Affiliate Marketing Tips from an 80’s Action Figure
Contributed by Maor Sadra, Director of Sales
“By the power of Greyskull, I have the Power!” If you grew up in the 80s, you may remember He-Man yelling this line while waving his mighty sword to get ultimate power. I’m not going to comment on the lack-of-imagination-name the creator of the show gave ‘He-Man’. My post is still related to online media.
Part of my sales team’s responsibility at Adsmarket is working with advertisers to create affiliate programs that publishers can generate results. We are middle-men, and we end up having the same ‘who has the power’ discussion at least 5 times a week.
For years, I’ve heard advertisers and publishers arguing the ultimate question: Who has the power? Who is more responsible for the success of the other? Is it the advertiser who is paying for the media, or is it the publisher, whose media generates results for the advertiser (even allowing them to advertise)?
Advertisers are indeed sponsoring the world nowadays. Think of an internet without advertising, where you would have to pay (gasp!) for content, videos, streaming music or for reading this post…
Publishers are the ones responsible for the content you see & hear on the web. And more often than not, they are a business meant to generate revenue in addition to providing users with content.
That’s why I’m here to say that it’s not a question of who has the power. Power should have nothing to do with performance marketing. It’s all about the WinX3 Solution.
The WinX3 Solution:
In every campaign, there are 3 ultimate factors to consider:
Publisher + Advertiser + User = MORE SALES
What can go wrong?? The number of wrong equations goes on and on:
- An Advertiser promoting the right offer on the wrong media will likely to not generate good results (quality/quantity).
- A Publisher running a campaign where the Advertiser is offering a too-low CPA will not generate a high enough ROI in comparison to their media value and will eventually drop the campaign.
- A user seeing an un-related ad on a website will likely to not take action.
- An Advertiser promoting an offer with a long tedious user flow will not get the volume required.
The right equation is simple:
A campaign must be designed to match the Advertiser, Publisher AND User needs – Only then will it generate good results on a long term basis.
As an Advertiser, your goal should be to create high converting pages, looking at minimizing the user flow while offering an incentive for the users you are looking for to take action. Research the rates you are able to offer publishers for quality conversions to be competitive in your industry.
As a Publisher – know your users and traffic, and promote the right offers for the right users. Generating low quality for Advertisers ensures a one-time campaign.
As a user – Keep enjoying free content, and hope the free ride continues…
Ofer Druker: Facebook has not reached its potential for affiliate marketers yet…
Adsmarket CEO Ofer Druker’s indicates that Facebook became a major source of media for performance advertising and predicts Facebook will take a bigger share in the coming 12-24 months:
On Feb 22nd and 23rd , 2010, the Israel Internet Association presented Web ‘10, its 14th annual conference, held at the Avenue Conventions and Events Center near Ben-Gurion Air-Port just outside Tel Aviv, where Adsmarket is located. As CEO of Adsmarket, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion: Creative Money – New and Innovative Business Model for the Web and Mobile on Day 1 of the conference.
I was asked about trends that I had witnessed in Adsmarket and in online advertising in 2009. I should point out that affiliate marketing can be a volatile and fickle business, especially with 2009’s ups and downs in online advertising (See my 2009 Year-End Post) We know that as a performance-based affiliate network, 2010 will be Adsmarket’s best year yet, as we are investing more and more into developing the best product out there for affiliates, and the best platform for affiliate program management, as well as expanding our business in the US and Spain/LATAM.
In answering the question about trends I witnessed in 2009, I said then and I say now that Facebook is continually gaining a larger influence, and is significantly contributing to online media and performance marketing. Proving this,iIn the past 18 months or so we’ve witnessed enormous growth in the results and traffic we are getting from Facebook related media. If, 2 years ago, a main source of media was Google, the pendulum is now its swinging to Facebook; their reach is growing that fast. We expect that this trend will continue, with users on Facebook rounding 1 Billion sometime by the end of 2011.
It will be the challenge of every affiliate network to accommodate this growth, and we expect to meet the needs of Facebook affiliates and advertisers head-on.
Adsmarket ErgoTip #5 – How big is your keyboard
Are you sure your ergonomic keyboard is good for you?
Many heavy computer users like to use the Microsoft Split ergonomic keyboard.
It is a great keyboard in that it positions your wrists and hands in proper ergonomic posture, but it has one big disadvantage: it is too big! The main consequence is a faulty position of the mouse with bad alignment of the shoulder and arm.
In simple words it is just too far away.
So the big ergonomic keyboard is good mainly for users who spend most of their computer time working with it alone and without a mouse. Users who spend their time at the computer in a combination of 50/50 (keyboard/mouse) are better off with a smaller keyboard that allows them to position the mouse in a healthier place.
Here are some good options for an ergonomic split size mini keyboard:
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/max-spec.htm
Mini keyboard:
http://www.fentek-ind.com/minikb.htm
ErgoTips are provided by Dalit Ben Tovim, a renowned ergonomic consultant and trainer who serves Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller corporations and organizations. Contact her at DalitATergo4u.com, and please visit the ergo4u website.
