Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la etc! Is it chuff! Barely 60 hours into November and my festive spirit has packed it’s suitcase, grabbed it’s passport and is currently en route, by taxi, to Heathrow for 2 months of sand, sea and whatever else festive spirits get up to on holiday. This duck is not a happy bunny.

And the reason for that is it’s good to be grumpy. According to scientists “being grumpy makes us better at decision-making and less gullible”. So if the scientists are right (and who’d argue with a scientist eh) a grumpy affiliate should be better at picking the right merchants to promote and not be taken in by a boatload of flannel.

So that explains why I wrote planning for affiliate Christmas!

Hmmm…

Talking of grumpy affiliates, Clarke Duncan has helped explain the mysteries of the benefits of Twitter Lists to me in his latest blog – Twitter Lists to Discover Affiliate People. I’m not a listy person and quite like the anarchy Twitter brings, but Clarke’s made a pretty good case for creating them. All I need now is to sit down and start listing.

Doing lists is the in thing this year – next year it’ll be mobile!

There are Twitter Lists, Kieron’s Share My Play Lists (coming next year sharemylistlists) and the inaugural Top 100 Affiliate Marketing Companies List. This interesting survey from the guys behind A4U aims to “provide the industry with an unbiased view on the top Affiliate businesses working across the entire channel”.

If you want to get involved then sign yourself up and let them know how well you’re doing. You can also nominate a “most respected company within the Affiliate Marketing Industry” and “most respected individual within the Affiliate Marketing Industry”. Note the 100AMC is only for affiliates.

I can guarantee you’ll be above us because we’re opting out, at least for the first year. This isn’t a reflection on the concept, I’m sure a lot of people want to know where they rank or more importantly where their peers rank in such list. We did check up with Matt and Chris on a couple of issues first, to get some points qualified, and then discussed things after that. So it’s not a knee jerk reaction but a business decision.

All said and done, our personal reasons for not being on such a list far outweighed those for being on it (had we actually qualified). A bit of grumpy decision making if you like because of a few “what if…” type worries, but sometimes you have to go with those instincts.

Now that last statement may set off a few fireworks – hopefully not – or at least hopefully not as many as those sent to us by the lovely St Minver. Thanks for the prize for being a good affiliate last month – all we need do now is figure out what to safely do with The Armoury (perhaps a cash bonus next time might be good eh? LOL).

Customer journey and commission attribution were mentioned in my previous blog post about a4uexpo and after a few days of “affiliate flu” I’ve been mulling over the talks that covered these issues. Whilst it’s interesting to see stats that prove or disprove affiliate concerns and also to see networks and agencies looking into commission attribution I do think there’s some serious holes in the plot.

If I’ve understood the talks right it’s claimed that cashback shoppers now go direct to their cashback site to shop. What this means is that when studying customer journeys it’s noted that they do their shopping in a single cookie setting session. That on the face of it is quite a revelation, and completely contrary to what many affiliates believe actually happens. The conclusions drawn from the stats may well be right, but stats don’t often paint a true picture.

For example – do the stats analysis take into account that cashback shoppers are encouraged to shop in a single session.

Here are some lines from Quidco’s user guide with regard to best practice for tracking sales:

2. Clear cookies & cache, disable pop-up, ad, & image-blockers.
4. Don’t use voucher or other discount codes unless they came from the Quidco site.
6. Complete your purchase online, all in one session.

Friend of cashback Martin Lewis also has some useful advice for cashback shoppers:

Step 3: Clear your cookies.
If you’ve clicked through to several different sites that collect cookies, which will often include the product site itself, through a comparison site, this site, or another cashback site, it may not track unless you clear your computer’s cookies first.

Could this be a reason for seeing cashback shoppers shopping in a single session?

Now, it may well be that those studying the stats have taken into account this data. My initial inclination is that they haven’t! I’m not sure many people would seriously believe that on significant purchases people would not click around for a good deal, do a price comparison or head to a review site.

The data can’t pick up when people are using different computers (work to home, pc to laptop), reading reviews or doing price comparisons but being careful not to click on any links (so as not to burn cookies).

If, as demonstrated above, cashback shoppers are being told or encouraged to watch their cookie activity, then that in itself throws a significantly large sized spanner into the works. The data for looking into customer journey becomes seriously skewed even if a small number of cashback shoppers are deleting cookies or taking steps to make sure they’re only clicking one link.

The data may well be telling us one thing, but without knowing the full facts about why it’s telling us things means that it could actually be impossible to make serious judgments on bringing in cookie attribution systems over the current last click wins system.

