How big is the lead generation and how does it fit into performance marketing?

There is no doubt the giant has awoken! Look at the latest PWC Adspend numbers, it’s up 20% for H1 H2011 vs 2010 and there’s no doubt in my mind this trend will continue. The leading digital performance teams within agencies are demonstrating how the channel can be more performance based and a greater focus is being placed past the submit button! As for where it fits in the performance channel? No doubt we will discuss this in the session but personally, right now, it’s firmly at the top of the funnel. Technology will be the driver in changing this, at PHG we can already highlight when a lead turns into a sale and attribute that back to the publisher who delivered that lead, so we’re placing a performance metric back to the publisher and channel.

The session’s title suggests that lead generation needs to evolve and this session is going to show you how. In what way has it perhaps already evolved over the last 12 months, and where else can it go?

We are certainly going to discuss how it needs to evolve that’s for sure; the mix and experience on the panel will also ensure we benefit from all sides of the lead gen buying process. Has it evolved? Yes, driven mainly by a greater understanding and education, especially internally within media agencies. The sector has matured and technologies such as ours providing a more transparent, measured and accountable platform for publishers to thrive has supported that. Agencies and clients want to create a walled garden of partners, an in-house network creating stronger direct relationships supported by independent and future proof technology that benefits everyone.

As for where it can go … performance based pricing is discussed a lot and will feature in the session. There is a recognition now that OLG has to be more than just an e-mail or registration path, integrating Facebook, Twitter, Mobile and Video into the mix to compliment and extend that route to market needs to be done more and is something we can champion and carry out at PHG. It works incredibly well and wrapping those channels into one campaign and performance dash is vital.

Do you feel that current technology available isn’t being used to really support the improvements in lead generation?

Sometimes you only need the basics right? But as those who spend in this space become savvier so too does their demand for pushing the boundaries of what is possible from the technology they use. For example I’m not aware of any technology in the lead generation space apart from ours that can automate publisher payouts based on performance after the submit button. Real time response based on performance pricing is something only technology can drive forward … but is everyone ready for that right now? Come along to the session on the 19th and find out!

Catch Stepping up the Game for Lead Generation and 20 Top Tips 09.30-10.30 Wednesday 19th October.

Take advantage of the best event agenda to date …

Register today for your conference pass to the biggest Affiliate and Performance Marketing Conference and Exhibition.

Joining a4uexpo London as a brand new 2011 bronze event sponsor, Performance Horizon Group have also taken sponsorship of our innovative twitter wall.

The twitter wall will display all your tweeting activity throughout the 2 day event, creating a buzzing hub of conversation, quotes and questions.

Performance Horizon Group is the new performance marketing tracking company in the market. They specialise in providing private networks, allowing brands and agencies to work directly with their leading partners and affiliates to track sales and lead generation activity. Launched in January 2011 and already tracking activity in 9 territories, Performance Horizon Group represent the next generation in performance marketing.

Want to showcase your brand as an event sponsor?  There are just a few opportunities remaining for 2011.   If you’d like to raise the profile of your company and reach out to over 1300 industry delegates contact Sales and Partnership Manager, Stuart Pringle, on +44 (0) 117 203 3013 or email Stuart Pringle

Represented by key figureheads within the Affiliate and Performance Marketing Industry, the advisory board is an impartial, voluntary body enlisted to help suggest new and innovative speakers fresh to the conference and will also be on hand during the event to introduce our speakers and tease out those all important questions from the audience!

Join a4uexpo in welcoming the brand new advisory board, and thank you to them all for their ongoing support with the show.

Matt Bailey – Director Performance Horizon Group

Kevin Edwards – Strategy Director Affiliate Window and Buy.at

Chris Frost – Director ColdSnail Ltd

Florian Gramshammer – Country Manager Commission Junction UK

Sheema Luca - Freelance Marketing Consultant

Gavin Male – Managing Director AffiliateFuture and TMN Group

Duncan Popham – Director Total Search Solutions

Geno Prussakov – Founder AM Navigator LLC

Dush Ramachandran - VP Sales and Business Development ClickBank

Fiona Robertson – Head of Performance Marketing bigmouthmedia

Peter Rowe – Managing Director affilinet UK

Chris Russell-Smith – UK Client Services Director and Country Manager nonstopConsulting UK

Helen Southgate - Senior Online Marketing Manager BSKYB

Rob Wilson – Market Unit Leader North West TradeDoubler UK

If you missed out on the super early bird tickets then don’t miss your opportunity to grab a fantastic bargain with the £50 saving offer!

Our lowest ticket price is running until the 1st August – use the discount code SAVE50 when you REGISTER!

a4uexpo has moved to a brand new location – The Hilton Metropole. To celebrate our move to London’s vibrant West-End we’re offering all delegates of a4uexpo London a further 10% discount on the reduced reservation prices at the Hilton Metropole!

Book your event pass and receive an exclusive discount code to book and stay onsite with us at the conference venue!