Facebook Ad Translation Tools for Affiliates
Contributed by Joel Lagerlove, Affiliate Business Development Manager.
As a business development manager at Adsmarket I have the opportunity to talk to a lot of affiliates and media buyers that are promoting affiliate offers all over the world .
Recently I’ve noticed a growing interest among many American media buyers in promoting affiliate offers internationally. Can you help me with translations of my ad copies? or Where can I get good translation? are just a few of the inquiries I receive when a media buyer want to cross borders and go international. For these and other affiliates buying their traffic on Facebook or other international social networks, translation tools are extremely important.
At Adsmarket, we offer a creative type called Social Network Text Ad, with ready-translated ads in multiple languages. We have found that our publishers really like this feature and that it takes a lot of time out of setting up campaigns.
For additional help there are some paid services online that come recommended by our affiliates for translation of ads, websites and more. Of course, there are many free services as well; however, before you begin to use them you always need to ask yourself : Can I really trust their accuracy? (You don’t want be in a situation where you blow a $$$$$ budget on ads with broken French or Turkish).
- Babylon – they offer a free option and a paid “human translation service”
- One Hour Translation – Recommended by a number of our affiliates, they work with certified human translators. This service is operating 24/7.
- Superiorword – Translation services for business and individuals by native linguists
If you know any other good services on the net feel free to comment and help out your fellow international affiliates!
Good luck with your international expansion, and remember a language should never be a barrier for your success!
Facebook Privacy Settings Not to be Overlooked
Back in December 2009, Facebook changed their default privacy settings for users, pretty much revealing someone’s entire profile: photos, information, contact information, friends, etc. to the universe, including major search engines. At the same time and throughout January, they announced the change on the site at the point of login, and users were given the option to change these defaults to protect their privacy. But, how many of us actually did it? Unless you log in to the site frequently, you might not have known about the changes for days, weeks, or months ( not that this would be an issue with Facebook marketers and affiliates who are hooked up to the site by IV…) and even frequent FBers are so used to seeing little banners and extra information that you might just ignore it.
Opening up Facebook in this way seems to be another wave in the current tide of making the web more transparent. Twitter’s power for marketers is based on it, and this change from FB is probably just a follow-suit move to cater to their advertisers, though how it will affect their total revenue remains to be seen.
Getting back to how this all affects us, the general Facebook community, Sarah Perez of The New York Times made some recommendations for protecting your privacy on Facebook, and here is her shortlist of the 3 most important profile items you should think about protecting:
1. Decide Who Can See The Things You Share (Status Updates, Photo, Videos, etc.)
If you accepted the new recommended settings then you voluntarily gave Facebook the right to share the information about the items you post with any user or application on the site. Depending on your search settings, you may have also given Facebook the right to share that information with search engines, too.
2. Decide Who Can See Your Personal Info
Facebook has a section of your profile called “personal info,” but it only includes your interests, activities, and favorites. Other arguably more personal information is not encompassed by the “personal info” setting on Facebook’s Privacy Settings page. That other information includes things like your birthday, your religious and political views, and your relationship status.
After last month’s privacy changes, Facebook set the new defaults for this other information to viewable by either “Everyone” (for family and relationships, aka relationship status) or to “Friends of Friends” (birthday, religious and political views). Depending on your own preferences, you can update each of these fields as you see fit. However, we would bet that many will want to set these to “Only Friends” as well.
3. What Google Can See – Keep Your Data Off the Search Engines
When you visit Facebook’s Search Settings page, a warning message pops up. Apparently, Facebook wants to clear the air about what info is being indexed by Google. The message reads:
“There have been misleading rumors recently about Facebook indexing all your information on Google. This is not true. Facebook created public search listings in 2007 to enable people to search for your name and see a link to your Facebook profile. They will still only see a basic set of information.”
While that may be true to a point, the second setting listed on this Search Settings page refers to exactly what you’re allowing Google to index. If the box next to “Allow” is checked, you’re giving search engines the ability to access and index any information you’ve marked as visible by “Everyone.” As you can see from the settings discussed above, if you had not made some changes to certain fields, you would be sharing quite a bit with the search engines…probably more information than you were comfortable with.
As an affiliate network with a significant portion of business in Facebook and Social Media, we strive to uphold the quality of affiliate activity in this area. Part of that quality is an ethical commitment to the users on behalf of our advertisers, and so we recommend that you take a few minutes to follow the steps outlined in this post to keep Facebook a happy place!
Laptops and Notebooks and Bears, oh my!
Updated global data show that about a third of all computer users have a laptop. Laptops may look friendly and inviting, but in fact they have become a first-rate ergonomic hazard. Dalit Ben-Tovim, an ergonomic consultant and trainer, who specializes in creating and adapting working environments for better health and safety, offers a variety of tips for using your laptop safely. And you may want to look into that smartphone… (but that’s a different article). We at Adsmarket are definitely listening.
