The Rogue Marketer

Affiliate Summit West to Kick off 2012

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Las Vegas promises to be the epicenter of the marketing universe from January 8 - 10, 2012 as affiliate marketers from all over the world meet to discuss 2011, the most turbulent year in marketing history. As we close on a year in which Google awoke from a long slumber and turned into a Panda, Amazon changed the face of publishing with the Kindle, and tablets became a rage, Affiliate Summit is the first conference to help marketers make sense of it all.

Spending some time at Affiliate Summit is invaluable since most attendees are hands on practitioners. For this crowd, understanding performance marketing is personal as it directly affects their livelihood. In an industry that continues to proliferate greater levels of complexity, it's the one place where marketers can piece it all together....at least for a day.

Not convinced? Let's add on the need to understand the impact of Apple iPhone's Siri, the mysteries of You Tube, the need to master social media, mobile couponing, not to mention benchmarking the performance of your affiliate program.

I'll be at the conference learning, networking and preparing to make 2012 a profitable year. Drop me a note if you are planning to go.

- Jeff

Update from Shawn Collins and Missy Ward: It looks like the final day to register for Affiliate Summit West 2012 before they reach capacity, will be Monday, December 26th.

 

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Affiliate Summit West 2012 Voting is Open

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Voting is on for Affiliate Summit West 2012 sessions. For those unfamiliar with the show, it's the largest annual gathering of affiliate marketers and a must attend for anyone involved in the performance marketing industry.

I've proposed a session on what to do when your merchant program is not meeting expectations. The session is called "Merchant Failure to Launch."  I need your votes to make sure that it is part of the show agenda. I'll be co-hosting with Deborah Carney, one of the best known podcasters and OPM's in the industry.

Please register here, and then click here to vote for the session. 

Thanks for voting and be sure to say hello at the show.

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What is Affiliate Marketing

I came across this great infographic today that does a great job of answering the question "what is affilaite markeitng" and "how does affilaite marketing work."  Thank you to Sugar Rae for putting this together.

Click here to view a larger version.

[Image provided courtesy of the Sugarrae affiliate marketing blog.]

The Reinvention of the Coupon

On Long Island, my home, buying without a coupon is heresy. If you don't have a coupon in hand at Shop Rite, Kohls, or Macys, you can easily be voted off the Island for failure to demonstrate that you are frugal.  I expect to be stuck behind someone at the supermarket checkout arguing that their out of date coupon for the product that kinda sorta matches the one on the coupon, is valid (my favorite was the woman at Dunkin Donuts that insisted on using the "free small coffee" coupon as a down payment against a medium coffee).

On Long Island It's common to over pay for whatever the latest "it" item is, but then feel good about the purchase since you bought it with a coupon or on a secret,that everyone knows about "friends and family" sale that just happens to be available to everyone.  Bloomingdales will even hold your purchase so that you can come back and buy it on a sale day.

Unfortunately this coupon hysteria is now spreading on-line. The recent news that Google was trying to acquire Groupon was a wake up call to marketers that coupon marketers are starting to dominate PPC results and may start to influence SEO rankings as well.

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Long story short, the coupon sites such as Groupon, ebates, Living Social etc are buying PPC keywords that say something like <your brand here> discount coupon.  The consumer than clicks the link back to the coupon site for the offer.  Given the millions being spent in PPC by the coupon sites, and the quality of the information provides, a consumer discount, these sites are supposedly getting high quality scores from Google.  This translates into lower PPC pricing and a competitive advantage for these sites.  Said another way, a company's acquisition costs can potentially be lower by working with a coupon site.

 

Image via CrunchBase

No where is this change more pronounced than in the affiliate marketing space, where coupon sites are quickly becoming the go to affiliate partners.  For those just catching up to the affiliate conversation, affiliate marketers pay a percentage of sales to the affiliate partner in exchange for the lead or sale.  It is estimated that 10% - 20% of all ecommerce moves through the affiliate channel.  Affiliates promote product via PPC, SEM publishing, email, twitter, newsletters etc.

The coupon sites are also teaching the consumer not to buy before searching for and using a coupon.  This is further reinforced by the ubiquitous "coupon code" request on the check out screen of most major on-line retailers.

Coupons are going be a top story in 2011.  Marketers need to get on board fast...l..as in now.

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Affilite Summit East Sets Direction for Industry

 

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Affiliate Summit East once again set the tone for the affiliate marketing industry through a combination of inspiring keynotes, topic specific sessions, an always crowded exhibit hall and the even more crowded meet market.

This year in particular the keynotes were outstanding, with Frank Luntz, author of "Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear " describing those ideas and phrases that are motivating in an environment that is understandably pessimistic given the economy, housing downturn and unemployment.

Jim Kukral, the 2nd keynote provided inspired insights into what it takes to be successful in affiliate marketing.  He shared the simple insight that the internet is visited for both entertainment and to solve problems.  He suggested that affiliate marketers avoid blogging and develop quality sites that solve these two problems. Jim also shared wisdom from his new book Attention! This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Revenue

The trade show floor and more intimate meet market were both crowded and represented a cross section of the industry. While it was incredibly difficult to separate one affiliate network from the rest, mixed in were also some innovative companies that offered new go to market tools and strategies. Some of the more interesting exhibitors included VigLink, that turns ordinary links into affiliate links, and others which provided models for marketing to targets such as women and the education market.

There were multiple affiliate networks represented, although it was incredibly difficult to differentiate one from the next.  This appeared to be a symptom of having too many offers to manage.  Missing from the show were many of the companies represented by CJ, Linkshare, ShareaSale, Buyat and Google, making it appear that affiliate marketing was more about the get rich quick offer than building marketing programs that use mainstream companies for monetization.

Sessions as always provided valuble marketing information, tools and techniques that I can put to use immediately.  These include timeless advice by Wil Rogers, an affiliate summit regular who never disappoints. His link building case study was insightful and provided perspective on proactive link building vs. the somewhat less effective public relations approach.  The other outstanding session was on crowd sourcing resources, and the many sites that can be used for that purpose.

For me, the event also included an outstanding dinner hosted by CJ at Tao, valuable networking and I even met a few readers of this blog.

Thanks to Shawn Collins and Missy Ward for another informative Affiliate Summit. This was once again a show that shouldn't be missed by any marketer, whether you operate in the affiliate space or not.

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Affiliate Summit Almost Sold Out

There seems to be a conference on digital marketing scheduled every week in New York.  While each has its merits, one of the best is Affiliate Summit East at the New York Hilton from August 15 to 17.  Most conferences focus on a cross between marketers trying to get more ROI out of digital marketing programs and advertising agencies that are looking for new ideas to bring to clients.

Affiliate Summit is different in that the focus is exclusively on affiliate marketing and the entire conference is made up of practitioners, people that make their living from executing ROI positive SEO and PPC campaigns. There is a big difference between receiving your paycheck from an advertising agency based on advice packaged for a client, and paying your mortgage based on insights into how to use digital media.

The event kicks off on Sunday August 15th with a few presentations and the meet market, one of the highlights of the event.  The purpose of the meet market is to provide an informal gathering where affiliate marketers and the affiliates themselves can meet.  It's a great opportunity to pick up new ideas and network.

This years keynotes include Frank Lutz, author of the incredible book Words that Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear (on my list of must read books for marketers) and Jim Kukral, who frequently writes and consults on digital marketing.

The conference is expected to sell out by July 31st, so you need to act now if interested in attending (when was the last time you attended a conference that sold out).

I'll see you at the show!