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Take a look around any marketing department today, and you’re likely to find clusters of marketers responsible for various functions such as display, targeting, search, and the affiliate channel.

On the one hand, this allows you to cultivate teams with deep expertise in their areas of specialization. On the other hand, it creates silos that limit your ability to see the full scope of the customer’s journey.

For example, your back-to-school campaign may be a full-on marketing push through every possible online channel. While each team may hit its goals, and you can deem the campaign a success, what you may not realize until later is that your revenue goals fell short of expectations.

This could be the result of a lack of visibility into the overall performance of the campaign and the role each channel played in the sale. These blind spots make you vulnerable to unnecessary spending and help the competition steal your market share.

The Marketing Silo Dilemma

Attaining a comprehensive view into each marketing channel, as well as being able to see the bigger picture, is the goal of every marketer. The rise in the population of omni-channel marketing managers speaks to this need. Yet, the reality is that many organizations, especially online retailers, are still stuck in those silos.

This is due to a variety of factors. Three of which are: the structure of the organization, the increasing pressure to measure campaign results based on each team’s specific contributions, and the variety of analytics tools used to track and measure the specific performance of a particular channel.

Now, add in the dimensions of traffic and performance on tablets and smartphones, and you can easily see how convoluted the tracking, measurement and analysis process can become.

This is why now, more than ever, e-commerce companies are investing in resources to get this much-needed transparency across channels. They know they need to better understand what specifically influenced the sale. They also demand greater insight into the what, why, where, and when a customer is buying so they present the right offer at the right time.

But, with so many approaches and tools to analyze and track performance, where do you start? And, how do you know you’re going about it the right way?

Unify Complementary Channels

One of the best places to start is by looking at the natural flow of the customer journey and unifying the channels that are most closely aligned. Given this, nothing could be more complementary than affiliate and display.

These two areas are ripe for joint analysis because time and again we see consumers start their shopping at the affiliate channel, and retargeting winds up closing the sale; while in many other instances, the reverse is true.

Bringing these two complementary channels together in your analysis allows marketers to pinpoint what percentage of transactions were included in both the affiliate and display channels and how much each influenced the sale. It also helps identify overlaps so you’re not overpaying for a transaction.

Also, by understanding how these two channels intersect, retailers will be able to better define their commission strategy for affiliates and hold more meaningful pricing conversations with their display and retargeting vendors. The ideal outcome is motivated publishers that continue to drive sales and an improved return-on-ad-spend (ROAS).

Omni-Channel Marketing Strategy

Now, to put this theory into action, here is a five-step process to get you started:

1. Identify a product or category.
2. Choose a team member from each channel and hold them accountable for meeting regularly and sharing their expertise as the team dives into the product and/or category.
3. With their shared knowledge of the product/category, the team should next focus on understanding the consumer journey.
4. From there, build consensus on an action plan based on individual knowledge, shared learning, team collaboration, and a deep understanding of the consumer journey.
5. Determine your attribution model based on this renewed understanding of the consumer journey, and be sure to include quantifiable actions and measurable goals for each channel and the overall campaign.

As you start to analyze performance based on the pairings of complementary channels, you’ll likely want to expand this five-step process beyond affiliate and display to include other marketing functions.

For example, you can easily see how search would lead a consumer to a publisher’s site, which later resulted in a display ad that led to a sale.

By aligning your channels with the consumer journey and analyzing individual as well as overall performance, you’ll drive more sales while also getting the added benefits of having a more cohesive and collaborative team.

Below are five key considerations when it comes to selecting a new network followed by a seven-step migration plan.

5 Questions To Ask When Evaluating A Network

Selecting the right performance marketing network is more than simply looking at the industry rankings or the size of the company. It comes down to finding the right fit for your business needs.

As you evaluate networks, explore the following five areas and then determine how the network’s answers map against your long-term business goals

1. Service: Ask whether you’ll have a dedicated account team, who is on it and what specifically they’ll do to help drive traffic and sales.
2. Compliance Policies: Understand how the network evaluates publishers and monitors and enforces compliance.  How much control will you have?
3. Technology: It’s worth it to bring along someone from your IT staff to ask about the network’s technology. Ask detailed questions related to your needs when it comes to commissioning and reporting. In addition, look for assurance that there is a strong technology backbone that keeps the network up and running, accurately tracks performance, keeps the dashboard updated in real time (or close to it), and one that supports mobile and tablet devices.
4. International And/Or Global Reach: Whether you currently service customers outside the U.S. or are considering expanding into new overseas markets , make sure your network has reach in the right countries that are aligned with your objectives and keep in mind that long-term, the majority of consumer growth will be in Asia, not just the Americas and Europe.
5. Educational & Networking Events: While performance marketing is an online business, there is tremendous value in being able to meet face-to-face with your community through in-person events and forums. Ask the network about their formal and informal networking opportunities.

Once you’ve determined which network is the right fit for your business, you’ll start the migration process. While much of it will happen on the back-end from a technical point of view, the following seven-step migration process is focused on your front-facing activities.