Why is the laptop so damaging?
Structure – The laptop’s structure does not allow for a separate adjustment of the keyboard and screen. As a result, if the screen is adjusted to the desired height – and the recommendation is for the upper limit of the screen to be at eye level – we will find ourselves with the keyboard at a position that is destructive for the hands and wrists. On the other hand, placing the laptop for convenient typing will create strain and damage the eyes and the neck muscles.
Mouse – the integrated mouse or touchpad is another ergonomic nightmare we should be aware of. The posture required when working with a touchpad creates a constant, incremental tension on the hand tendons and in the shoulder, with devastating results.
Posture – prolonged usage of a laptop, coupled with an incorrect sitting posture, with no support of complementary ergonomic accessories, could lead to serious orthopedic problems in the neck and shoulder belt, pain and inflammation of the wrists and back aches. In addition to all the problems mentioned, the infamous warming of the laptops has already been proven to increase the risk of testicular cancer and fertility problems.
Not all is negative. It is possible and even recommended to use a laptop safely, if you adopt the correct habits that will prevent damages.
Tips for casual/infrequent users:
Those who do not use a laptop as a main working tool, but occasionally find themselves using a laptop, would do well to adopt a few rules:
- Try to find a comfortable chair, one that enables you to lean back comfortably. Remember that the head and the neck are supported by large muscles. You need to protect the hand muscles, which are more sensitive. Place the laptop on your legs, with the hands in a relaxed posture, neither bent nor stretched.
- Keep your shoulders relaxed.
- Tilt and adjust the screen to allow for a minimal neck tilt.
- Use a laptop ventilation tray to prevent heating.
- Carry as few additional peripherals as possible, keeping the laptop’s weight minimal.
- Use a backpack with wide shoulder straps to carry the laptop.
Tips for heavy users:
- Place your laptop on the table so that its upper edge is at your eye level. There are several laptop stands designed specifically for this purpose.
- Use an external keyboard and position it directly in front of you, at a convenient height allowing your hands to rest at a neutral posture – neither bent nor stretched.
- Connect an external mouse and place it at your side at a height that keeps your hand relaxed and at a neutral posture.
- The keyboard and the mouse can be connected directly to the laptop or through a docking station.
- Place the screen at a straight arm length away from you. Nevertheless, you should take into consideration the screen size, in order to allow for effortless reading.
- Minimize any sources of reflected screen glare.
Tips for all users
Besides the mobility and convenience, using laptops carries many health hazards which users are not aware of. We have divided our recommendations into different types of users, but our most important recommendation is: Listen to your body! Pain is a sure sign that you should stop your work to stretch, change your posture, relax and rest your eyes and hands.
Integrate physical activity in your life. An hour of aerobic exercise once a day will work wonders for your painful back and stiff neck.
Gil and Dalit Ben Tovim are renowned ergonomic consultants and trainers who serve Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller corporations and organizations. They are the official Google Israel ergonomic consultants and they work with other global corporations including; NDC of Newscorp and Johnson & Johnson. The team has also partnered with hi-tech companies such as ECI, Aladdin and Nice and government institutions.
For more information about Dalit Ben Tovim, contact her at DalitATergo4u.com, and please visit the ergo4u website. Make sure you check out the Ergocloud, an ergonomic forearm support by ergo4u Ltd.
Happy New Year from Adsmarket
A Message from Ofer Druker, Adsmarket CEO
Dear Partners and Friends,
As the decade closes, we reflect on the challenges and milestones we acheived at Adsmarket, and look forward to the future with great expectations.
There is no doubt that 2009 looked very bad when we were planning it at the end of 2008, and it was full of challenges. With amazing mutual effort, however, we crossed it with great success and many accomplishments.
We used this year to strengthen our foundation and to make progress with our goal of offering the best performance, results, and experience to our publishers and advertisers, and we remain fully committed to that goal going forward.
In 2010, we will keep putting our focus on building our technological capabilities, keeping our proactive approach and expanding our areas of activity together with our partners.
It’s a good opportunity to say thank you to all our partners around the globe that not only worked side by side with us to reach our targets but also make the road pleasant, fun and fulfilling. I would also like to thank all my colleagues at Adsmarket that made it happen with a lot of will, passion, and openness to learn and evolve.
Have a great year, achieve your personal and professional goals, and have fun along the way!
Adsmarket Holiday Promotions for 2009
We’ve just sent out our 2009 Holiday Newsletter, chock full o’ offers that are hot for the holidays in a variety of verticals: online gaming, mobile content, freebies and downloads, and travel. Did you get it in your inbox?
You can view a copy of the Adsmarket 2009 Holiday Newsletter, but I’ll just mention here some of the great holiday specials we have for affiliates. Most of the promotions run through December 31st, so there is still time to make some extra money from Adsmarket in 2009!
If you see something your like, just click the apply button to register or log in to your Adsmarket Publisher account.
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