Understanding customer journey and cookie attribution should make for interesting discussions over the coming months.

At the start of 2009 I had planned not to attend A4UExpo 2009, but after some umming and ahhing decided to go and sure enough it was well worth the time. The key difference between 2009 and 2008, at least for myself and Jude, was that we were better organised. We set up meetings, we only went to selected seminars and we took things a lot easier.

The overall result was a much more enjoyable expo experience underpinned as always by enjoying a few chats and a few beers with the usual suspects and some new ones too, including Chris Brocklesby who’s a local Swansea affiliate.

The highlight had to be the ‘Conversion Squirrel’. Had it not been for this amusing little critter I’d have not found my way to stand five for a free eye tracking analysis of Loquax. Within a couple of minutes a couple of issues on the “new user journey” were spotted and these have already been addressed. If things turn out as expected then it’ll be a massive thanks to Conversion Rate Experts for their time.

The squirrel did give me an idea for next year – all stand holders should have a mascot and at the end of the Expo there should be a “last mascot standing” bundle. Bets could be taken too just to add spice.

It might be noisy and messy but no way as noisy as The Breakout Party, which was the lowlight of the whole 2009 event. After last year’s River Thames experience the party at The O2 had a lot to live up to… and it failed badly. Wrong location, wrong setting, wrong choice of loudness – but these things happen.

The seminars we attended were ok, although it might just have been me but the lighting at times was uncomfortable on the eyes. The Affiliate Apocalypse session was probably the best of the bunch and one that left me with many questions and annoyances.

The most agitating moment (as spotted by Geoffblog – and thanks for the comment – appreciated) was hearing that that many cashback shoppers now go direct to their cashback site to shop (no price comparison, no visiting other sites, no deletion of cookies etc).

The customer journey and commission attribution also cropped up in other talks. Whilst it’s good to know networks and agencies are looking at stats and considering the winners and losers of the “last click wins” rule – it’s important that when this data is used that far reaching conclusions aren’t drawn on a narrow focus.

Anyway more on that another day!

Other highlights of the Expo 2009 included getting a free caricature from Gone Digging at the Webgains stand, the lunch time food which was a big improvement on last year, free teddy bears from the lovely people at Jackpotjoy/Market Ace, freebies from Shopzilla and Naomi of Firebox fame, Darren Newmark for his endless comedy (next year’s host for A4UAwards 2010 maybe?), the sharing of cup cakes from Total Search Solutions and Affili.net (much needed sugar boost in The Fox) and the king of the meat eaters Mr Mark Russell for dinner at Rodizio Rico (as recommended by Tom Quinn Medicine Woman).

Overall a good couple of days of work and fun. Being organised most certainly had it’s benefits and a big thanks to everyone we had meetings with in our new “London office” outside Expo – aka the coffee shop!

A4UExpo 2009 is definitely worth shouting about… just turn the music down in 2010 please.

Either that or include pipes, slippers and ear plugs in next year’s delegate bags! ;o)

Another interesting debate has opened up on A4U regarding click to reveal and voucher codes. The call is for this action to be banned, something I agree with, but I do wonder if there are worse things happening in the affiliate world? The big question is are they being addressed and if not, when will they be and by whom?

As affiliates we sometimes think we’ve got it bad and that our commissions are being “lost” or “stolen” by voucher code affiliates using click to reveal and/or cashback sites. Proving that this actually happens isn’t always easy and perhaps that’s why many affiliates remain frustrated, especially at networks and merchants.

So what if you could say “it happens” because people are encouraged to do it?

For example, in this week’s News of the World Martin Lewis explains how a Kent grandmother got her car insurance for just 96p! Martin explains how to get the best insurance deal…

First you combine comparison services in the right order, eg Money Supermarket, GoCompare and Confused.com to maximise quotes in the minimum time. Then you see if you can get money back on the cheapest quotes by buying it through special cashback websites.

In consumer terms this is a fantastic story, but in affiliate terms it’s even better.

Firstly, we’re being told that the customer goes to a comparison engine to find a good deal then the cashback site gets the commission for the referral.

Sounds awfully familiar doesn’t it?!

It does makes you wonder how GoCompare et al feel about this. Perhaps it’s not a big issue as they can afford to lose sales to cashback or are paid in different ways? Perhaps it’s not something they’re aware of yet? Perhaps there are agreements in place between cashback sites and the comparison sites? Or perhaps cashback doesn’t get paid out if a customer has used a comparison site to generate a policy?

It’s a commission conundrum and a half! Should the comparison site get the commission for their part in creating the lead or is it the cashback affiliate who’s jumped in at the end to claim the reward?

