How you can work with affiliates to increase your online sales and reduce your costs
An estimated £2 billion of online sales was generated through affiliates in 2006. With travel companies such as the Dutch holiday cottage operation Euro-Relais using affiliates for 50% of its online sales, the travel sector is once again leading the way in developing a fast growing marketing channel. Will the opportunity to only pay for adverts that sell and fast rising PPC rates persuade you to develop this channel? Or is the sale of your product just too important to leave to partners? The Affiliate Marketing for the Travel Industry Conference is your opportunity to hear from travel companies that are already selling through affiliates, learn from their mistakes and be inspired by their successes.
The growth of the affiliate channel seems to be driven by the ever rising cost of customer acquisition on the Web. As Google cleans up, the ever shrinking ROI on CPC. So a CPA marketing program should make complete sense, but while most travel companies have a scheme of sorts few have really utilized this channel to ensure a maximum level of sales.
So what's stopping you from selling more through affiliates?
- The affiliate horror stories
Whilst the cash risk is low, talk to most merchants and they all seem to have had a few bad experiences… "I was advertised on a site that damaged my brand", "spy wear infuriated my customers", "my company name and top keywords rocketed in price" …. "I paid pay twice for the same sale…." "80% of the affiliates I signed up sold nothing!" - Finding some you can trust to run your program
Some travel companies swear by their marketing agencies to prevent click fraud and manage the whole complex area of media buying. However agencies often cause affiliates and networks to swear in anger as they are increasingly frustrated by the lack of opportunity to talk directly with the merchants. Can an organisation paid a percentage of what you spend really have you best interests at heart? - Knowing which network should you go with
Which networks have the right affiliates to sell your product? Whilst many believe that affiliates sign up with all the major networks, our research shows some key travel affiliates are loyal to one! How do you match your product to the network? - Are affiliate networks the right way to go at all
Most merchants feel it's the only way to manage the wide range of affiliates that exist. Fundamentally it's the easy solution that affiliate networks like Affiliate Window, Affiliate Futures and Prime Q are offering that is driving this channel's growth. But some merchants, such as Leisure Direction, bypass this level and go direct to the affiliates. You need to decide if the cost saving is worth the investment in technology and the work involved. - Solving the the payment issues
How do you cope with cancellations and can you claw back commission - How do you reward affiliates and take care of your customers? Whilst we all like sales for free, only a fool would not want to see the people driving their sales go unrewarded for all that lucrative web traffic. But with many consumers still wanting to call to book, (after the web research) is it possible to measure and reward these sales?
To help you use affiliate marketing more effectively, EyeforTravel has decided to dedicate an entire conference to this highly effective and fast growing method of online marketing. Designed for airlines, hotels, travel agencies, tour operators and all other travel merchants, it will help you to:
- Benchmark your existing affiliate marketing programme against industry leaders such as Virgin, Hoeseasons, MyTravel, Superbreak Mini Holidays, First Choice
- Discover what will make your affiliate program work better
- Choose the right affiliate partners and software
- Identify and help your top performing affiliates sell more of your product
Make sure you register early to confirm your place!