Transcript 1. Which of the following programs managed by

2006 Affiliate Survey
PartnerCentric sent a survey to affiliates of PartnerCentric-Managed Affiliate Programs this past
February and March. The purpose of the survey was to gather feedback from affiliates regarding a
wide range of issues that effect affiliates on a daily basis.
Affiliates were asked a wide range of questions regarding the type of sites they manage, their
source of affiliate income, the marketing strategies they use as well as their opinions on what
challenges they face in the affiliate marketing space
Affiliates were offered a $25 gift certificate from restaurant.com as a thank you for taking the time
to share their opinions and thoughts with us for this survey.
We received 1,041 original responses
Participating Programs
These PartnerCentric-managed programs were sent the 2006 Affiliate Survey
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Niche Retail
21st
911HealthShop
GolfGods
IrvsNational
Domistications
International Male
Brian Tracy
ClubMom
The Company Store
USADC
Travel Intellegence
FootSmart
Geographics
Silhouettes
UnderGear
Jiggerbug
LifeScript
1. Which of the PartnerCentric-managed programs do you currently promote?
Program
Number
Percent
Program
Number
Percent
ClubMom
274
27.00%
Undergear
87
8.60%
FootSmart
222
21.90%
Digital River
77
7.60%
National Geographic
214
21.10%
SmoothCorp
73
7.20%
Restaurant.com
208
20.50%
911HealthShop
72
7.10%
21st Century
Insurance
178
17.60%
Quicken Loans
64
6.30%
Irvs Luggage
158
15.60%
Wynn Las Vegas
45
4.40%
GolfGods
132
13.00%
Niche Retail
42
4.10%
Domestications
125
12.30%
USADentalcare
26
2.60%
Brian Tracy
120
11.80%
Wild Divine
21
2.10%
JiggerBug
119
11.70%
MortgageRates4Less
13
1.30%
Animal Den
107
10.60%
TonerZone
8
0.80%
LifeScript Vitamins
104
10.30%
Credit-Land
6
0.60%
The Company Store
98
9.70%
TaxHelpAttorney
5
0.50%
International Male
87
8.60%
Travel Intelligence
4
0.40%
Silhouettes
87
8.60%
2. How would you describe your main source of affiliate commission income?
(1,165 Responses)
Method
Number
Percent
Niche/content site
518
44.5%
Coupon/discount shopping site
313
26.9%
PPC advertiser
204
17.5%
Sweepstakes/contest site
39
3.3%
Misc (see next slide for responses)
25
2.1%
Shopping Mall/SEO
23
2.0%
Incentive/Loyalty Site
19
1.6%
Personal Website
9
0.8%
Freebie Site
8
0.7%
Blog/Ezine
7
0.6%
Open-Ended Responses to Question 2:
“How would you describe your main source of affiliate commission income?“
MISC
website
Autosurf
check
Used book site
Diversification
website
Through Commission
Junction
Print and Radio Advertising
leads
Links
Affiliate
retail site - not sure if I understand
the question
site for auto dealers /
customers
Mom Site
Content
none
CJ and Linkshare
cash
decorating
Book sites
Cold calling
CPA campaigns
ranking service
retail
Domain names
3. How do you currently promote affiliate programs? (Check all that apply)
(3,250 Responses)
Method
Number
Percent
Text Links
646
19.88%
Banners
611
18.80%
Content
598
18.40%
Search Engine Optimization
374
11.51%
Email
306
9.42%
PPC
244
7.51%
Coupons
222
6.83%
Datafeed
133
4.09%
Media (Purchasing advertising, print
ads, radio, etc.)
77
2.37%
Misc (see next slide for responses)
13
0.40%
Newsletter/Blog/Webring
12
0.37%
Website Links
9
0.28%
Incentives
5
0.15%
Open-Ended Responses to Question 3:
“How do you currently promote affiliate programs?
Misc
We use the affiliate programs to compliment our membership base
and partnering bases with a benefit.