The 7-Step Affiliate Network Migration Process

Step One: Create A Communications Plan

It doesn’t need to be lengthy; however, it should be tailored to your publisher community. Be sure to include specifics on the timing of the migration, provide assurance that the transition won’t impact the publisher’s commission structure, and proactively answer frequently asked questions.

As you develop the plan, be sure to review the terms of the contract with the existing network to determine when you can begin to communicate with publishers. Ideally, you’ll be able to coordinate the timing of messages so that there isn’t any confusion throughout the transition process.

Step Two: Gap Analysis

What publishers are in your program today that might not be in your new network? This analysis should also be supplemented by using third-party tools such as Hitwise to identify the publishers that are driving the most traffic and sales for you and your competitors.

As you undertake this assignment, be sure to look at SKU data, year-over-year results, and the publishers’ performance during the busiest seasonal shopping seasons — the winter holidays, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

Step Three: Identify The Top Performing Publishers

Know who your rock star publishers are and encourage them further. This can be done through personalized notes as well as working with your network account team to better understanding your publishers’ needs so you can drive stronger campaign results.

Step Four: Reinvigorate Or Eliminate Low Performing Publishers

Moving to a new network will present a great opportunity to revisit the publishers whose efforts may have been erratic or lackluster over the recent past.

In these situations, you may want to inspire them to jumpstart their efforts or stop working with them altogether. While it may be unsettling to think about losing a certain percentage of your publisher community, keep in mind that you will see greater results when you focus on engaging the strongest performers.

Step Five: Refresh Your Creative

A new campaign and fresh ads will reenergize your publishers and your brand.

Step Six: Update The Affiliate-Related Pages On Your Website

Given all the questions regarding GAN, it’s a good idea to update your affiliate pages and proactively address the most frequently asked questions.

Step Seven: Post Migration Follow-up

Make sure your publishers have everything they need to be successful by checking in with them after the migration is complete. This way, you can also address any issues before they interrupt productivity while also forming closer ties to your publishers.

Completing The Transition Process

Given the many variables in the migration process, some companies will be able to transition their programs in a matter of days while others may take a few weeks. A well-devised plan with a strong communication component can help expedite the process to ensure a seamless transition without a missing a beat when it comes to revenue.

Of that, 25 percent is attributed to purchases made online. This represents a steady increase over the years when you consider that in 2011, 21 percent of Mother’s Day purchases were made online.

While most purchases are made during the five days leading up to Mother’s Day, the most successful affiliate marketing plans are set into motion weeks in advance. So, to help you make the most of the upcoming Mother’s Day shopping season, here is a four-week affiliate marketing plan.

Week One: Identify Products, Create Sales Copy

First, meet with your account manager at your affiliate network to brainstorm ideas specific to Mother’s Day. Part of this should include seeing how your products align with the most popular Mother’s Day items. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers tend to shower their moms with:

• Flowers
• Clothing and accessories
• Electronics
• Dinner/brunch
• Gift cards
• Personal services, like a day spa visit

Of course, if you’re promoting products that don’t fall into these categories, you can still drive Mother’s Day sales by working more closely with your account manager and publishers to develop creative campaigns and special incentives.

Next, update your website copy to feature your Mother’s Day offers prominently. Since you may be attracting shoppers outside of your usual target audience, consider creating separate online paths based on the type of Mother’s Day shopper you’re aiming to attract. For example, you could call out a specific route for dads, sons or daughters.

Once you’ve updated your website copy, develop fresh ads so you can provide your publishers with a variety of options that reflect their specific audiences and your special offers.

Week Two: Identify Publishers, Get Feedback On Incentives

Working with your network account manager, identify the most active publishers supporting your products as well as those publishers promoting the most popular Mother’s Day gifts. Be sure that your expanded scope includes publishers that specialize in deals and comparison shopping so that you can maximize your reach.

For example, publisher BradsDeals is known as a top, one-stop resource for the latest coupons and deals from thousands of leading retailers. In fact, BradsDeals has amassed more than 11 million newsletter subscribers.

Since Mother’s Day is their second busiest shopping season, BradsDeals maps out its strategy well in advance. According to Jennifer Goodwin, director of partner relations, “We meet with our advertisers weeks in advance and start to roll out our campaigns in early April. This includes an online Mother’s Day guide, a blog featuring the best deals on the most popular Mother’s Day gifts, and working with merchants to present exclusive offers. Also, we’re tapping into our vast amount of data so that we can offer advertisers an opportunity to send highly-targeted and effective newsletters to attract and convert the right buyer.”

Once you’ve identified your target publishers, connect with them to express your interest in participating in their Mother’s Day campaigns. Let them know about the campaigns you have underway, and get their feedback on the types of incentives they find to be the most motivating. From there, you can determine the types of Mother’s Day incentives you’re going to offer based on publisher feedback and performance. If you’re working with a new publisher, consider a sign-on bonus or other type of incentive.

Week Three: Promote Offers, Experiment With Ads & Deals

Promote exclusive affiliate offers. The combination of a great offer for consumers and exclusivity to the affiliate channel drives sales while showing your commitment to publishers. Encourage publishers to experiment with the variety of new Mother’s Day ads and track their effectiveness so you can make adjustments if necessary.