Lots of advice can be found on our dedicated submission pages. Please remember submissions will only be accepted via the online form and not by email please.

We’re really interested in hearing from you about topics that you would like us to schedule at the event and specifically speakers that you would like us to invite.

If you do, we’ll try our best to get them there for you.

Each roundtable will be hosted by hand-picked experts from across the industry discussing hot topics, new technologies and strategies relevant to advertisers, networks and publishers. Topics will include SEO, re-targeting, product feeds and de-duplication strategy – all in a relaxed, informal environment.

The conversations will be free-flowing so don’t expect any set presentations or rigid agendas — if a question pops up in your head — then ask it!

Registration is not required however seats are limited so do turn up early.

Delegates can choose from the following hosted discussions, with a couple more to be announced this week.

Video & Performance Marketing

Discover how to embrace video with your performance marketing activity. Whether you’re an advertiser or publisher you can ask the founder of COULL direct questions about maximising your revenue with video in the performance channel.

Host: Irfon Watkins, Coull @coull

Why Have Google Got it in for Affiliate Sites?

Google remains a significant driver of traffic to affiliate sites.  Share your thoughts and experiences and discover what you can do about it in their quest for quality.

Host: Kelvin Newman, Site Visibility @kelvinnewman

Breaking into the USA

Join Emma as she hosts a table on how to break into the US market, learn about local market conditions and opportunities.

Host: Emma Delaforce, Webgains

Data Feed Best Practice and Optimisation

Product feeds can be magical but equally a nightmare. Ask the founder of Fusepump about how feeds can revolutionise your activity and supercharge your revenues.

Host: Lee Brignell-Cash, Fusepump @fusepump

The Great De-Duplication Debate

De-duping a campaign should be the most empowering change any merchant can make to their affiliate business for the benefit of everyone, affiliates included.  To find out more and provide your own practical examples, join Ewan Darby from Ogilvy on the hottest ticket round table debate of A4U Europe 2011.

Host: Ewan Darby, Neo@ogilvy

Retargeting Discussion

Roundtable description TBC

Host: Beate Stapf, Affilinet

Attribution in Performance Marketing

Roundtable description TBC

Host: Seth Richardson, DC Storm

E-Privacy Directive

At the recent IAB Affiliate Marketing Council UK meeting the e-Privacy Directive was discussed in detail.  Find out what the UK is doing, and discuss the next steps for solutions, it’s impact and loopholes.

Host: Chris Johnson, A4U @chrisjohnski

Tackling the Mighty Google Panda Update

Google’s panda update continues to spread across Europe. Join this discussion hosted by SEO legend Dixon Jones as we decipher what’s happened, why and what you can do about it!

Host: Dixon Jones, Majestic SEO @Dixon_Jones

You’ve Invested in Attribution, but Do You Really Know How You Can Use It To Power Your Digital Marketing?

Attend Seth’s session from 09.30am-10.30am on Tuesday 7th June in the Cézanne Room.

What is your session covering and why is it important for our delegates?

Together with Jens Maurer, MD of DC Storm in Germany, we’re aiming to delve a little bit deeper into the very hot topic of Attribution, looking specifically at what insight and advantage it can provide both Merchants and Affiliates. However, on the flip side, we’ll also be highlighting the opportunity many delegates may be missing from not utilising their attribution knowledge to make more informed business decisions.

What can delegates expect to learn? Why should they choose you? And what will be the key take always?

Attribution is a subject that most people assume they understand and know how to apply to their business model. However, we would argue that this is not always the case and therefore the session will look at the fundamentals of attribution; why a single view is not the answer and, more importantly, why Google is making it essential that merchants and affiliates consider attribution.
With over five years of attribution experience, working with some of the world’s biggest brands to help them fully optimise their digital marketing activity, we have the knowledge and understanding to explain the benefits of attribution for both merchants and affiliates. Our team consists of experts with client-side and publisher experience so we’ll be able to show how merchants should embrace attribution as well as how affiliates should approach campaigns based on sales attribution.

During your session what question would you ask other panelists or yourself if you were in the audience?

I’d hope that the session will dispel the myth that attribution is complicated, and therefore I’d be keen to know how I could get started.
On a more specific level, I’d want the presenters to discuss how to ensure the attribution rules that a merchant publishes are working correctly.

Aside from your own session, what other sessions will you be attending at a4uexpo Europe and why?

There’s some good sessions this year but the ones I’ll be hoping to see are:
1. Redefining the Affiliate: How To Be A Performance Marketing Partner
2. Retargeting On The Hot Seat – The Value Creation Debate
3. The strategic use of Search – the emergence of Search as a true Performance Marketing channel and the rewards from greater, more focused, integration

What one piece of advice would you give to delegates attending this year’s a4uexpo Europe
Get involved and ask the experts questions!

Don’t forget to register for a4uexpo Europe! REGISTER TODAY and join us back in Munich over the 7th and 8th June!