Cold calling sales
Clientelle
classified ads
Card swapping meetings
eBook
Domain names
Our registered card holders are rewarded for every purchase.
online shopping mall
Offline
deal teams...word of mouth gatherings
PPV
traffic generators
4. What is your biggest challenge with Affiliate Marketing?
(1,631 Responses)
Response
Number
Percent
Conversion Rate
441
27.04%
Merchant inaccuracies (coupons,
datafeeds, outdated content, etc)
290
17.78%
Tracking Technology
198
12.14%
Other (please specify)
147
9.01%
Restrictions and Limits set forth in the
Affiliate Agreement
142
8.71%
Product Selection, Inventory or Pricing
128
7.85%
Communicating with program managers
101
6.19%
Getting Paid
92
5.64%
Search Engines/Traffic
30
1.84%
Lack of time
18
1.10%
None
13
0.80%
Misc (see next slide for responses)
12
0.74%
Education
9
0.55%
Trust (Spyware/Click Fraud)
7
0.43%
Payout/Commissions
3
0.18%
Open-Ended Responses to Question 4:
“What is your biggest challenge with affiliate marketing?
Misc
Inbox/Email Management
Getting set up
how to know my script code is valid
finding the products I want to promote in the database
Finding a good ecommerce setup that does not include a shopping
cart, but does have csv import
establishing a database
Consumer Behavior Modification
Coming up with something rermarkable to promote on a consistant
basis.
Building opt-in list
making sales
Finding a good affiliate manager that is affordable and can manage
my 600 web sites
The ads must appeal to my demographic.
5. What would help you generate more business (i.e. leads, sales, etc)?
(1,662 responses)
Response
Number
Percent
More content (emails, articles, etc.)
499
30.02%
Datafeeds and Coupons
417
25.09%
Higher Commissions
410
24.67%
Training Materials and Sessions
256
15.40%
Misc (see next slide for responses)
30
1.81%
Traffic to Site
20
1.20%
PPC/Affiliate Agreement
12
0.72%
Tracking/Conversion
10
0.60%
Technology (Datafeeds)
8
0.48%
Open-Ended Responses to Question 5:
“What would help you generate more business in 2006?”
Misc
Pointers on design/ad placement to maximize click through rates.
Turn-key store modifiable to our look and feel
It would really be cool if merchants would provide an op-in service included with
there stores. Seems like a win win to me.
More creative ability to advertise individual products and having more creative
license in creating ad campaigns.
Some sort of pre-approved creative and mailing list assistance. I have compiled
a list of over 5000 email addresses. I'm scared to death to do an broadcast
emailing because someone might accuse me of spamming and I could be
dropped from the program.
Personal interaction from your affiliate management team.
We expect to greatly expand as our exposure increases locally, regionally and
then nationally.
It would be great to have someone look at how we've used the banners on our
site, and make suggestions for improving performance.
Some radio ads.
less generic or more professional looking page makers for.
I would like to see better advertising info. about your product and not so much
about how we get paid. I depend on your banners & links ( more links ) because
the banners take up to much space and site load slower. Content links take over
ones website.
More 'grass roots' marketing by client partners.
More time
Greater contact with potential surfers as licensed distributor.
Attracting customers to click on links and rewarding referrals and then a second
tier of reward for actually making a purchase.
More paid advertising/traffic converting to sales.
true white label sites
More money for more advertising.
better options available for 'specialization'
I think part of the problem is that most affiliate programs out there right now have
been 'worn out'. So many of us are tired of zip offers, and the same exact affiliate
programs at different networks. It's time for something new to come up - I just
wish I knew what that was! LOL But it just seems like affiliate marketing is kind of
stale right now
Ideas relating to Washington, DC
finding someone who wants to manage 600 affiliate web sites
My web page is fine the way it is. I don't make much money from affiliates to
change my web site entirely. I have a weblog where I talk about various
products I have tried.
easiness to communicate with all merchants simultaneously (possibly a virtual
community with chat capabilities with any merchant you need help from);
easiness to find promotions
Honest Merchants
A change in the registration process might be helpful to increase conversions. As
ClubMom offers change, the basic signup process always stays the same ...
affiliates are used to it, and I think tend to ignore the new promotions becuase
they know they'll be running an identical campaign to what they've already
promoted in the past.
