using social media for commodity affiliate programs

Using Social Media with Affiliate Programs

Dave Taylor, Principal, Intuitive Systems, LLC

http://www.DaveTaylorOnline.com/

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

The challenge…

Affiliate Marketing is a Commodity Business

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

It all comes down to placement…

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Or Is It About Design

Are you more likely to buy from an attractive Web site than an ugly one?

Really?

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So how do you differentiate?

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Why do people decide to buy?

“People rationalize buying decisions based on facts, but they make buying decisions based on feelings.” Bryan Eisenberg, ClickZ News

Source:blogs.psychologytoday.com

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Influential sites can charge more

Price elasticity is the extent to which sales drop as prices increase

If people buy based on emotion, make ‘em love you and they’ll pay a higher price.

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Ergo, you need…

AuthorityCredibilityTrustworthiness

But how do you get it?

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Become an influence leader

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Are You An Influencer Already?

Which one are you: Connector

sociable personalities who bring people together

Mavenlike to pass along knowledge

Salesmanadept at persuading

the unenlightened

DullardNo comment

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What is Social Media?

Just about any site that involves social interaction…FlickrYouTubeFacebookMySpaceTwitter

Don’t forget blogs and podcasts!

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What networks to utilize?

Socialize where your customers are

That’s the secret.

Really.

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Find your customers online

You need to identify your potential customer base byAgeSocio-economic statusGenderRaceReligion

Maybe it’s time to survey your customers?

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Popular Social Networking Sites

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By Number of Members

Source: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/leading-social-networking-sites-still-growing/(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

What are Up and Coming?

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Geographic Differences: Digg

Source: http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/2008-social-network-analysis-report/(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Geographic Differences: Flickr

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Geographic Differences: Indianpad

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Geographic Differences: LiveJournal

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Geographic Differences: Orkut

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Geographic Differences: YouTube

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Geographic Differences: Facebook

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Facebook Demographics?

Source: http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/2008-social-network-analysis-report/(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Exemplary Target Market: Children

Primary data source: Businessweek.com(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

The Goal of Your Efforts

Gain Influence by Becoming a Leader

“A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leaderinspires them with confidence in themselves”

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Is there a Formula for Influence?

The six principles of ethical persuasion Reciprocity, Scarcity, Liking, Authority, Social proof, Commitment/consistency.

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

What can you accomplish?

Ghastly:distribute press releases

Boring but Useful: customer service

Interesting: market research

Cool: customer engagement

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Benefits of Social Media Marketing

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

How to Engage

Have a genuine presence!

Pay attentionto yourcustomers

Have fun?

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Example: Twitter

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Example: Blogger Giveaway

Source: http://www.gearlive.com/(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

31 Days of the Dragon Campaign

Nine months after launch, no sales of $5000 laptopGave 31 laptops away, one per site, to top 31 tech sitesResults:

380,000 inbound links to the 31 sites discussing the contest Combined, bloggers received over 25,000 contest entries Bloggers saw 150% increase in traffic (on average) Net sales increase in HP laptop? 85%

Sufficiently successful that they did it again Dec 2008: The “HP Magic” campaign

See: http://www.31daysofthedragon.com/

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Example: YouTube Videos

Blendtec Inc.Results:

Viral VideosYouTube Channel

Subscribers: 153,833Channel Views: 2,964,042

Sales increase: 700%

See: http://www.blendtec.com

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Example: MySpace

Island Bicycle Co., Galveston, TXMySpace search revealed

22,000 users lived within 10 miles of the store…

Result: 2-3 people/week buy bikes at the store, having heard about them on MySpace.

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Example: Facebook

Launched in May 2007

Have $2.5min sales

7-10% of salesdirectly attributedto Facebook

“designed to reinforce company values and connect with customers on a more personal level”

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC

Example: Flickr

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acmephoto/

Acme PhotoScottsdaleArizona

41% of his prophotographicbusiness comesfrom Flickr

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Heck, you can Tweet aff links

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Thanks!

Dave Taylor Intuitive Systems, LLC

www.intuitive.com

www.DaveTaylorOnline.com

(c) 2009 by Intuitive Systems, LLC