PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT | OCTOBER 2008
by Ian Rosenwach
As the web grows in new directions, Affiliate Marketing will grow with it. Advertisers and Publishers are looking to Affiliate Networks to innovate in useful ways that help them drive sales. Here are three themes that we’re starting to see take shape.
Social apps
LinkShare offers a number of Web Services that Developers use to integrate LinkShare links with their shopping app. Since web services allow Developers to build links “on the fly”, they’re especially useful for sites that need to cater to dynamic data. Two great examples of Developers that use Web Services in smart ways are Knicker Picker and My Deco.
With web services end users interact with the Advertisers, not just publishers. Lemonade allows anyone to develop his or her own “Lemonade Stand.” The Lemonade Stand builders can hand-select products and promotions, and then plug that Stand into his or her social networking platform of choice. Visitors to his or her social networking page can see these hand selected products and, if they choose to buy one, the Stand builder and Lemonade share in the commission. The end user is actually choosing which Ads to show. The Developer builds the containers that enable this interaction.
LinkShare just released a new API called Targeted Merchandiser which enables Developers to build customized, contextual product widgets.
The web is becoming more social. Web Services make affiliate links available in a way that can be tied in to the social web.
Contextual Ads
Contextual advertising has been around for a while, but Affiliate Networks are just starting to expand into this area. In the right setting, contextual advertising can make it easier for Publishers to promote relevant Advertisers, and for Advertisers to gain distribution. Affiliate Networks now offer solutions that allow publishers to determine product relevance based on their content and that require less technical expertise.
One such product is LinkShare’s Easy Links. This program uses a predictive algorithm and an Advertiser product feed to display relevant products on a Publisher page. We’ve seen the most Publisher adoption so far from niche content sites and blogs.
Affiliate programs are becoming more user-friendly for publishers with all levels of technical experience. By offering these solutions, networks are working towards broadening the footprint of Affiliate Marketing.
Interactive Ads
There’s a wide range of creative types that can enhance the end users shopping experience. Video and product widgets are two examples. One of my favourite examples is from Beatport and sells digital music to a niche audience. They created a Flex Link that enabled their Publishers to place their audio player on their site and offer song snippets to their users. It makes for an engaging sales tool, as well as valuable content.
Flex Links give our Network the means to leverage different types of rich and engaging content with their users. We have some examples up here.
Leverage new and engaging types of creative that drive higher conversions – beyond banners and text links.
Affiliate 2.0
As innovation continues to drive change in e-commerce, we will continue to see creativity in the way advertisers and publishers work together. The web can change overnight. To capture interest, and revenue, in such a world companies should seriously evaluate the tools we’ve described above, and leverage the expertise of their affiliate marketing partners to help them make the most of this great new frontier.
About the Author: Ian Rosenwach is a product manager at LinkShare, a global online advertising services provider.