It’d be interesting to see what happens in the affiliate world if and when large comparison companies start questioning why their “revenue” appears to be going “elsewhere”.

Another point is this – if you’re thinking of becoming an insurance affiliate the above is probably as good as a reason as any as to why you should look at other sectors. Ask yourself if you can compete with the price comparison sites and then can you afford to lose any effort you put in to cashback?

If you’re a network, guess why we’re not racing to promote your insurance merchants? Frankly, it just doesn’t seem like a good use of time.

Affiliate stuff aside – it’s a great situation for cashback consumers, but not for others! If an insurance company can insure someone for 96p on a fully comprehensive policy (which seems economically irresponsible) then isn’t it about time that they start paying back the hundreds they take off everyone else?

Perhaps a case for Mr Lewis to take up once he’s finished with the bank charges stuff?

Earlier this month a well liked gift merchant left me the $64,000 question on Messenger – “what are your plans for Christmas?”! I never replied to the question, mainly due to the fact that affiliate marketing took a back seat whilst a moggy had to urgently see the Vet (good news is she’s alright, just lumpy faced and gummy)!

Anyway, back to affiliate Christmas and I can exclusively reveal what we’ve planned for this year…… erm, actually it’s nothing!

No new gift site, no excessive updating of our Christmas Shopping site, no over excitement about all the cool incentives already on offer, no nothing!

The reasons for this are many fold.

1. Christmas Can Be a Big Distraction
It’s a big time of year for retailers, and with so many starting their festive lines now you sense that this year is even more important than usual. However, it can be a huge distraction for the 365 days a year site owner. We’ve now learnt that Christmas has to be part of our day to day work NOT let it take it over for a couple of months (as it has done in previous years).

2. Christmas Can Be Demoralising
There’s nowt worse for an affiliate than spending time putting together content and promotions for a merchant only to see that Mr Cashback, Mr Voucher Codes, Mr Big Brand or Mr A.F.Filiate has a humongous promotion (or special dispensation to break rules) that’s going to seriously over shadow anything you do (and they will, they always do every year!).

3. Christmas Can Be No Fun
Even before Santa’s emptied his sack down the chimney I’ve had enough of Christmas. Spending loads of time looking at trees, gift ideas, decorations and other stuff takes away the fun of the festive season. It’d be nice to enjoy it again!

4. Affiliates Aren’t Just for Christmas 1
This one really gets my goat! Merchants who for 9 months of the year never contact you but are suddenly your best mate because they’re offering an iPod Nano in their Christmas incentive and are hoping that you’re going to plaster your site with their Father’s Day creative. Erm, no!

5. Affiliates Aren’t Just for Christmas 2
Similar to that are the merchants who have never ever looked like they’re going to generate a sale in a million years (perhaps related to 2 above) who suddenly are expecting to feature in premium positions and/or replace your known converters in exchange for an extra % or two (remember extra percentage of nothing is still nothing before switching to unknown performers).

6. Planning Ahead
One of the biggest reasons is that I know we’re better off using our time planning ahead for the non-Christmas weeks and months ahead by focusing on what we’re doing, than spending time looking at retailers who may or may not convert in a comparatively small window of opportunity.

7. Time Management
Running competitions, updating extra content and doing extra promotion takes time. Time we often don’t have and time that’s often not paid for. For example we’d love to do some prize draws but don’t have time to badger sponsors, deal with their idiosyncrasies, keep them all happy and then run round come January to get prizes sent out.

Christmas can be a good time for affiliates and retailers do like to paint a pretty picture of loads of sales and commissions to be had. That’s possibly true, but in our experience going “above and beyond” for any retailer for affiliate Christmas isn’t always the best use of time.

Seriously, it’s worth stopping for a moment and thinking about your festive ROI in time and commitment terms.

Retailers are only considering their business and will do what they have too to get maximum affiliate coverage over their competitors. That’s fair enough, but you, as an affiliate, need to consider your own business. Do you have time to do extra festive promotion? Can you integrate Christmas into your current working day and campaigns? Do you think it’s actually worth the time you invest?

This is especially true with regards to incentives!

Whilst the Christmas incentives a merchant offers to affiliates are great, do be careful before running off in search of gold at the end of the rainbow. It might be worth merchants revealing just how much help and assistance they are offering the big boys and how much that could distract from any effort you put in or limit your opportunity in selected prize categories.

This is not to say we won’t do anything festive related, it’s simply a case of we’re not going to go too far off our current course or out of our way to accommodate Santa, Frosty and co. in an often desperate attempt to chase extra Christmas commissions.

Perhaps we have a plan after all?