The latest a4uexpo newsletter included a thought provoking piece by Bronze Sponsors Commission Junction on behavioural targeting, if you missed it, catch it below.
Arguably the most misunderstood aspect of affiliate marketing is that it is “risk free”. This is almost true when talking about merchants but it most certainly isn’t the case when talking about affiliates. Successful affiliates try to make their risks as calculated as possible by making careful investments, meaning that by nature and instinctively they use broad aspects of behavioural targeting in so far as they know their audience inside out and only display merchants which fit that audience’s likely behaviour. This means they minimise waste and make more money!
Okay, so this is a simplistic view of Behavioural Targeting (BT) in the current landscape and taking into consideration the complex offerings out there. There are many different formats of BT ranging from business rules, to clusters, to re-targeting and then the more intelligent predictive technologies that can actually build up user profiles (anonymously) and make rough predictions on their likely buying intent. Joshua Koran,VP, targeting and optimization, ValueClick Media wrote an interesting and useful overview of all the BT models recently on iMedia – http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/19935.asp
These are exciting developments and whilst it is still only re-targeting which is really hitting off (especially in the US) it will be very interesting to see how these technologies fare in the future and if they can ever beat the ‘hands on’ approach of affiliates.
So what does Behavioural targeting mean for affiliate marketing?
There are many aspects to this…
The first one is this –affiliates are an innovative bunch. Many say that they are some of the greatest innovators in online marketing, simply because they have to be to survive. If and when these technologies become more widely used then affiliates will find a way to adopt them, beyond geo-targeting and re-targeting.And when they do they will learn the lessons from the explosive impact that BT has had in display and do things differently to avoid the mistakes.
Another interesting angle and as Matthew Wood commented in his recent blog entry http://www.woody.co.uk/ “Re-Targeting – Should Affiliates Get a Slice of the Re-Targeting Pie”, asks, as more and more advertisers utilise re-targeting solutions where does that leave affiliates who are reliant on the ‘last click wins’ model for their bread and butter? Or does it, as Matthew states, reward affiliates closer to the beginning of the path to conversion?
The nirvana the industry is desperately trying to find is a full path-to-conversion analysis whereby merchants can quantify the value of each marketing touch point from first view to conversion, across each brand and each product range. Only after this has been found (and it must be done on a case by case basis) can the necessary conversion attribution models be applied. However there is no quick and easy answer to this and advancements in BT could serve to complicate this further.
What is key is that, as an industry, we proceed with caution, using information and learning’s gleaned from as many available sources as possible. At Commission Junction we continue to work closely with Mediaplex, ValueClick’s ad-serving and technology division, as they crack path-to-conversion reporting and analysis for their clients, and ValueClick Media as they progress with BT. We will also, through our global connections, keep updated with what is happening in the US which will most certainly have ramifications in the UK market.
It is also something which we will work closely with the IAB to ensure that we are working industry-wide to try to minimise those risks for our affiliates and make them as educated as possible.
Sophisticated developments in BT progression and path-to-conversion analysis may pave the way for some extremely interesting advancements in affiliate marketing. Any new opportunities to tune in with consumers online can at large only be a positive step forward. These are exciting times, and if we endorse these new opportunities then digital marketing will continue to stand out up at the forefront of the industry.
Comment on: Behavioural Targeting – haven’t affiliates been doing this all along?