker with cut-offs, tight t-shirt, tool belt, and hard hat. – Wikipedia

In my quest to provide Affiliate Summit exhibitors with the most productive environment possible, I set about to ask the question, “Does it impact your interest in a tradeshow booth if it is staffed by ‘booth babes’?”

I also asked the gender of respondents in the anonymous survey.

More than 180 conference goers submitted their feedback by choosing one of the following options:

  • I am more likely to visit the booth
  • I am less likely to visit the booth
  • Doesn’t matter to me

Here are the results:

Does it impact your interest in a tradeshow booth if it is staffed by 'booth babes'?

Wow. More than half of the people surveyed are less likely to visit a booth with booth babes, while just 15% are more likely to visit!

The respondents broke out by gender as follows:

What is your gender?

Now let’s see how opinions break out by gender:

Women: Does it impact your interest in a tradeshow booth if it is staffed by 'booth babes'?

Men: Does it impact your interest in a tradeshow booth if it is staffed by 'booth babes'?

Female conference attendees are clearly repelled by booth babes at conference booths.

While that may not be earth shattering, I was a bit surprised that more male respondents had a negative view of booth babes than those who had a positive view.

My conclusion: staffing a conference booth with booth babes appears to be a calculated risk. Outsource your reputation at your own peril.

How Hard is PopShops for Affiliates?

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PopShops, an affiliate showcase tool, recently posted a video of one of their three year old users, Lucas.

Thinking

It’s a quick and easy overview of how affiliates can implement PopShops on their site.

C’mon affiliates, give it a shot. If a three year old can do it, you can, too. I’ve played around with it, and it really is that easy.

More details at popshops.com.

Outsourced Affiliate Program Management

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Q: What are the advantages, if any, of retaining an affiliate management company to run our new affiliate program? Would outsourced affiliate management be redundant, since we’ll be joining an affiliate network and they’ll be managing the affiliates?

Shawn CollinsA: It really comes down to your resources and your experience in affiliate marketing.

If you have faith in somebody who is current in-house to run your affiliate program, I’d say that’s probably the best case scenario.

Unfortunately, there is somewhat of a shortage in people who are skilled, connected, and well versed in affiliate management.

So if that’s the position you are in, I’d say it’s a good move to go with an OPM or outsourced program management firm to take care of your affiliate program.

They have the experience and know-how to do it. They’ve got the connections with the affiliates you want, because they’ve been running a number of affiliate programs for many years.

The OPM can easily introduce these desirable affiliates to your affiliate program.

As far as the network, I think there is some confusion there. By having your affiliate program in a network, you’ll have a lot of exposure and access to affiliates, but the affiliates won’t necessarily be managed unless you’re paying extra fees.

While these affiliates can easily join your program, because of your presence in an affiliate network, you need more than a stream of applications.

It’s essential to activate and educate the affiliates, too.

If you solely rely on the affiliate network, you’ll have something of a static affiliate program. It’s not going to really ever grow.

No matter which way you go, you definitely need somebody to actively manage your affiliate program.

Pay-Per-Click Success

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The July issue of Affiliate Classroom Magazine is now available and the focus this month is on Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.

Mobile searchWhile most any affiliate marketer knows about PPC advertising, many affiliates are timid about going into things big time as a PPC affiliate, due to the risk of spending big and earning little if not done correctly.

This issue of Affiliate Classroom Magazine is a good primer on the subject, including an article, “PPC Essentials for Affiliate Marketers,” which briefly explains the PPC concept, then gives a brief overview of the good, bad, and ugly sides of
PPC.

Then you will find four essentials that should be included in every PPC Campaign.

Affiliates who are not copywriters, which I’d guess are the vast majority, typically find that one of the hardest aspects of PPC marketing is writing effective ads.

The article, “How to Write Winning PPC Ads”, will walk you through a five-step process to craft ads that get attention and action.

Another interesting piece is “The Many Uses of PPC Marketing,” where you’ll learn a number of ways to use PPC marketing. PPC isn’t just for selling products directly. You can also harness PPC to build your opt-in list, capture leads, and grow your own business.

Lastly, you can find out how to use a PPC campaign to conduct research in “Google AdWords: The Ultimate Niche Research Tool?”

Data Feeds for Affiliate Marketers

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What is the definition of a data feed, and what is the difference between a dynamic and static data feed?

A data feed is a file that enables affiliates to create a database driven site that features the products for a given merchant.

There are a lot of different fields in that file. Typical fields are the product description, image, link to the product, etc.

It’s a tool for affiliates to create a robust, database driven site, like a comparison shopping site.

As far as the difference between dynamic and static data feeds, the static data feeds, as implied by the name, are not updated.

This is not a workable solution for any merchant that updates their inventory with any regularity.

On the other hand, a dynamic data feed is frequently updated to reflect changes in inventory, pricing, etc.

