Affiliate Marketing - How to Execute a Successful Campaign in Travel
25
Affiliate Marketing How to Execute a Successful Campaign
-
Upload
helenmarie -
Category
Travel
-
view
1.867 -
download
2
description
I presented this at the Travel Distribution Summit on May 19th 09. The presentation discusses the intricacies of the travel sector, the implications this has for affiliate marketing and what I think makes a successful campaign in this sector.
Transcript of Affiliate Marketing - How to Execute a Successful Campaign in Travel
Affiliate MarketingHow to Execute a Successful Campaign
My Background
Travel Sector and Affiliates
Key points for a successful affiliate campaign
What stage is the travel affiliate channel at?
Summary
Questions
Agenda
Helen Southgate
Head of Affiliate at dgm Nearly 7 years in the Industry Variety of Sectors Current Travel Clients
About Me
A Life in Affiliate Marketing
My Background
Travel Sector and Affiliates What makes a good campaign?
How can the sector improve?
Summary
Questions
Agenda
Travel Sector - Trends
How do Customers Search? On average customers:
Make 12 related travel searches Visit 22 different websites Take 29 days to purchase Visit the purchase site 2.5 times Use a generic term at the start of their
search 54% of the time
10% of time don’t use a branded search at all (i.e. Easyjet, Thomson)
29% of searches start with a non-brand term but finish with a brand term
What does this mean for Affiliate Marketing?
The Importance of having an affiliate campaign in the travel sector You want to have touch points at
the beginning of the search
You need reach across a wide range of long tail terms
You need your brand to interact as many times as possible within the customer search
You want the customer to trust your brand an affiliates reinforce that
My Background
Travel Sector and Affiliates
What makes a good campaign?
How can the sector improve?
Summary
Questions
Agenda
What should you expect from an affiliate campaign?
Affiliates drive incremental sales
Affiliates add value to the customer purchase
Affiliates promote your brand ethically
Affiliates are rewarded for sales that they can reasonably justify that
they have contributed significantly to
The Cookie
Cookie period in travel is important
29 days average purchase time (click to sale)
Most travel campaigns are 30 days, should this be reviewed?
PI cookies
De-duping
The Affiliate Mix
EA
RN
ING
S
AFFILIATES
Long Tail Affiliates
Super Affiliates
Large Affiliates
Medium Affiliates
This sector of affiliates is key for a travel affiliate campaign
Types of Affiliate
Brand AffiliatesContent Affiliates
Partnerships & Email Reward / Incentive / Voucher Sites
How can you attract affiliates?
Competitive EPC
(earnings per click)
Rewards / Incentives
Promotional Materials
Communication
Account Management
Bespoke management
Competitive EPC
Affiliates compare campaigns using Earnings per Click
How can you influence the EPC for affiliates? Increase the commission Increase your on site conversion rate
(OSC) Landing pages / deep linking
Increase the affiliates Click through rate (CTR)
Influencing the affiliates CTR Regular updates of copy / creative Interactive creative (i.e. searchable
banners) Analysing creative / content
Motivating Affiliates
Think of your affiliates as your sales force, how would you motivate your topsales person? Salary Bonus Perks Status
Different affiliates will be motivated by differing levels of reward:
Top Affiliate =+
Top Affiliate + =
Promotional Materials
What is key?
Make it easy for affiliates to promote you
Offer promotional materials that aid conversion
Regularly review materials
Look to use API / RSS / Product Feeds for “real time” data / availability changes
Update your affiliates with all new promotions / offers
dgmKnowledge
Communicating with Affiliates
How do you break through the noise? Use all channels
Make sure you have a consistent message
Find out what channel your affiliates would prefer to use
Monitor the effectiveness of each channel
Email is a necessary evil
Communicating effectively and regularly, but not too much!
Account Management
It’s not a myth that relationships are key to success
Good account management is: Talking regularly to key affiliates Supporting smaller affiliates Being responsive Being pro-active Problem solving Innovative Communication
Treat affiliates as you would your sales force
Bespoke Management
One size fits all affiliate campaign has been and gone
Need to work with affiliates on a bespoke basis: Communications Commissions Promotions Incentives Relationships Remuneration
Pay on all Actions
CPA
Holiday Booking
Brochure Request
More information request
3rd party sale (airport parking, insurance)
Repeat purchases
Monitoring Quality
Risk factor = commission paid on booking not fulfilment of sale
How to limit the risk: Check all applications – know who you are doing
business with Monitor quality of sale Ensure you can validate all sales Assess any loopholes in payment process
99% of affiliates are ethical but you need to watch for that 1%
My Background
Travel Sector and Affiliates
What makes a good campaign?
Where is the Travel Sector now?
Questions
Agenda
Where is the Travel sector?
More scope to innovate & improve
Understanding the consumer journey and adapting to this is key
Last click model
Long tail growth
Summary
Understand the customer journey for your product
Tailor your campaign
Know and understand your affiliates
Treat your affiliates as your sales force
Don’t be afraid to innovate
My Background
Travel Sector and Affiliates
What makes a good campaign?
How can the sector improve?
Summary
Questions
Agenda
Helen SouthgateHead of Affiliate
Direct: +44 (0)20 7943 4270
Email: [email protected]: www.dgm-uk.com
Thanks for your time
