Tutorials for Publishers

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Publisher Strategy

Increase Revenue with Advanced Performance Marketing Models

Introduction

Today, we'll show you the range of performance marketing models you can use to increase revenue. When you started performance marketing, perhaps you thought there was only one way to be a publisher - by having a content site with simple links and banners. In this tutorial we will discover a range of advanced models such as: the coupon or deal model, the incentive model, the loyalty or reward model, shopping comparison model and finally the paid search (or search arbitrage) model.

Chapter 1

We can start by discussing the one that's easiest to implement: the Content Web site model.

Content sites are Web pages that provide news, ratings, and information. Traffic is generally driven to a content site by end users who proactively seek out content and community based on subject matter. In this model, your primary goal is not to promote an advertiser or offer, but instead your chief aim is to provide information that is valuable to your visitors. You can then monetize the site by placing Advertiser's ads in and around your high-value content.

As a content Web site publisher, you will be working with banner ads and links that generate clicks and conversions. In the CJ Account Manager™ look for relevant advertiser offers which you can embed in page content or in pop-ups and pop-unders which trigger during a page load or surfing.

Advertisers who tend to work with content Web site models generally place a very strong emphasis on their brand image and although they want to have wide reach, it will be important to them that you reflect their brand in the correct way.

Chapter 2

Now, on to our first advanced Web site model: the Coupon or Deal Web site.

When creating a Coupon Web site, your main goal will be to collect coupon offers from advertisers and organize them into lists for easy browsing. In some cases, you'll notice that advertisers supply publishers' sites with coupon information and pay commissions for every click.

Coupon sites can be set up in a variety of ways. Some are linked to comparison shopping sites, where an end user can search through product categories to find a particular item. This search then brings up an inventory of all the online retailers selling the item. Along with the price, the user gets a listing of product discounts offered by the retailer. By clicking on one, the user is taken to the retailer's site to purchase the item with the coupon offer factored into the final sales price.

Most coupon sites list offers by company – usually the site's retail partners. These links, in turn, lead directly to retailers' sites where coupon offers are applied post purchase. Coupon sites can also feature actual coupons that a user can print out and redeem in stores.

A third option is an incentive-based model where the commission rate is dictated by the number of shoppers a coupon site sends to a retailer's site. In other cases, coupon and deal site publishers use email newsletters to highlight the latest, greatest deals and to drive traffic to their Web sites.

Advertisers who have a large product catalog, many deals on their products, or have seasonal product cycles usually work well with coupon publishers. If you'd like to try the Coupon and Deal performance marketing model, you will need: the latest promotional links and creative from the CJ Account Manager, custom offers or coupon codes from advertisers, and an audience on the hunt for a great deal!

Chapter 3

Let's go ahead and take a look at the Incentive Web site model.

You can use incentives to compel visitors to fill out leads or purchase items. A popular incentive site model is the well-known "free iPod" type Web site – fill out a credit card application and you get a free iPod Shuffle or something similar. Incentive sites are often direct marketing companies offering advertisers placement in emails, banner ads, pop-ups and pop-unders, opt-in offers, lead generation, and trademark or keyword bidding. Incentives may come in the form of rebates, cash, products, points, and more. While incentivized clicks or traffic is the most notable incentive-based action, other forms, such as incentivized registrations exist.

Incentive sites may also serve as consumer portals for shopping comparison. Most do this very well, and many of the more traditional comparison sites use incentives to offer more value to the user. To lure customers, these sites also use email, keyword marketing, and search marketing.

Incentive site publishers often work well for advertisers who are trying to ramp up traffic to their sites and have broad consumer appeal.

Chapter 4

OK, now we can take a look at Loyalty and Reward-based Web site models.

Like incentive programs, loyalty sites offer their members rewards for performing some predefined action like shopping on a particular site or reading emails from a particular marketer. They operate with a large number of advertisers and can usually exact a higher commission. These programs sometimes use software downloads to remind the user to use a particular site. A good example of a loyalty and rewards-based site is Upromise, where members get a percentage of cash back of all purchases from associated advertisers. The money is then put into members' college savings funds.

Loyalty members choose to download software that ensures they will receive benefits offered by publishers, such as cash back on all purchases. Even when a shopper goes directly to an advertiser's site, this software guarantees that resulting transactions will be credited to the loyalty and rewards publisher.

This business model is usually attractive to large shopping sites with many products and promotions. Loyalty and rewards-based sites can be complex and resource-intensive. If you would like to have this kind of site, you will have to make a large investment in loyalty software, tracking databases and customer acquisition. You will also need to have highly communicative and customized relationships with your advertisers.

Chapter 5

Okay, now on to the comparison and shopping Web site model:

Comparison shopping sites are portals that group together products from many different advertisers and generally add value with comparisons, reviews, and other qualifying content, thus allowing consumers to shop a variety of sites or products from one location.

Comparison shopping marketplaces usually get product information from product catalogs and data feeds delivered by Commission Junction, which are simply files that contain a listing of an advertiser's products. Data feeds contain standardized information in a specific format and can be delivered to publishers via FTP. This makes it easy for advertisers to keep their product listings on the shopping site up-to-date. Learn more about how to set up product catalogs or data feeds in the CJ Account Manager "Help" documentation.

Most of these sites use e-commerce robots, to scour Web sites in order to list price comparisons on everything from books to digital cameras. Comparison shopping sites also allow advertisers to sign up and pay for their listings. In general, those paid listings usually get better placement. Additionally, some sites aggregate customer feedback to generate advertiser ratings based on quality, delivery and other customer service metrics.

Comparison shopping site publishers are attractive for advertisers with products that stack up well against the competition, based on price or features.

Chapter 6

Finally, we will discuss one of Commission Junction's most popular performance marketing models: Paid Search, also known as Search Arbitrage.

Paid search is when a publisher pays search engines to appear in the results of a particular search. Paid placement describes the process of paying for a particular keyword term or phrase that an end user might type into a search engine such as Yahoo! Once search results are shown, a text ad will appear in the search results page. The publisher only pays when the ad is actually clicked on.

If a the click converts to a sale or lead, the publisher earns a commission, and hopefully profits from the difference in keyword cost versus earned commission. This positive difference is also called "arbitrage." Keywords can include the advertiser's trademarked terms (if the advertiser has chosen to allow use of them), a competitor's trademarked terms (also if allowed by the advertiser), product names, model numbers, generic terms, and other strategic words. Search publishers are very interested in special offers and promotions which can result in a more compelling, high-conversion offer to consumers.

Each of the models we've discussed in this tutorial will have distinct characteristics. Which one might meet your goals? Once you know your model, you can identify the best-fitting advertisers. You may use more than one, but generally speaking, mastering a primary business model is a good rule of thumb. Doing so allows you to easily focus your marketing efforts. After you've mastered a primary type of performance marketing model, like content sites for example, try expanding into other models. A mix of several models, called diversification, lowers the risk you face when you have only a single revenue source.

What's Next?

We've explained several advanced performance marketing models. What's next?

Take some time to browse the Internet and see if you can identify different examples of the model we've covered. Read more about them too by looking at the Publisher Case Studies on www.cj.com. If you have any questions about getting started with the model of your choice, contact client services or a member of the Publisher Development Team. Good luck and thanks for joining us in this tutorial.