Consider bundling related items as part of a Mother’s Day special to increase the average order value. For example, you may want to present a package that combines flowers with a day spa certificate or presents mom with her new tablet computer over brunch.

You can also create a special incentive for affiliates that specialize in mobile comparison shopping. While we know that a quarter of Mother’s Day shopping is being done online, let’s not lose sight of the fact that many of those shoppers are going to be comparison shopping on their smartphones while they’re in the brick-and-mortar stores.

Week Four: Target Last-Minute Shoppers, Evaluate Progress

Create a contest for publishers to run during the days leading up to Mother’s Day so you can capture the last-minute shoppers (who will likely make up the majority of your target audience). Along with specials such as free shipping and guaranteed overnight delivery, consider other differentiating factors that will make you stand out as the clear choice from the consumer’s point of view.

These can include last-minute specials or discounts on future purchases. As you start to analyze your results, take note of the efforts that drove the most traffic and sales. You’ll want to keep them top-of-mind as you start planning for graduation and Father’s Day.

The key to making the most of any holiday shopping season, especially Mother’s Day, is to plan at least four to six weeks in advance. This way, you can refine your strategy, offer compelling incentives, and make adjustments if necessary without losing traction during such a compressed period of time.

According to the latest reports, users who install this version of Firefox will no longer see targeted advertising unless they change their settings to accept third-party cookies. A user will see ads, but these ads won’t necessarily be based on their browser or shopping history.

Is this new? For Mozilla, yes, in terms of it being a default setting. Apple’s Safari browser has had this default setting in place for quite some time.

Meanwhile, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer currently allow third-party cookies by default. Actually, for quite some time every browser has offered users the option of going in and changing their settings.

Privacy Advocates

However, privacy advocates maintain that most users don’t know how or why to change these settings and therefore they should not be followed on the Web when it comes to shopping unless they expressly allow for it.

So, why all the hullabaloo? In many ways, this news is resurrecting some of the age-old debates about online advertising. In one corner, you have supporters saying it’s about time to stop the third-party cookies. In the other corner, there are a good many folks, marketers being at the top of that list, who are saying that blocking third-party cookies is bad for e-commerce and will stifle technology innovation in advertising.

Blocking Third-Party Cookies

Now, I’m not going to tell you that blocking third-party cookies is all good or all bad. That’s like saying all advertising is completely evil or it’s entirely beneficial. Though, here’s what you should know.

• Third-party cookies can improve the user experience because they let website owners know how visitors are using their site and what content they deem valuable, including what brands they visit and which products they’re shopping for.

• Cookies make sure the site visitor isn’t inundated with the same ads. This is because cookies help create targeted ads, which support a significant amount of the production and development costs of creating that valuable content.

• Cookies manage the frequency at which the visitor is shown ads so as not to bother shoppers.

• Cookies also do other things like alert site owners if and when a site is broken.

• For affiliate marketing, cookies track the transaction so the publisher can get credit for referring the sale within a particular time frame.

If we take an all-or-nothing approach to allowing third party cookies, here’s what we could be dealing with:

• An increase in the frequency and display of random ads.

• Less opportunities for small publishers to thrive since Internet behemoths like Google and Facebook already have the lion’s share of established first-party relationships.

• A decrease in the amount of relevant content specific to an audience.

Both sides, including privacy advocates and the online advertising industry, present compelling arguments and the fact is you’ll never please everybody. Along with this is the reality that a few rogues have diminished the online experience for many and are collecting personal information to the detriment of the entire industry.

There is no doubt, however, that this move by Mozilla could be devastating for many display and retargeting companies as well as the affiliate channel.  And this comes at a time when retailers are seeing these solutions drive huge sales.

It might be time for retailers and consumers to go on record about why these solutions are valuable – at least when it comes to online shopping.

What Cookie Blocking Means For Affiliate Marketers

So, what does this default browser setting mean for affiliate marketing?  Well, the answer depends a lot on the network.  Reliable affiliate marketing solutions don’t set or rely on third-party data to find users. Instead, the cookie isn’t set until after the user clicks on the ad. Then it becomes a first-party cookie.

However, advertisers should check with their affiliate marketing network or service provider to better understand how they set cookies. This way, they can avoid a potential uprising from the publisher community this summer if they see a sudden drop in commissions. Publishers should also be proactive and check in with their affiliate marketing networks to learn how their specific processes work and if the new release of Firefox will impact them.

Another piece of this puzzle is tag container solutions. Advertisers working with these solutions for management of all their cookies, and for attribution, should make sure to talk to their solution provider to understand and estimate the impact that this default setting for Firefox will have on their advertising channels.

Just like it faced so many other sea changes in consumer behavior and technology, the affiliate marketing industry is likely to adapt to this browser setting. So regardless of a consumer’s browser of choice, I would predict that publishers will ultimately get their commissions for referring traffic to retailers.

But, it’s a strong call to the affiliate industry to step up efforts with retailers and technology providers to tout the value of online advertising solutions while at the same time being diligent about following opt-in and opt-out standards for consumers.

Stock image via Shutterstock.com. 

