Aussie online retailer explains how it's working to bring a human element into affiliate marketing
In this era of automated online marketing, it is easy to forget there are still human beings at either end of the transaction.
This idea is a core belief for appliance retailer, the Winning Group, and its online subsidiary, AppliancesOnline.com.au. When looking to streamline its affiliate marketing program, chief marketing officer, James Fleet, sought a partner that could add a human element to partner communication.
“Since we started, we have had a real focus on performance marketing channels, and affiliate marketing falls into that category,” he says.
Initially when building the affiliate program, Fleet says AppliancesOnline had assumed simply driving reach through the widest possible range of partners was the best solution, and so the program expanded out to 2500 partners.
“What we quickly learned is that you get the most performance from an advertising relationship in an affiliate sense when the advertisers can align with the promotional movements within your business, so that they can extract the most value on their side,” Fleet says. “And managing that at scale is very, very hard to do.”
A decision was taken to consolidate the affiliate program, and a search began for a new partner that understood AppliancesOnline’s business and the challenges faced in managing its affiliate network. That led to discussions with Rakuten Marketing, a New York-based marketing services subsidiary of Japanese ecommerce giant, Rakuten Group, that also counts local companies such as Virgin Velocity and Deals Direct among its client roster.
“A number of affiliate networks are really focused on that digital long-tail approach, whereas we wanted to really focus on a small few we’d know we’d get big gains with,” Fleet says. “What Rakuten can do is bring a human element to affiliate marketing, which is actually extremely valuable in helping us engage with the advertisers and other websites.”
Fleet says the goal is for Rakuten to more effectively communicate AppliancesOnline’s affiliates, which include Canstar, Finder and Virgin Velocity.
“We want to build stronger relationships via Rakuten with the advertisers, so they understand our proposition and how to leverage it through their networks,” Fleet says. “When the advertiser needs to understand the movements within our promotion a little more accurately so they can align with us, you need a little more support. And that is where Rakuten has really been a great partner for us.”
Digital advertising dominates in first half of 2014: report
Fleet is also looking to Rakuten to improve AppliancesOnline’s understanding of how revenue is generated through its program.
“What we want to do is reward marketing channels where that reward can be validated and that has always been hard with affiliate marketing,” he says. “That has become a lot more complex now.”
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+: google.com/+CmoAu
In this latest episode of our Conversations over a Cuppa with CMO series, we catch up with Jane Power, who stepped into the director of marketing and transformation role at GenesisCare in April 2020.
Understanding the core principles of Behavioural Economics will give players in the travel industry a major competitive advantage when restrictions lift and travellers begin to book again. And there are a few insights in here for the rest of the marketing community, too.
Unicorns, the Sunken City of Atlantis, Zeus: They are very famous. So famous in fact, that we often think twice about whether they are real or not. Sometimes if we talk about something widely enough, and for long enough, even the strangest fiction can seem like fact. But ultimately it is still fiction - stories we make up and tell ourselves over and over until we believe.
At a time of uncertainty and economic hardship, customer retention takes on much greater importance. CX Lavender’s Linda O’Grady examines the big grey area between ‘all’ and ‘best’ customers when deciding who is worth fighting for and how.
looking for the best quality of SMM Panel ( Social Media Marketing Panel ) is a website where People Buy Social Media Services Such as Fa...
Kavin kyzal
How to manage social media during Covid-19
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Definitely bookmarked for future reading! Check this website https://a2designlab.com/ with lots of ...
Pierce Fabreverg
Study: Gen Z are huge opportunity for brands
Thanks for sharing. You might want to check this website https://lagimcardgame.com/. An up and coming strategic card game wherein the cha...
Pierce Fabreverg
Board games distributor partners with Deliveroo in business strategy pivot
Such an important campaign, dyslexia certainly need more awareness. Amazing to see the work Code Read is doing. On the same note we are a...
Hugo
New campaign aims to build understanding around scope and impact of dyslexia
Great Job on this article! It demonstrates how much creativity, strategy and effort actually goes to produce such unique logo and brandin...
Pierce Fabreverg
Does your brand need a personality review? - Brand vision - CMO Australia