Expanding Reach: How Affiliates and Social Drive Together

Brandon MyersAffiliate DirectorAceable

Dave Stewart Chief Technology OfficerCAKE

Brandon MyersAffiliate DirectorAceable

Dave Stewart Chief Technology OfficerCAKE

About

Affiliate and Social Working Together

Affiliates marketing via social platforms

Affiliates contribute to the Customer Journey through other channels outside of direct media buying

Affiliate and Social: 7 Ways to Expand Reach

1. Build a brand through social media

2. Gain followers

3. Provide valuable and authentic content

4. Leverage brand and sales messaging

5. Measure your success

6. Use the power of your data

7. Trust your Instincts

Build a Brand Through Social Media

The Role Affiliates Play in The Social Ecosystem

Powerful voice: affiliates have the power to say what brands can’t always say

Create buzz: affiliates add buzz and act as enablers from a branding perspective

Take action: neutrality of publisher sites/emails/handles can push peoples emotions to the point of following or the point of sale

Social and The Greater Multi-channel Story

Invest in social: social is the way people “hear” about your brand

Understand the Customer Journey: SEO, PPC, Organic, are often the touchpoints taken immediately after social as the consumer goes through the exploration process

Track everything: technology bridges the gap between all channels

Optimize: experiment with different targeting and budgets methodically to measure lift

Gain Followers

Social Engagement

Social media as an active voice

Social is a platform to ACTIVELY interact with users as their interest and needs are piqued

Social media is the place for your voice to be consistent Brand gains personality with just a few accounts

Build your Following

Select social media strongholds

Social media tool should be primary application(s) of your audience

Many audiences still use multiple networks

Automate mundane tasks while maintaining strong content and brand voice

FollowLiker (Bot) and reasons it works/doesn’t work

Real follower dilemma

Leverage reciprocity as a social rule in a social media setting

Who to Target

Don’t be afraid to target very granularly for your ideal demographic

Track organic vs. paid separately

Leverage re-targeting opportunities to stay in front of your customers

Investment in good viral content leads to cost-effective engagement opportunities

Not all social is alike

Instagram

Twitter

Facebook

Snapchat

Provide Valuable and Authentic Content

What Works Best for Publishers

⦿ Collaboration⦿ Filling a need in a confusing marketplace⦿ Becoming an expert on this need and expanding from there⦿ Trial and error

Leverage Brand and Sales Messaging

Brand Messaging vs. Sales Messaging

What is the difference?

What does your brand or website stand for?

What emotions and value should people draw from your brand or website?

How do you talk to your customers and prospects?

How do your customers want to be talked to?

Best Practices: Sales Messaging

Differentiate: sales messaging from brand messaging

Less focus on building trust

More focus on customer acquisition

Identify the problem: customer base experiencing issues

Present the solution: know how to enhance or alleviate a pain point in your audience’s life

Demonstrate value: show your customer a reason they can’t miss out on what ultimately will enhance their life

Best Practices: Sales Messaging

Provide a clear CTA: pose the problem - present a solution -provide the reason why

Equip advertisers: offer a clear CTA and solution for the audience to solve their problem

Customize Messaging: make it fit your audience

Measure Your Success

Measuring Success

Brand building metrics:

Follows or shares

Comments

Sharing through pictures

Acquisition metrics:

Clicks/Click through rate (CTR)

Transactions/Conversion rate

Customer lifetime value (CLTV)

Time to conversion

Implement a Feedback Loop

Build a transparent relationship with your affiliates

Measure campaigns with as much detail as possible

Optimize Campaigns

Tweak design

Change content

Leverage Anecdotal Feedback

Affiliate insight

Reward Performance

Increase payout for quality traffic

Use the Power of Your Data

Leverage Data Effectively

Use additional data obtained from social platforms to augment your (potential) customer profiles

Analyze all touchpoints to understand how complex engagements are occurring

Avoid first/last touch attribution

Use algorithmic/data-driven attribution if possible

Use linear if not

Tie ultimate customer lifetime value back to all marketing campaign touchpoints (close the loop)

Know Your Audience

Regularly visit sites your target demographic frequents

Analyze interaction patterns before purchase decisions

No two verticals/businesses equal

Gather as much customer feedback as possible

Trust your Instincts

Go with your Gut

DISCLAIMER

Analytics

There is no substitute for testing, analytics, and actionable data

Proper research ensures top ROI

But gut…

Sometimes we don’t have time to test

Go with your gut

LEARN from what you choose

Create transparency with affiliates

Leverage effective messaging

Consider the entire customer journey at all times

Track and measure everything

Experiment, rinse and repeat

Key Takeaways

Thank You!