PartnerPerform Blog

Its rare when an online clothing retailer really gets it– let alone does their part to make shopping online as enticing as shopping in the store. Couture Candy does it right. Couture Candy is an online boutique filled with high-end fashions for women. Yet its not so much what CoutureCandy sells, its how they engage the customer that truly sets them apart.

Couture Candy’s marketing manager, Blaine Elliott (a former Commission Junction employee), had this to say about Couture Candy’s affiliate program:

Blaine Elliott, former CJ employee and now Marketing Manager for CoutureCandy, said of the program launch, “We refuse to fall into the category of ‘just another online boutique.’ Working with Commission Junction we are able to bring world class services, technology and products to our affiliates. Our niche is primed for this type of move and potential for our affiliates is unlimited.”

Online advertisers now able to participate in CoutureCandy’s affiliate program by signing up as an affiliate on Commission Junction then applying to the CoutureCandy program. Banners exist for all standard IAB formats and a product catalog feed is available to qualified publishers. Additionally, monthly rewards are given to top performing affiliates.

Ok, so we’ve got the basics out of the way. Let’s take a closer look at the details:

* Commission: 10%

* Average Order Size: $220

* Incentives:

* Total Commissions greater than $1,000.00 USD receive one time bonus of $100.00 USD.
* Total Commissions greater than $3,000.00 USD receive one time bonus of $600.00 USD.
* Total Commissions greater than $5,000.00 USD receive one time bonus of $1,500.00 USD.

* Action Referral Period: 45 Days

* Action Referral Occurences: Unlimited

CoutureCandy offers some decent graphic creative, although nothing entirely remarkable. However, they do provide a variety of graphic links, advanced links, flash banners, coupon links, etc. Here’s an example of CoutureCandy’s creative:

What stands out the most about CoutureCandy is not the details of its affiliate program. However, it must be said that CoutureCandy does provide all the necessary tools an affiliate needs to make money with the program. In addition, the marketing manager’s history at Commission Junction should prove that CoutureCandy will take its program very seriously, and provide affiliates with the support they deserve. That said, let’s take a look at what CoutureCandy as a brand does for its customers.

CoutureCandy works hard to enrich the customer experience, providing value far beyond what a traditional online retailer presently offers. Take a look at the following sections of CoutureCandy which stand out, which offer more to their customers:

* “Shop The Runway” - this provides “CC” customers with a birds-eye-view of their product offering. This is an unique value, in that I can’t think of other retailers who have developed such a merchandising tool.

* “StyleCast” - CC produces a monthly “stylecast” podcast, which are centralized here along with their monthly newsletters.

* “Celebrity Style Blog” - An “eye on style” blog, featuring the best dressed celebs, and how you can find their gear at CoutureCandy.

* “PersonalStylists” - CoutureCandy has stylists and “personal shoppers” available via email, phone, and IM, to help their shoppers find the look they desire. Beyond this standard service, their “personal stylists” section includes “fit guides”, a FAQ, “designer of the week”, gift ideas and more.

The moral here is that CoutureCandy is not simply an online retailer pulling in customers and pushing them out the door. CoutureCandy is investing in maintaining a lasting relationship with their customers, and working hard to develop a consumer friendly brand which will grow more and more recognizable over time. While the above features don’t have an immediate value to affiliates, it shows that CoutureCandy is a forward-thinking merchant with a focus on developing a lasting brand presence in online fashion retail.

As a new company, CoutureCandy cannot provide a lot of existing brand strength to its affiliate partners. Affiliates will not only be charged with selling the product, but they must also help sell the brand to their customers. While this shouldn’t be an uphill battle, it may be difficult for PPC affiliates and the like to depend on CoutureCandy as a brand to convert for them. Affiliates who maintain web communities, relevant fashion blogs, and data feed sites can expect to perform well with CoutureCandy, yet must merchandize CC products and links well– for this young brand may not perform right out of the gates without a good nudge.

In all, CoutureCandy is one hell of a retailer, and a great affiliate program to boot. Check them out on CommissionJunction, and be sure to comment here when the sales start coming in.

By nature, art is an uniquely personal phenomenon– personal, yet collectively loved and appreciated. Today’s spotlight merchant produces a very new kind of art, an art that is more “personal” than art has ever been.

“DNA 11 creates personalized and original abstract art from a sample of your DNA or fingerprints. Each piece is as unique as you. Personal. Beautiful. Absolutely one-of-a-kind. Modern masterpieces that are truly the timeless portraits of this millennium. DNA 11’s art has been featured in WIRED Magazine, Playboy, CARGO, Wallpaper, Metropolitan Home, Elle Décor, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, HGTV, Fashion TV, Discovery Channel, to name a few.”