User Generated Affiliate Video

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I am very interested in the possibilities of affiliate marketing and video, so it was exciting for me to chat with the guys from Qoof.com about what they’re doing.

affiliate-video

Jon Stefansky, EVP of Sales and Marketing of Qoof.com explained their services…

“Basically Qoof is a video commerce company. We allow affiliates to create their own user generated videos and embed their affiliate codes in those videos.

They can take those videos and put them in their blogs, their social networking sites, and their Web sites. When a user clicks through after watching the video, the affiliate gets credit (for referred transactions).

So, it’s a way for affiliates to monetize their video content, and be able to still get tracked for the click-through when their users get redirected to the product page or service page.

We also offer professional videos for the affiliate managers who want to allow their affiliates to create their own content, but also take content created by us or by the merchant themselves.

All the affiliate has to do is embed their affiliate code in those professional videos, and they can take those videos and put them on their page.

So, it’s no longer just text banners or graphic banners. Now affiliate programs can offer their affiliates actual videos that they can put their affiliate code in, and post on their Web site, blog, or social networking site.”

Hillel Scheinfeld, Chief Operating Officer of Qoof.com, continued…

“In short, we allow people to take advantage of this huge user generated video world, combined with the affiliate world, to start generating revenue with their video.”

More details at qoof.com.

Recruiting an Affiliate Manager

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Lisa Picarille and myself welcomed Michael Demby, Executive Recruiter at AC Lion. Topics discussed included what companies are looking for when hiring affiliate managers and average salaries.

Affiliate managers searching for positions should contact Michael at M.Demby@aclion.com.

We also gave a recap of Affiliate Summit 2007 East, and discussed affiliate commissions by debit card, Google AdSense for Mobile, ValueClick’s purchase of MeziMedia, potential problems with the Google acquisition of DoubleClick, and the line between advertising and editorial.

More Affiliate Thing shows at GeekCast.fm.

Subscribe to the Affiliate Thing RSS feed or send a blank e-mail to affiliatething@aweber.com to get each podcast delivered by e-mail.

Kowabunga! Technologies to Go Public?

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There is speculation on SeekingAlpha.com that Think Partnership (AMEX: THK) might spin off the company’s network division into a separately traded Nasdaq listed company named after its highly regarded “Kowabunga!” unit.

According to a piece by John Gilliam, several large independent shareholders of Think Partnership sent a letter addressed to CEO Scott Mitchell and the Board of Directors in an effort to pressure management to spin off KowaBunga!

Think Partnership’s (hereinafter “THK”) shares continue to trade substantially below what we believe to be fair value. We believe the company’s network division alone is worth 25 -30% more than the entire company’s existing market cap. The valuation trading range for Think Partnership stock leads us to believe that the network division is being wholly overlooked by the investment community because it resides under the THK holding company umbrella. We also believe that the considerable growth prospects of the company’s Kowabunga!, Primary Ads, ValidClick.com and SecondBite.com assets would be significantly enhanced if the company were valued as an independent entity.

As such, we respectfully request that the Board of Directors give due consideration to a spin off of the network division prior to the end of calendar year 2007 through an IPO of the network division’s assets into a separately traded company called “Kowabunga! Technologies”. The THK network division’s (hereinafter “Kowabunga!”) revenue run rate, growth trajectory and client list along with its placement in the hottest of hot sectors within the technology industry would make it an ideal candidate for an IPO.

More details at http://internet.seekingalpha.com/article/41003.

GreasyPalm Cash Back Site Save Shoppers £5 Million

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UK cashback site GreasyPalm reports that they have saved online shoppers over £5 million to date. There is a count (appears to be live) on their site that reflects the total amount of savings as it grows.

GreasyPalm, and affiliate that touts being number one in their sector, features over 850 retailers where users can earn cash back on their purchases. The site currently has 750,000 members.

Paul Knapp, Director of GreasyPalm, comments, “Money saving and cashback shopping has undergone massive growth since we set the ball rolling with GreasyPalm back in 2003, but our core principles remain the same. Shoppers want a fresh, innovative, reliable service and GreasyPalm delivers. We are proud of reaching this major milestone and it demonstrates that consumers truly value our service.”

Recently, GreasyPalm announced that they have launched a white label version of their service to provide third parties with a co-branded rewards platform.

More information on GreasyPalm at http://www.greasypalm.co.uk/.

LinkShare’s Affiliate ABC’s for Back to School

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The monthly LinkShare affiliate newsletter has some useful statistics on back-to-school shopping.

  • August 1 is when 40% of US consumers said they start back-to-school shopping, while 56% said they start between August 1 and September 1.*
  • Back-to-school shopping is growing online. In 2006, more than 50% of moms surveyed said that they planed to shop online. **
  • Clothing and accessories account for the biggest back-to-school spending, an estimated $7.6 billion was spent in 2006, followed by electronics and computer equipment at $3.8 billion, shoes at $3.3 billion, and school supplies at $2.9 billion.***

* NPD Group, July 2006
** PersonalShopper.com survey by MedeliaMonitor
*** BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation, July 2006

The July 30 edition of the LinkShare Deal Dispatcher will feature a special section on back-to-school promotions.