10.24.07

Effective Tracking - Maintaining competitive advantage

Posted in New to PPC at 8:31 pm by PPC Guy

One of the beautiful aspects of advertising online is the ability to track at a very granular level. Because it is so easy to track online advertising, it is easy to over look something very obvious.

I’m sure you’ve seen this on many sites you’ve visited and you may have not even thought twice to select the proper choice from the drop down menu. It’s perfectly fine to ask your customers where they saw your ad, but not in the online environment. This information is not only available to your customers but it’s also available to your competitors.

There are many free software packages available which will record unique tracking links by campaign. If you have a lower budget use Google Analytics. If budget isn’t an issue, Omniture Site Catalyst is the best solution.

Here another mistake many advertisers make

This code was on the confirmation page an advertiser’s site. As you can see the code is very well commented. From the code any one can tell that this company is advertising on Quigo, LinkConnector, Net Traction, Oridian and ShopAtHome. Now, even if the code wasn’t commented, a savvy marketer would immediately be able to identify each tracking pixel. Hiding the tracking pixels doesn’t take much effort. One quick way of accomplishing this is placing all the tracking pixels in a Javascript file. A better way of keeping your advertising sources anonymous is to only display that pixel code when appropriate. This can be accomplished with a few lines of programming.

In a competitive environment, it’s essential that you keep a competitive advantage. If you learn from other people’s mistakes, you don’t have time to make your own.

LinkConnector Net Traction online advertising online environment Oridian Quigo ShopAtHome

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10.16.07

Successful Affiliate Campaign Strategies

Posted in New to PPC at 7:45 pm by PPC Guy

Building a close relationship with your affiliates could be the difference between the success or failure of your campaign. Building a relationship is fairly easy, but requires a little time allocation, and consideration. Here are a few tips to help you kick start that relationship.

Try to touch base with your top 10 affiliates at least once a month. If you are using Commission Junction, you can accomplish this with a custom email to your top performing groups. Draft the message so it’s personalized. Consider sending a custom email to your top 2 affiliates. This will give them a pleasant surprise, because they are not accustomed to personal recognition. Be sure to discuss certain areas of their site or site design to let them know that you have visited their site and you approve their marketing tactics. Also, in your custom email, be sure to include your phone number and email address. Don’t worry; they will most likely not contact you. A majority of affiliates are doing marketing on a part time basis and they have other full time commitments.

Be appreciative of your affiliates. Every once in a while send them an extra bonus. What’s an extra $100 or $200 when that affiliate has made you $10,000 that month. The extra money will be greatly appreciated especially around the holidays. You may also want to consider inviting them to the office. If your paying an affiliate more than $2,000 a month, that’s comparable to someone’s salary. Make them feel as a valuable team member.

In addition, you may also want to consider changing their payment terms. It’s always nice to receive your money quicker and not having to wait 30 days for transactions to be validated.

These are a few tips that every successful affiliate campaign should strive to adhere to. A little upfront investment will save you time in the long run recruiting new affiliates.

recruiting new affiliates

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