Given the rise of bloggers and the anticipated growth of the affiliate industry, it stands to reason that more bloggers would get on board. However, it’s not that simple.

Monetization Doesn’t Mean Giving Up Control

For many bloggers — driven by either passion or paycheck – monetization is the goal. This is why many bloggers turn to options such as Google AdSense. Yet, a fair amount of feedback suggests this option leaves them disappointed partly because the blogger has no control over which ads appear on their site.

To the blogging community at large, take note: you can grow your readership and monetize without compromising the vision and mission of your blog using affiliate marketing.

While much of your success still depends on your ability to drive traffic to your blog, here are five non-negotiable criteria that bloggers should require before jumping into affiliate marketing.

1. Maintain Control Over Advertising

Be sure you have complete control over the ads that appear on your blog and that those ads align with the content on the page.

Along with the type of ads that appear, the blogger should also have complete control over the size and type of text, banners, video, and the like that appear in the ads. This way, the ads will complement the blog and not overshadow the content.

2. Brand Alignment

 Make sure the brands you promote are aligned with your voice and your editorial content. Going beyond control over the ads, brand alignment elevates a blogger’s presence among the leading brands in his or her industry. This, in turn, helps drive additional traffic to the site and, more importantly, drives conversions, therefore expanding the blogger’s reach and the potential to be credited for the transactions resulting from that traffic.

For example, I recently participated in a panel at the Independent Fashion Blogger’s conference, where several hundred bloggers gathered to learn how to improve and monetize their blogs. One of the most common questions asked at the event was how to break into the inner circles of the top brands without appearing like a sell-out.

In response, I emphasized that it’s about creating a win-win situation. Bloggers and advertisers that are aligned from a branding perspective will find it easy to work together.

Affiliate marketing enables bloggers to monetize at the brand and product level while offering complete control over which products they feature in their blog. Remember, as long as the brands and products reflect the blogger’s editorial direction, readers won’t be distracted or turned off by the monetization elements.

3. Making Introductions And Partnership Support

 While working independently is at the top of the list of perks of being a blogger, there’s also something to be said about having the support of the network to act as an independent third-party resource.

This is when the value of the network becomes either make-or-break to the blogger in terms of vetting qualified advertisers, facilitating introductions to those advertisers, and acting at the intermediary in lobbying for fair commissions.

4. Global Reach

Many bloggers today have readers from all over the world.  Affiliate marketing networks with a global reach will allow bloggers to partner with local advertisers.

For example, lets say you are a blogger in the U.S. with a significant amount of traffic from the UK.  An affiliate marketing network operating in the UK will enable you to partner with leading and emerging UK brands. Ads from these advertisers will be much more relevant to your UK audience and will be more likely to convert compared to ads from US advertisers.

5. Tools That Make It Easy  

A fair concern among bloggers new to affiliate marketing is whether it will create more work for them. After all, keeping a steady stream of interesting and relevant content flowing is already time consuming. For affiliate marketing to appeal to new bloggers it must be fun, unobtrusive, and easy.

To ensure this, the network needs to provide easy access to reports that show relevant information such as sales and commission trends, without requiring extensive training. Many networks also now have tools that make finding, getting and publishing links easier than ever, including tools for Facebook and Twitter.

If you know bloggers that are still on the fence about affiliate marketing, why not share this post and/or encourage them to take a trial run?

Image via Shutterstock

Essentially, improving transparency in performance marketing is about protecting each stakeholder’s investment by ensuring visibility into traffic, conversions, commissions, and policies. Of course, confidential information can’t be compromised nor should trade secrets be revealed. Still, all participants in the affiliate circle should be fully aware of the process and related transactions.

The Benefits Of Transparency

When you establish specific parameters to increase the level of transparency in affiliate marketing, you foster stronger ties among advertisers, publishers and networks. This, in turn, results in more targeted leads, conversions, and commissions.

Further, transparency can also drive innovation. For example, many publishers today are investing in mobile capabilities to support advertisers’ efforts in this area.

Since many retailers don’t have the resources to execute all of the action items on their mobile marketing wish list, and mobile marketing is still a nascent field, publishers can step in and become an extension of the advertiser’s marketing team when it comes to trying new campaigns, new creative, social marketing, and mobile commerce testing.

The information and support they provide can improve and refine the advertiser’s mobile strategy. As both sides share what they bring to the table, the quality of affiliate partnerships will naturally improve. What’s more, you can easily see how this mobile example applies to different areas of marketing as well.

Considering all of the benefits of increased transparency in the affiliate channel, why is there still some resistance? Many times, it stems from an unwarranted fear of disclosing too much information with regard to commission structures and margins. In other instances, transparency forces the uncomfortable, albeit necessary, revealing of any affiliate business practices that may not be entirely above board. Therein lays the importance of transparency.

Yet, with so many affiliate networks, publishers and advertisers in the mix, and varying degrees of transparency, it can be hard to distinguish where to invest your resources to ensure you reap the most from your efforts. For these reasons, there need to be more consistent approaches to transparency.

Following are recommended requirements for advertisers, publishers and affiliate networks to consider when it comes to increasing transparency.