Here’s a sample of DNA 11’s product offering:

Very wow. So the product is very new, very unique, and its market is virtually untapped. How is the affiliate program offer? DNA 11 run’s their affiliate program in Commission Junction, with a generous offer. Here’s a breakdown:

15% commissions
$650 average order
Typical payouts of $100/order
90 day cookie duration
Performance Incentives
“Top quality eye catching creative”
Dedicated support & management

15% of $650 average orders is not bad at all. If you have a highly targeted audience, say you run an interior design or modern art blog, you can make a killing with the DNA 11 program. If you run a mall, coupon, or incentive site, don’t expect this brand to convert well…

While writing this blog, I got to thinking- 90 day cookie duration? This could have been an opportunity for DNA 11 to get really creative. Instead of offering a “cookie duration”, offer the affiliate partner “ownership” of that customer’s DNA sequence. I’m serious.

Okay, what I’m really saying– offer unlimited cookie duration. If they’re the last referrer, they get the sale for the life of the customer. However, it is some damned sexy PR to sell this as “you own the DNA sequence of the customer for the rest of their lifetime”.

Okay. Moving right along. I’ve got two negatives to point out about DNA 11. First, a beef about their “Top quality eye catching creative”. Their animated creative is nice, but at least offer a variety of creative to affiliates. All they offer are animated gif’s. Some of these are pretty attractive, but they need to offer a static creative option to their partners. Here’s a good example of their creative:

Second, a word of caution for those working with this merchant. If you run a blog or website with an audience that is interested in interior design or modern art, this can be an excellent program for you. If you don’t, expect this program to convert poorly. Their EPC in CJ will be pretty ugly, but I hope that does not deter affiliates with a targeted audience from promoting this merchant. For those who don’t have such an audience, expect to see a low EPC out of this one…

DNA 11 may end up with a low EPC, but their payout will always be high. When you do get a sale from this merchant, you’ll get a nice check. I chose to spotlight this merchant for two reasons: first, they offer a killer product; second, they have a generous offer. If I owned a well-targeted website with a related audience, I’d promote them in a hearbeat…

I first discovered SpotRunner back in May, and not a moment too soon. As a vocal advocate of offline/online ad synergy, the idea SpotRunner proposed was music to my ears– cheap TV advertising for all, managed on a robust web-based platform. SpotRunner provides ad production services as well, offering generic ad creative ready for customization.

“Spot Runner is the world’s first television advertising agency that’s Internet-based and designed to be used by local businesses. Now local businesses can conveniently and cost-effectively harness the power of high-quality, targeted television advertising to reach their customers and sell their products and services. With Spot Runner’s revolutionary approach to commercial production, media planning and media buying services, local businesses can now more easily and affordably produce a TV ad and purchase a targeted TV advertising campaign.

Last week, SpotRunner had yet another brilliant idea. On September 21st, SpotRunner launched an affiliate program in the CommissionJunction affiliate network:

At Spot Runner, we are tapping into a never-before-served, multi-billion dollar market – giving you as an affiliate a unique opportunity to earn thousands of dollars by referring the owners of local or small and mid-sized businesses to our simple-to-use website.”

Very exciting news, well worthy of a merchant spotlight here at the PartnerPerform blog. Let’s take a look at the payout detail:

1 sale / month = $75 / sale
2 sales / month = $87.50 / sale
3 sales / month = $100 / sale
4 sales / month = $112.50 / sale
5 sales /month = $125 / sale
6+ sales / month = $137.50 / sale

EXTRA BONUS:
$50 bonus for your very first sale!
60-Day Cookie Life

Not bad. While local tv advertising is a competitive, nearly saturated market, SpotRunner could potentially develop a level of differentiation that yields a new breed of keyword searches. However, this is an uphill fight– SpotRunner is stepping into some very busy SERPs…

On topic blogs, news/information sites, and other B2B web-communities should do very well with SpotRunner. As the brand becomes more recognizable throughout the internet marketing space, affiliates can truly help SpotRunner execute and build its client base.

I did notice one clear negative to SpotRunner that needs to be mentioned. SpotRunner has set its Action Referral Occurrences in CJ to “1″, meaning that SpotRunner does not pay a commission on return purchases after the initial purchase. If an affiliate connects SpotRunner with a valued client that purchases multiple campaigns in a 60-day period, SpotRunner will only reward them for the initial purchase. Affiliates will NOT like that… My suggestion to SpotRunner? Re-evaluate this very soon– determine the cost of extending the action referral occurrences, then compare this to the business they may lose due to this policy. In my experience, immediate returning customership is slow enough that the cost of extending their ARO policy may be trivial.

