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Since the inception of the performance marketing industry, the primary form of affiliate attribution has been Last-Click. This means that the last publisher in the clickstream receives 100% of the commission. Although this an easy and simplistic model that has helped build the industry for...
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New metrics and methods for measuring the success of a marketing campaigns performance are being tried and tested.
While a standard has never been established, besides conversions, CPM and CTR are considered “leading indicators” gauging the success of a performance marketing campaign. CPM and CTR often form the basis for initial optimizations on distribution as well as creative. However, this can be problematic since these metrics do not really capture the whole story in terms of the value that any aspect of given campaign can provide.
CPM and CTR can still provide valuable insight. But you just need to view them as a part of a bigger picture.
The concept of attribution modeling can shed some more light on this. Attribution modeling means that you must identify a set of advertising impressions that lead to a conversion. It’s an important facet of a campaign because it helps you figure out what led someone to engage in a behavior, which can lead to a conversion.
In my last blog post I discussed several reasons why multi-touch attribution models, and the different commission philosophies that will spring from that, should raise the hackles of affiliates. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out here.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out this PMA post from Lisa Picarille on Attribution.
So why should affiliates embrace multi-touch attribution? There are many reasons why, but allow me to address the ones that I think are most important.
A little harsh, I know, but it’s true. This is happening whether affiliates and our industry embraces it or not. So you can be part of the conversation or deal with the consequences of your business and our industry not being a part of the discussion. Learn about this concept, ask your advertisers about it, and become their go-to-guy for this type of information. You’ll be better positioned to offer assistance and ensure accurate commissions for you in the future.
Each year brings new opportunities and threats to the affiliate space. In the last 12 months, we’ve seen a real push by retailers for multi-touch attribution models that will afford them more insight into the omni-channel journey of their customers and will allow them to more efficiently allocate resources (read budget) amongst all their channels. The affiliate marketing channel included.
Last month, our VP of Global Performance Marketing was attending the Linkshare event in the UK when this concept was brought up. To say the affiliates in attendance were upset may be an understatement. Their reactions were a catalyst for a detailed discussion internally about how the affiliates feel and what they should do about, and for this blog post.
Should affiliates be “up in arms” and scared about the coming mulit-touch attribution models? Concern is definitely warranted and in this blog post I’ll outline some reasons why affiliates should be on high alert. In the second post of this series, I’ll outline why affiliates shouldn’t riot in the streets and how/why they can be much more involved in these initiatives. So affiliates, I’m going to scare ya, then talk you off the ledge with some great ideas. So bare with me through both of these articles.
LinkConnector is an Industry Champion Member of the Performance Marketing Association.
Let’s create a scenario. You are an advertiser who pays your publishers a percentage of revenue for each sale a publisher drives through your Performance Marketing program. Let’s assume not all sales are equal since they rarely are. Chances are you are valuing each sale the same by paying your publishers the same percentage for every sale.
This isn’t necessarily a problem unless you, or more likely your boss, have a different objective other than maximizing the number of sales. Don’t get me wrong; maximizing the number of sales is extremely important, however, it is seldom an advertiser’s primary (or even secondary) objective.
Robert Glazer, Founder and Managing Director at Acceleration Partners , a digital strategies and marketing firm, will be moderating a panel at Affiliate Management Days (AM Days) taking place April 16-17, 2013 in San Francisco. The much anticipated session– called The Role of the Affiliate Network...