Transparency Requirements For Advertisers

From an advertiser’s perspective, having access to detailed data about the effectiveness of their campaigns at every stage is crucial. For example, if adjustments need to be made in the copy or nefarious tactics must be thwarted before they negatively impact the brand, advertisers should be able to see, at a minimum, who their publishers are, how they generate traffic, the volume and demographics of that traffic, and whether publishers are using downloadable software applications or toolbars.

Advertisers looking to recruit top publishers should consider improving their transparency by clearly providing:

• Contact information/a live resource to answer questions
• Commission structure
• Return Days
• Search Marketing policies
• Countries commissioned/shipped to
• Gift card policies in relation to commissions
• Hot products
• Seasonal news
• Mobile commerce capabilities
• International e-commerce capabilities (including language and currency)

Additionally, advertisers – especially the lesser-known brands — can make themselves attractive to leading publishers by working more closely with them, boosting incentives and educating them on the value of their brand as it relates to the publishers’ audience.

Transparency Requirements For Publishers

Since the affiliate marketing business is all about creating long-term profitable partnerships, publishers can endear themselves to advertisers by increasing their levels of transparency. This will help them improve conversions and payouts while ensuring their efforts are in sync with the advertiser’s brand. As they continue to deliver strong results, advertisers will invest more in them — including increased commissions, advance notice of upcoming promotions, and special offers and incentives.

Given the perks of this status, publishers should also view transparency as way to market themselves to advertisers. More specifically, publishers should discard any cloaked behaviors and provide detailed information when it comes to their business, their website and its visitors, including sources of traffic, country of origin, age, shopping habits, and other critical data that will reassure advertisers they are investing in the publishers that most closely align with their business goals.

Additionally, to further strengthen their relationships with advertisers, publishers should be sure that advertisers disclose everything they can about their brand, including hot-selling products, which promotions are most popular at certain times of the year, and other vital information that can impact their online performance.

Publishers looking to attract advertisers should consider improving their transparency in the following areas:

• Contact information/a live resource to answer questions
• Traffic sources (Paid Search, Organic, Email, Toolbars, etc.)
• Customer reach (geographic)
• Paid placements (e.g., additional fees for banner placed on home page)
• User-generated content
• Newsletter subscribers
• Mobile traffic
• Mobile application
• Toolbars

Transparency Requirements For Affiliate Networks

As the glue between advertisers and publishers, affiliate networks that provide greater visibility reinforce the importance of transparency while holding advertisers and publishers to a higher standard. Further, they can proactively dismiss any claims of questionable behavior by making all activities available to network members through a few self-guided clicks on a screen.

Key to providing transparency is to ensure users can easily search and access detailed profile information. Also, innovative reporting tools should offer insight into specific account activities such as commission rates, account status, and other vital account data.

To help advertisers make sense of the information, the network should augment their data with seasoned account managers that can help strengthen the relationships among advertisers and publishers and also apply knowledge and creativity to improve campaign results.

As all of our online activities become more transparent through social media and increasingly sophisticated technologies, the affiliate channel should embrace the opportunity to provide greater visibility into activities. This will strengthen performance marketing as a whole, expose and eliminate bad practices, and demonstrate the value affiliates bring to online advertisers.

While all indicators point to marketers investing more in the affiliate channel in 2013, where and how those budgets are allocated will vary. Here’s how I believe we’ll see those investments divided — among the following five key areas.

1. Global Expansion

As marketers continue to scope out new opportunities overseas, the affiliate channel will be embraced as one of the most effective ways to enter new markets. The primary reasons for this being that its pay-for-performance model represents low risk and low overhead while also providing access to local marketing experts without having to bring on full-time staff.

Specifically, if you’re looking for high-growth areas where affiliates can drive new opportunities, you may want to consider Australia. As a result of its new National Broadband Network (NBN), online retail spending there is on an upward trajectory according to the National Australia Bank Online Retail Sales Index.

Additionally, according to a study by McKinsey & Company, over the next 13 years, 440 emerging market cities are expected to contribute around half of global economic growth from 2010-2025. These cities include Mexico City, Lima, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Moscow and Bangalore.

The full report is worth a closer look if you’re determining which high-growth areas are most closely aligned with your offerings so that you can refine your e-commerce strategy.

2. Fortifying A Foundation For Partnerships That Will Drive Mobile

Mobile growth is likely on everybody’s list of top trends for 2013 and beyond. Yet, looking at the mobile market from a retailer’s perspective, it’s clear that while mobile commerce adoption has been slow and steady over the past five years, this area will see significant growth in the near future.

In fact, retail is projected to be the fastest-growing category in mobile commerce, reaping approximately $25 billion by 2017 according to the annual “State of Retailing Online” study conducted by Forrester Research and Shop.org.

For advertisers to make the most of the burgeoning m-commerce opportunities through the affiliate channel, there are two key areas that can’t be overlooked.

First is the need to ensure that the end-to-end consumer experience on a mobile device is fast, fun, and easy. That includes the publisher site as well as the advertiser site. If there are any hiccups in the process from the moment a customer visits the site through the shopping process and especially at checkout, advertisers run the risk of alienating shoppers.

