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Providing Your Publishers The Tools They Need To Succeed
Your publishers are an extension of your sales force, and ensuring that they have the best tools available to promote your products or services not only strengthens your relationships, it helps your publishers to engage the end-user – ultimately driving sales and increasing your ROI.
This article looks at how publishers are using emerging Web 2.0 technologies to engage end-users and drive
sales, and how you can maximize their efforts by providing your publisher base the tools they need to
succeed.
Publishers Leveraging Emerging Web 2.0 Technologies
Innovative publishers are looking to emerging Web 2.0 technologies to capture and engage their end-users
in a way that will convert traffic into sales. Publishers are using emerging technologies offered within
the CJ Marketplace, such as Commission Junction's Web Services, as well as outside of the CJ Marketplace,
such as RSS feeds, to automate content, engage the end-user, and ultimately drive sales.
Publishers using emerging technologies to automate content successfully drive sales by delivering the right
content to the right audience at the right time. Thus, in order to capture traffic that converts to sales,
publishers must be able to distribute current, relevant content to their audience. Two prominent emerging
technologies that publishers are using to automate content are RSS feeds and Web Services.
RSS Feeds
RSS – Really Simple Syndication – is defined by Wikipedia as a "family of Web feed formats
used to publish frequently updated digital content." In essence, RSS feeds are a distribution method that
allows end-users to subscribe to a content feed from a Web site and receive updates made to the site in
real-time. The benefit to the end-user is that updated and relevant content is delivered directly to their
feed reader of choice, saving them the time and effort of searching for the content they want to see. The
benefit to a publisher using RSS feeds is the ability to reach their end-users by delivering content
directly to them the minute it is available. Publishers who use RSS feeds have a competitive advantage
because their content is viewed by the end-user as a means of directing their online shopping efforts.
RSS feeds can be used to deliver general content, or they can be customized according to the consumer's
needs.
For example, a coupon and deal publisher who offers an RSS feed of the most current coupons and deals
from apparel advertisers can deliver highly relevant content to their end-users who frequently shop for
apparel. They capture the users' attention before they buy, ultimately helping to direct their online
shopping efforts, and even influencing unplanned purchases through the notification of new deals or
coupons.
Because RSS feeds are customizable and can deliver highly relevant, easily accessible automated
content, they are highly effective in converting traffic to sales.
Publishers use an advertiser's product catalog to create the RSS feeds. They can pick and choose
items from the product catalog to create any type of RSS feed that meets their needs, whether it
is a 'top 25 product' feed or a feed based on category, manufacture or item. Once created, the
RSS feeds are updated in real time. Because publishers are pulling from the advertiser's product
catalog, it is vital that the product catalog is kept up to date and optimized. You can update
or optimize your Product Catalog by logging in to your CJ Account Manager™, clicking on the
Manage Links tab, and under Creative Type, selecting Product Catalog. When doing this,
be sure to populate all fields within the product catalog, not just the required fields, and include
as much and as detailed information as possible.
For example, in the category section, a shoe advertiser may include basic information such as
Shoes > Men's, however a more optimized catalog would include Shoes > Men's > Tennis > Black.
Web Services
Commission Junction's Web Services technology allows publishers to directly access 3rd party data
and deliver the data via their own Application Programming Interface (API.) Web Services allows
publishers to either capture data from Commission Junction and add it into their own database, or
directly access data from Commission Junction in real-time. Commission Junction offers two primary
Web Services: Link Search Services and Product Catalog Search Services.
Link Search Services enable publishers to create an application that will perform custom searches
in Commission Junction's database for links. Publishers can search by creative type and size, and
by keyword. The API is able to search links at any interval a publisher chooses. Successful
publisher Web sites are those that have systems in place to keep their site updated with the
most current content. Regular site updates drive more sales. Therefore if a publisher wants to
have the most up-to-date links on their site they can create an API that pulls data from Commission
Junction several times a day. This allows the publisher to ensure that they are capturing the most
current content and making it available to their users to access as soon as possible.
Product Catalog Search Services are probably the most valuable to publishers who are running
product searches and price comparisons on their Web sites. In order to maximize the sales potential
of these functions, up-to-date content is essential. Using Web Services, publishers can update their
databases more frequently, or even make real-time calls to the Commission Junction database directly
when their users search for products on their site.
Whether publishers are using the Product Catalog Search or Link Search Services, it is vital that
your product catalog is up to date and optimized, and that your links are properly categorized by
promotion. To ensure that your links are properly categorized, be sure to select the appropriate
Promotion type when you upload creative in your CJ Account Manager. You can also update your link
promotion type by selecting View Link Detail, then Edit, and under the Promotion
drop down selecting the most appropriate category. Promotion categories include Coupons, Sweepstakes,
Hot Product, Sale/Discount, Free Shipping, and Seasonal Link. To learn more about Commission Junction's
Web Services visit http://webservices.cj.com.
Using emerging technologies to deliver the right content to the right audience at the right time
through RSS feeds and Web Services helps publishers engage the end-user and ultimately drive sales.
However in order to make these emerging Web 2.0 technologies successful, it is imperative that you
optimize and update your program regularly. Whether this be through providing every detail possible
in your product catalog or updating and categorizing your links, your efforts will help maximize
those of your publisher base, and give them the tools they need to succeed.
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