Less competition
Being able to link through paper advertising
For a Customer to beable to Add Multipule Items to a Shopping Cart system. and
from there purchase the products from the Affiliate website.
I need opt-in email lists
6. Which Industry Publications or Websites do you read or visit on a regular basis?
(249 Responses)
Name/Site
Number
ABestWeb.com
60
Revenews.com
43
AffiliateTip.com
41
Revenue Magazine
39
Network Newsletters
16
AffiliateBoards.com
14
AssociatePrograms.com
9
ReturnOnAffiliate.com
6
WebMasterWorld.com
5
EComExpo
3
RevenueToday.com
2
WebProWorld.com
5
AffiliateClueTrain.com
1
Others
5
7. Which of the following would motivate you to quickly promote a merchant's affiliate program?
(2,004 Responses)
Response
Number
Percent
VIP commission rate
434
21.66%
Weekly payments
333
16.62%
Availability of wire transfer/direct deposit
of commissions
315
15.72%
Guaranteed payments through a 3rd
party (network, escrow vendor, etc)
256
12.77%
Automatic entry into a contest or
promotion that appeals to you
244
12.18%
Other (please specify)
177
8.83%
Advance on first comm check
105
5.24%
Promotions/Exclusive Coupons
32
1.60%
Banners/Links/Content
26
1.30%
"Good" Products
24
1.20%
Misc (see next slide for responses)
20
1.00%
Relevance To My Site
19
0.95%
Above Avg Conv. Rate
6
0.30%
Trust
5
0.25%
Personal Touch with Managers
5
0.25%
Liberal PPC Policy
3
0.15%
Open-Ended Responses to Question 7:
“Which of the following would motivate you to quickly promote a merchant's affiliate program”
Misc
more user-friendly cj site
site too new to respond
I keep up on the new banners & text when supplied...I can't
help it if someone doesn't click on that link. I have a
very small budget so pay per click is out of the
question at this time.
showing more information and tips about why I get so many
clickthroughs and no conversion to sale. What some
factors may be and how to better improve sales.
For us to promote a merchant in excess inventory - they
must have a strong offer and brand.
review Samples
easy to promote, more incentive to our visitors
ready to go mini site
Easy Automation, or training us how to
With in our pervue.
Ease of integrating data into a store
Limiting who they approve
contest for those who are searching for insurance
other insentives
Contests or sales and shipping specials for the clients
not sure...still learning
being well again
Diet or weight loss related promotions
Affiliate managers who are NOT boneheads!
co-marketing opportunities (such as providing content to the
advertiser to generate traffic to my site)
8. What is your preference in terms of merchant communications to you?
(1,160 Responses)
Response
Number
Percent
Only where there is something
new to announce
453
39.05%
Monthly
242
20.86%
Weekly
225
19.40%
Bi-monthly
156
13.45%
Typically don't read merchants
newsletters
52
4.48%
14
1.21%
Misc
(see next slide for responses)
13
1.12%
Daily
5
0.43%
As often as necessary
Open-Ended Responses to Question 8:
“What is your preference in terms of merchant communications to you?”
Misc
tips on how to get more click thrus on web page banner ad
let me know my performance and tips for my site only.
Its also important not to send the same newsletter more than once.
I use the Commission Junction e-mail function & if I write to a
merchant I would like a reply
I am a work at home dad ( caregiver ) who is trying to build a home
business for extra funds. I can not be on every day..I try to be
but it doesn't happen.
Email coming from an actual person.
Direct communication with the merchant partner
Depends, I do mostly coupons, so email is preferable when a new
coupon exists
depends on the merchant
Content for Ezine
also when the merchant would like feedback.
a week out for all sales
send content for publication