The second critical success factor is the assurance that publishers are properly credited for mobile transactions. When you consider the anticipated growth of the mobile market, now is the time for advertisers to form strong ties to the publisher community.

Key to sustaining these relationships is partnering with an affiliate network that conducts regular and rigorous testing on mobile devices to ensure publishers are duly recognized for their efforts.

3. Omni-Channel Retailing

Retailers will strive to provide a seamless consumer shopping experience across every platform while presenting the right offer at the right time on the right device.

Advertisers looking to improve their omni-channel retailing strategy should view the affiliate channel as a critical piece in a multi-faceted marketing plan for the following three reasons.

• It’s aligned with the way that consumers shop and behave
• It’s a proven acquisition channel for new customers and provides a low risk opportunity to try new ideas
• Deal-driven consumers turn to affiliate sites first and frequently, because they believe offers from affiliate sites are better than those presented on a retailer’s website

4. Tighter Integration Of Marketing Channels

It only makes sense that along with the rise in omni-channel retailing, we’ll also see tighter integration of marketing channels. Performance marketing, for example, will be more closely aligned with retargeting and display.

While marketing disciplines require a depth of expertise, bringing together the teams responsible for driving individual channel return can help to proactively identify opportunities to drive more sales, ensure consistent campaign messaging, and strengthen the collective knowledge of the entire team.

Also, when these elements are brought together and marketing silos are eliminated, advertisers will see stronger campaign results. In addition, big data solutions that include affiliate program data will enable more targeted, timely ads and offers to be delivered at the right audience at the right time on the right device.

5. Refinement Of Social Media And Affiliate Marketing Practices

The role of affiliates in social media continues to be a point of discussion among marketers.

On the one hand, you have naysayers that have tuned out affiliates in social media based on some less-than-glowing behavior from a small percentage of the community.

Yet, on a more positive note, according to the 2012 AffStat report, 60 percent of affiliates use social media to drive traffic, second only to search engine optimization.

Affiliates hoping to achieve success in social media channels should focus on being aligned with their advertiser partners and their social marketing objectives — in effect, being an extension of the partners’ social marketing strategy.

For example, if you’re promoting a particular electronics product, you may want to share industry knowledge and tips as well as initiate conversations and chime in on relevant discussions, so you’ll be seen as a knowledgeable industry resource. Just make sure to follow FTC guidelines and disclose clearly on your site that you are being paid a commission.

Since sharing and engagement are the foundations of social media, it only makes sense that affiliates apply these principles when they join social networks on behalf of retailers.

While we’re not likely to see major disruptions in performance marketing in the coming year, we will see its role elevate as CMOs continue to invest in the marketing vehicles that deliver the highest ROI.

Stock photo used by permission of Shutterstock.com.

As it continues to move from concept into everyday practice, let’s not forget about the role performance marketing plays in ensuring the success of an omni-channel strategy.

First, a quick refresher on omni-channel retailing and the omni-channel shopper.

Omni-channel retailing is all about providing a seamless consumer shopping experience across every platform including laptops, tablets, smartphones, brick-and-mortar stores, catalogs, and advertising. Essentially, omni-channel retailing ensures the consumer gets what they want, when they want it and where they want it. To meet this challenge, retailers need to meet consumers on their terms and present offers at the right time on the right device.

Consistency Is Key

If the concept of omni-channel retailing sounds familiar, it’s because it reflects the evolution of multi-channel retailing. However, omni-channel takes multi-channel retailing to the next level because it optimizes the shopping experience by ensuring consistency in the way brands, products and offers are presented to consumers.

Consider the shopper in the market for a new pair of casual shoes. That shopper is likely to browse several websites or blogs that are good at spotting the latest trends among multiple brands, read some reviews and fashion editorial, do some comparison-shopping, look at the brands their friends like on Facebook and narrow down the selection to three top choices.

From there, that shopper may go to a few brick-and-mortar stores to actually try on a couple of pairs of shoes. They might buy them on the spot or go back online to find the best offer for their number one choice.

Provide The Right Information At The Right Time

The smart retailer with an omni-channel strategy will make sure that each online and offline destination the customer visits is consistent and reflects where the consumer is at in the decision process. This way, the retailer can present the right offer at the right time through the right channel on the right platform.

The rise of the omni-channel retailer has resulted in a new category of consumers known as omni-channel shoppers. Omni-channel shoppers use all of the available online and offline channels simultaneously to conduct research, find the best deal and make their purchases in the way that’s most convenient for them.  Affiliate sites today — fashion sites, blogs, loyalty sites and coupon sites — are a key stop on the path to purchase.

What’s great about this hyper connected, knowledgeable audience is that they typically spend 50 percent more than single channel shoppers and 15-30 percent more than multi-channel shoppers, according to IDC Retail Insights. Even better is the fact that they’re more likely to talk about their experiences with your brand in social media circles.

One of the greatest benefits to come from the omni-channel evolution is that both retailers and consumers now have a more comprehensive view of each other. The view is great, but only if it satisfies the needs of both parties. This is where the affiliate channel plays a pivotal role in an omni-channel marketing strategy.