Join one of our groups to receive exclusive discounts    

We’re pleased to be able to offer a slight extension to the speaker submission deadline until Friday 25th February.

If you missed the first deadline, then do get your thinking caps on and enter your proposal to speak today!

Speaking at the conference is your opportunity to be part of the evolution of performance marketing and ability to reach out to an audience of 1000 key decision makers and players in the international market.

Speakers not ony get access to the VIP speaker room but also a complimentary pass to the conference.

Helen Southgate, Senior Online Marketing Manager at Sky, is conducting the session entitled ‘The Advertiser’s Guide to the Complexity of the Channel’ at a4uexpo, plus she’s appearing on another couple of sessions. We caught up with her to discuss reasons to visit her sessions at the a4uexpo London in 1 week and 4 days (and counting!)

Hi Helen, thanks for chatting to us! With your a4uexpo London sessions based around the advertiser areas, what’s your background within the market?

Well, I’ve worked in the Affiliate Marketing sector for over 8 years, starting my career at Silvertap in 2002, then moving to DGM in 2007 and most recently to Sky in 2009. My role at Sky is Senior Online Marketing Manager where I manage the PPC and Affiliate teams. Coming from an Agency background, I’ve worked across a number of clients within the Affiliate Marketing sector but moving to work client side has been a real learning curve which i’ve enjoyed immensely so far.

Working with such a big brand in the Performance Marketing sector, how much of an impact are Affiliates making?

The Affiliate channel is an integral part of the Online Marketing mix which we value very highly at Sky. The beauty of the Affiliate channel is that it can be used tactically, we know that if we need to drive more volume or satisfy a certain KPI – Affiliate is the channel that can help us do this, it has the flexibility that other channels do not always have which makes it invaluable. The lines between Affiliate and other channels, such as display, are also beginning to grey. Affiliates are no longer seen as simply an effective Cost Per Acquistion channel, they can also assis in driving brand awareness and specific KPI’s.

Your first session at the a4uexpo is entitled ‘The Advertiser’s Guide to the Complexity of the Channel’; What can delegates expect from your session and why should this be the first session they attend this year?!

I’m going to really get under the bonnet of large, complex Affiliate Programmes. I’ll explain what it looks like, why the channel needs to be so complex and how you can manage a programme of this magnitude effectively and continue to drive sales. I’m going to show some real life examples, share some experiences and hopefully provide a great deal of insight into the future of affiliate channel management. Every client affiliate programme is different so this is not going to be me telling delegates what to do or teaching them to suck eggs, but hopefully some of the experiences I have had over the past 8 years will help to provide insight and spark some great ideas for other client programmes. I would really recommend that any agency or network account managers attend this not forgetting advertisers.

Other sessions you are involved with at the a4uexpo include the anticipated ‘Affiliate Armageddon’ session, Day Two @ 17.15-18.15, Room 14-16. Should be a good viewing for delegates, are you ready!?

I think so! The session includes Duncan Popham, Tina Judic and Kevin Edwards, which is a great mix of people to discuss the whole ‘Affiliate Armageddon’ idea with. With plenty of personality on the panel I expect this session will be extremely feisty with many a conflicting view and probably a few controversial subjects. None of us have been known to shy away from a challenging topic so expect this one to be a real eye opener and some good old fashioned heated debated with hopefully a lot of audience participation.

There you have it – Thanks to Helen for taking time to answer our questions. Catch Helen at the a4uexpo by booking your place today and registering now .

If you’ve been staring at the mountain of industry sessions we have on offer across our day one and day two conference agenda, we thought you might benefit from some session suggestions which are directed at our Advertiser delegates.

Don’t forget that all of our sessions are recorded and made avaialble to full delegates of a4uexpo via the a4uexpo Lounge. Visit a4uexpo.com/lounge for more intomation.

If you haven’t registered yet, take advantage of our price-reduction, which will not be valid on the door, and register today.

Day One

09.00-10.00, Room 2-4, The Advertisers Guide to the Complexity of the Channel

10.30-11.30, BT Live Theatre, Affiliate Marketing Insights: Retail

12.00-13.00, Room 17, Under the Hood Affiliate Management

14.30-15.30, Room 2-4, What is the Real Value of Affiliate Marketing?

16.00-17.00, BT Live Theatre, Managing Reputation Online; How do Affiliates and Social Media Change the Game?

17.15-18.15, BT Live Theatre, Re-targeting for Branding and Affilaite Sales in Adwords

Day Two

09.30-10.30, Room 17, Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better: Using Your Competitor’s Tactics to Gain a Competitive Edge

11.00-12.00, Room 2-4, Performance Marketing with Traditional & Mobile Media

12.00-13.00, BT Live Theatre, Advertiser & Publisher Conversion Clinic

14.30-15.30, Room 14-16, Anatomy of an Affiliate Programme

16.00-17.00, Room 17, Improving the Quality of your Affiliate Programme

17.15-18.00, Room 17, The implications of universal tagging and de-duplication for the affiliate industry