SpotRunner offers a truly unique, revolutionary service to its clients– and an exciting program for affiliate marketers. While the market may be busy and the policies slightly awkward, SpotRunner still provides a very fresh, lucrative offer to affiliates.

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This morning at CJU in Santa Barbara, CA, CommissionJunction announced the launch of a web services API available to advertisers and publishers alike. Here’s a sample from each of CJ’s announcements, one made to advertisers, the other to publishers– edited for brevity:

For Advertisers:
Commission Junction’s Web Services empower you to increase your promotability, extend your brand and strengthen your partnerships. Using them, your publishers will be able to access your Product Catalog in real-time and choose data to present to their visitors, creating a better buying experience while driving more results for you.This is the first in a series of Web Services release and includes the following Application Programming Interfaces (APIs):

- Branded Sign-Up and Confirmation E-mail
- Branded Login
- Publisher Look Up
(You can access details about the publisher, including their status within your affiliate program, program name, Web sites, categories, promotional methods used and other information related to their account.)

For Publishers:

Web Services are made for tech-savvy publishers who are looking to increase their ability to promote their advertisers and shape their network environment. With Web Services, you can create innovative applications to extend the power of your affiliate program through enhanced Product Catalog functionality and advertiser searches. Use Web Services to connect directly to Commission Junction’s technology and create custom applications to access the specific data that matters most to your visitors.

This is the first in a series of Web Services releases and includes the following Application Programming Interfaces (APIs):

- Product Catalog Access (in real time)
- Link Search Functionality
- Advertiser Search Functionality

This is a big step for CJ and a big step for affiliate marketing. Advertiser/Publisher relationships are based on communication, tools, and offers– and opening up the CJ API fosters enhanced communication and tool sharing. I tip my proverbial hat to CJ, this is an impressive move for the betterment of CJ network partnerships across the board.

In contrast to the fumble of the Link Management Initiative, this is a solid step forward for CJ. You’re the PartnerPerform hero of the day…

There is no right answer when it comes to PPC trademark bidding by affiliates. In this controversial environment, every merchant must analyze its search engine presence on such terms and determine how to set its own policy.

Bear in mind that there are many positives to an open policy on trademark bidding. Allowing affiliates to bid on trademarks in pay-per-click search engines can be an effective way of keeping your competitors off the search engine results pages. In addition, the commissions earned from such PPC ads can be given to select super affiliates as a bonus to valued paid search performance. However- what if affiliate trademark bidding is not for you? How do you begin to police such activity by affiliates?

Unless you have a skilled outsourced program manager with experience in trademark monitoring, you may consider hiring the services of a specialized trademark monitor. But do they exist? They do now.

Marketers using the Web are concerned with the way their trademarks are used by their own Web marketing partners and affiliates according to Molander & Associates Inc. (www.molanderassoc.com), a company launching a service to help find, correct and monitor for such behavior. The new service, dubbed ProtectMyMark (www.protectmymark.com), helps marketers recover and collect un-due fees by auditing and monitoring partnership-focused Web programs such as affiliate and shopping comparison.

Jeff Molander is one sharp guy, and continues to release valuable, relevant products and services to empower the affiliate and multi-channel online marketing industries. ProtectMyMark can be expected to be a deadly accurate, vital service for any merchant or advertiser that needs to keep control of their trademarked brand.

Its been a busy week for affiliate marketers in Chicago. The week of August 21st hosted Andy Rodriguez’ Affiliate Manager Certification Seminar, the Performics Client Summit, and one heck of a Cubs game attended by all (yes, the Cubs lost…). While the Performics Summit crowd watched the game from a private rooftop deck, the ARC crowd of affiliates and AMs were right in the trenches– or the Cubs bleachers, whichever way you look at it. PartnerPerform was in attendance with the ARC and ShareASale crowd, representing zZounds.com and SameDayMusic.com.

The big news of the week? Brian Littleton, CEO/Founder of ShareASale, was awarded the Affiliate Fair Practice Award by Kellie Stevens of AffiliateFairPlay. As AffiliateFairPlay explains:

AffiliateFairPlay.com will periodically be awarding the AFP Fair Practice Award to individuals and entities who have demonstrated activities which embody the principles of fair competition within the Affiliate Marketing Industry. AFP strongly believes that it is past time for those persons who engage in fair practices which improve the Industry and show that fair practices can lead to profitability be recognized and rewarded.

A special thanks to Debbie Carney for the photo above. Debbie recently accepted an AM position at Rextopia– here’s to a pleasant move to Las Vegas for Debbie, and best wishes for her and the team at Rextopia.