For retailers embracing omni-channel, take note of the following three online shopping behaviors recently uncovered by Forrester that reflect the affiliate channel’s role in driving traffic and converting leads.

1. Deal-driven consumers turn to affiliate sites first and frequently. In fact, online shoppers often start and end the purchasing process through affiliate sites. This is due in large part to the ubiquity of affiliate deal sites, coupon sites and comparison-shopping sites and apps. Consumers are simply conditioned to look for value and the right price.

2. More than three times as many deal-driven online buyers believe promotional offers from affiliate sites are often better than the offers they see when they visit a retailer’s website.

3. The affiliate channel produces new, incremental customers. If you’re trying to attract new-to-file customers, keep in mind that online shoppers who frequently use the affiliate channel are four times more likely than average buyers to try a new brand after receiving an offer and typically spend more than average online shoppers.

It’s clear that affiliate marketing is aligned with the way consumers shop and behave. However, to make it a successful part of your omni-channel marketing strategy, consider the following three recommendations:

1. Dive into performance marketing analytics along with other sources of data. This way, you’ll have a better picture of your overall performance and online consumer shopping behavior, and can more quickly identify and respond to potential campaign issues before it’s too late.

2. Eliminate marketing silos. Your affiliate experts, both internal and external, should be looped into all of your marketing activities. This fosters team collaboration, provides different viewpoints based on real world experiences, and helps ensure consistency across the online channel.

3. Cultivate stronger ties to niche publishers. Since omni-channel is all about targeted, seamless online shopping experiences, niche publishers will continue to be an important community that attracts highly-segmented audiences.

Identify the publishers that most align with your target buyers, connect with these affiliates as you formulate your marketing strategy, and consider increasing their incentives on specific campaigns.

Today’s publishers are incredibly innovative and are building brands of their own as they work with advertisers that are willing to try new campaigns and marketing solutions, including mobile and social campaigns.  No retailer has the time or resources to try everything, but almost all can tap into their affiliate marketing channel to try new things and test hypotheses.

So as you refine your omni-channel strategy and begin to roll out your first-quarter marketing campaigns, be sure to respect the critical role that performance marketing plays in driving online opportunities.

While affiliate marketing strategies should be firmly in place by now, there’s still time to tweak your content and promotions to make the most of the upcoming shopping season, which promises to be even bigger than last year. As a matter of fact, Shop.org expects online sales to grow 12 percent over last holiday season to reach as much as $96 billion.

When you look at last year’s trends and this year’s forecast, there are seven critical data points to keep in mind. Below are affiliate marketing strategies for the holidays that are aligned with these seven driving forces in e-commerce.

1. Black Friday Is Now Black November

With holiday shopping now starting as early as October, it’s not surprising that by the time Black Friday arrived in 2011, 54 percent of shoppers had already completed more than one-quarter of their holiday purchases, according to an eMarketer study.

Affiliate Strategy: If you’ve already been running holiday promotions, create a new campaign specific to Black Friday and boost incentives for publishers during the 24- hour period.

Another good data nugget to keep in mind is that men are more likely to shop on Thanksgiving night as opposed to early morning on Black Friday. This comes from the National Retail Federation and was reported by the New York Times. Depending on your merchandise, you may want to take this into consideration as you customize your online promotions.

2. Consumers Tend To Shop Before & After Work On Cyber Monday

An eMarketer study found that during last year’s Cyber Monday, consumers did their shopping before 9:00 a.m. then picked up it again between the hours of 5:00-9:00 p .m.

Affiliate strategy: Consider running limited-time promotions during the heavy online traffic cycles of Cyber Monday.

3. Daily Deal Sites Continue To Be Popular

Last year, nearly one in four online consumers purchased a gift from a daily deal site.

Affiliate Strategy: Retailers should offer their own daily deals and work with publishers to promote them. Additionally, with so many consumers flocking to daily deal sites, ensure that your business is included in their listings. What many retailers may not realize is that you can still appear on coupon site listings even if you’re not offering a coupon.

4. Value Supersedes Price

A recent study by the E-Tailing Group surveyed 1,136 U.S. consumers about their expected holiday shopping plans. The study found that when it came to selecting a retailer, 87 percent of respondents say the are looking for value while 85 percent say they are looking for price.

Affiliate Strategy: The fact that value and price are neck-in-neck for consumer attention is not a surprise. Yet, retailers should leverage their brand name and emphasize the quality of their goods over the price to attract buying customers.

5. Product Curation/Product Category Focus  

Consumers are making more online purchases from more product categories than ever before. Publishers are becoming better curators of product than the retailers themselves. You will endear yourselves to your shoppers and build loyalty if you have a good eye for selecting and highlighting the best products from your advertiser data feeds.

Affiliate Strategy: Put a strategy in place for finding, sourcing and identifying products that fit the unique tastes of your audience.  It’s easy to focus on price and discounts, but value can also mean finding just the right product with the right features. You can build loyalty among your shoppers if they feel they are continuously discovering unique gifts and other items on your site that they don’t easily find on other sites.

6. Mobile On The Rise But Not Yet The Dominant Sales Platform

Forrester Research finds that smartphones will account for three percent of e-commerce this year, and that number will increase to seven percent by 2016. Meanwhile, tablets are expected to generate more Web traffic than smartphones by early 2013, according to the Adobe Digital index. While it’s clear that m-commerce is on the rise, it’s not yet the dominant e-commerce platform.

Affiliate Strategy: Ensure every path to your website accommodates the needs of the shopper whether they’re on a traditional computer, smartphone or tablet.

For m-commerce shoppers, be sure you go beyond simply m-enabling your current website and are able to fully support both tablets and smartphones. This may require additional adjustments given the different screen sizes of smartphones and rich visuals you’re able to display on tablets, yet is well worth the investment.

For your traditional website, be sure that you call out your holiday deals and promotions to improve search engine results and accommodate the specific interests of shoppers when they come to your site.

7. Promotions & Free Shipping Reign

A survey conducted by Shop.org after the 2011 holiday season found that the top three marketing tools that drove sales were promotions, free shipping without conditions, and free shipping with conditions such as a minimum purchase requirement.

Affiliate Strategy: While we’ve covered promotions extensively above, let’s take a closer look at free shipping. As you probably guessed, free shipping is becoming table stakes in e-commerce.

To differentiate your business, consider offering free returns as well and extending how much time a customer has to return items after the holidays. Also, be sure to be bold when calling out your shipping policies to entice customers, especially since you know they’re comparing deals on multiple sites.

With some small adjustments, you’ll be able to reap even more from your performance marketing efforts this holiday season.

If you’re considering expanding your affiliate marketing program overseas, Australia is worth a closer look. There are several reasons why the continent presents new opportunities for the affiliate channel.

In this article, we look at the drivers of the burgeoning economy down under and how affiliate marketers can make the most of the emerging opportunities in Australia.

Australia’s Economic Drivers

Technology and a rise in online retail spending are the biggest drivers making Australia the ideal location to expand your global e-commerce efforts.

More specifically, the continent is undergoing a major shift in its technology infrastructure that is certain to create significant opportunities in e-commerce.

The National Broadband Network (NBN), which is currently in development, is an initiative driven by the Australian federal government that ensures its citizens will be among the most connected in the world.

While it’s easy to take for granted the lightning-fast Internet connections we have in the U.S., bear in mind that a 1Gbps connection is new for Australians.  Once the infrastructure is in place, the NBN will make sure that no business or home is without a high-speed connection.

Along with the new infrastructure, Australians are also spending more online. According to the National Australia Bank Online Retail Sales Index, online retail spending is experiencing strong growth and reached $11.7 billion for the year ended June 2012.

As technology accommodates faster Internet connections and more Australians shop online, the continent is poised for continued growth. In many ways, this is a widely untapped market for online retailers of all sizes.

Affiliate Opportunities In Australia

While there are plenty of opportunities in Australia awaiting innovative and strategic marketers, it won’t be as simple as setting up shop and having consumers flock to your virtual doorstep.

Many online retailers that are considering expanding to Australia agree that affiliates are the most direct, effective and low-cost way to reach local audiences.  Yet there’s a bit more to it. Here are five recommendations for expanding your affiliate marketing efforts in Australia.

1. Accommodate international shipping: Many advertisers are picking up some or all of the costs for international shipping to remove any barriers that will deter potential buyers.  Also, from a local perspective, make sure your shipping and delivery policies reflect what consumers have grown accustomed to.

2. Localize your campaigns: While Australians speak English, keep in mind that dialects and colloquialisms vary greatly from what we know in the U.S.  Your campaigns should reflect the local culture and may not translate well overseas.

3. Work with a global affiliate network: Ideally, you’ll want to align with a performance marketing network that has a presence in Australia so you can tap into local expertise and work with a team that can provide guidance on regional campaigns and provide other insight that only a country insider would know.

4. Prepare your mobile strategy: Mobile commerce is on the rise in Australia. In fact, in 2012, mobile sites shot to the top of the technology investment priority for online retailers in Australia, surpassing e-commerce platforms for the first time. While mobile and e-commerce platforms are both at the top of the priority list, this data shows how important mobile commerce is to Australians.

However, m-commerce is not just about tweaking an existing website to support mobile purchases. Rather, it’s about making sure the look-and-feel is designed for mobile devices and the checkout is easy for consumers.

Along with your mobile design, be sure that your performance marketing network is rigorously testing its capabilities on mobile devices to ensure that affiliates are being properly commissioned for their efforts. Without this testing, you may lose your valuable community of publishers that will drop off due to lack of recognition.

5. Amp up your online presence: Be aware that 29% of Australian adults don’t make purchases online because they prefer to touch and see a product before they buy it. It’s likely this scenario will change with the new high-speed infrastructure.

To prepare for your new Australian customers, make sure that your website takes advantage of the latest innovations to deliver rich, multimedia experiences that will bring your merchandise to life and eliminate consumer concerns.

Since Australia is wide open for e-commerce, advertisers should put their affiliate marketing plans into place now to take advantage of the forthcoming opportunities.