Updated: A4UExpo Social Media Presentation

Let’s Get Social Affiliates and Social Media Lee McCoy SocialMediaGeezer

Affiliates + Social Media = Monetizing Buzz
Affiliates have been doing “Social Media” since Web 0.1
Social media is just one commission generating option that competes for your:
Time
Attention
Money
It’s All About Buzz It’s All About Buzz

Wikis
Social Networks
Presence Applications
Video Sharing
Photo Sharing
Virtual Reality
Events Management
News Aggregation
Livecasting
Episodic Online Video
Media Sharing
Social Bookmarking
Online Gaming
Social Shopping
Not All Social Media is Created Equal ! Wikipedia lists 15 types of Social Media sites: But where’s blogging?

What’s Right For You? Not all types of social media will be relevant or suitable Not all types of social media will be relevant or suitable
Vidcasting
Do you like the limelight?
Can you justify the time?
Do you have the product knowledge?
News Aggregation
You’ve got to monitor it
Is it easy to monetise?
Not easy to get enough users early on.
Virtual Worlds
Huge Budget
Unbelievable Technical Skills
Too long term a project?
Podcasting
Too time intensive?
Suitable for product engagement?
Can you be bothered?
Not all types of social media will be relevant or suitable

Which Are Profitable?
Social Networks
106 of them (Wikipedia)
The Easier Options
Blogging
Social Bookmarking*
* Different Reason
The Easier Options

But Why Social For Affiliates? Think of all the pressures you’ve been under: But Why Social For Affiliates? Think of all the pressures you’ve been under:
Merchant Squeeze:
No direct PPC
Brand Name restrictions
Numpty merchant rules
Agencies learning fast, leveraging our innovations
Competitive Squeeze
Many more affiliates pushing up PPC costs & building sites
The bigger players are getting bigger
Exclusive deals are harder to get (everyone wants them).
Google’s PPC Squeeze:
PPC Restrictions (1 advert per URL)
Minimum Bids
Landing page criteria
Google’s SEO Squeeze:
Gone are the 50,000 pages in a lunchtime.
Need to build long term strategies
Can’t do big cross-linking anymore
Think of all the pressures you’ve been under:

Advantages of Social Media
Proliferation of information
You don’t have to be a journalist or a big staff.
Use Google News Alerts, NewsNow or Technorati
Ease Of Publication
Anyone can blog
Easy to look like an expert
Anyone can start a Facebook group
Anyone can use Twitter or submit their RSS feeds
Rewards Are There
Innovate to Success
Consumers Hate Marketing
They’re getting blind to adverts
They’re suspicious of traditional methods
Consumers Digest Social Media Tirelessly
They actively seek product reviews from their peers
They’re eager to tell their story
Search: “City link are crap”
It Offers and Alternative
If you can’t risk PPC, or don’t like design try social media
There are so many reasons (can’t fit them all on) Advantages of Social Media Advantages of Social Media There are so many reasons (can’t fit them all on) Advantages of Social Media
Proliferation of information
You don’t have to be a journalist or a big staff.
Use Google News Alerts, NewsNow or Technorati
Ease Of Publication
Anyone can blog
Easy to look like an expert
Anyone can start a Facebook group
Anyone can use Twitter or submit their RSS feeds
Rewards Are There
Innovate to Success
There are so many reasons (can’t fit them all on)

Be An Opinion-Former So … At The End Of The Buying Cycle So …

Let’s Look At Some Examples
Blogging In Detail:
Easy to set up
People love buzz and opinion
Easy to get links
Benefit of social bookmarking
Basics of SEO are there
Great for niche offerings
Build up a head of steam before events
Monetising:
Short-term Adsense / Shirt / Ticket Sales
Long-term travel sales (if we qualify)
My Football Site (Chuffing Ruskies)

Using Buzz / Creating News
Effect of Buzz
Created page about the new England Football shirt before to launch
It was fake
Massive links through out football forums
Loads of traffic (2500 extra visits in just 1 day)
Generated sales
Encouraged links off forums
Helped SEO
Example: Austria-2008.co.uk Using Buzz / Creating News
Effect of Buzz
Created page about the new England Football shirt before to launch
It was fake
Massive links through out football forums
Loads of traffic (2500 extra visits in just 1 day)
Generated sales
Encouraged links off forums
Helped SEO
Using Buzz / Creating News

Missy Ward & Shawn Collins say:
They setup WeViews.tv with video content to leverage affiliate sales because they saw it’s impact on traffic generation and interaction on their Affiliate Summit site.
They say affiliates should use video content if they have an opinion
Videos on YouTube and Revver get preferential treatment on Google.
They get comments back
Only takes an hour per review to do
Missy suggests Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8
Use TubeMogul to submit your video to loads of online video seach and viewing sites
DON’T JUST THINK OF YOUTUBE!
Interaction & True Social Media Adding Video Content & Encouraging Responses: WeViews.tv http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAp_z8OJYMU

Example: iSaved CashBack UK
One of few UK affiliates giving FaceBook applications a go
They saw Facebook as an opportunity to “engage web savvy people who are likely to purchase online”.
Using this app as a trial and will look to create others
Advise other affiliates to thoroughly research other applications before doing their own
Take a look at http://adomics.com for ideas and get the Facebook API documentation
Do a thorough spec for your developers
By the end of Sept’ 2007 there were 5366 apps
Only cost them £4k and 5 weeks
Hard part is marketing it – first mover advantage
Rock you has a Facebook marketing offering
Incentivising the viral element with £10 deposit
Leveraging FaceBook If you want to play with the big boys, try FaceBook Applications Leveraging FaceBook If you want to play with the big boys, try FaceBook Applications
Example: iSaved CashBack UK
One of few UK affiliates giving FaceBook applications a go
They saw Facebook as an opportunity to “engage web savvy people who are likely to purchase online”.
Using this app as a trial and will look to create others
Advise other affiliates to thoroughly research other applications before doing their own
Take a look at http://adomics.com for ideas and get the Facebook API documentation
Do a thorough spec for your developers
By the end of Sept’ 2007 there were 5366 apps
Only cost them £4k and 5 weeks
Hard part is marketing it – first mover advantage
Rock you has a Facebook marketing offering
Incentivising the viral element with £10 deposit
Leveraging FaceBook If you want to play with the big boys, try FaceBook Applications

Example: Pleo Toy Appreciation Society
Linked to from the blog
Gives ways to buy the Pleo
Has photos
Others can communicate and discuss
They can invite people in
Quick way to get a user base
Want Something Lower-Key? Facebook Groups – an easy way to obtain and keep users:

Example: ZiiTrend.com
A Social event predicting network
Used it to drive traffic to Austria-2008.co.uk
How likely is it that England will qualify for the finals.
You can add your own news stories
Build up a niche following
Think Outside The Box There are loads of other ways to promote your sites

A guy dominated the Google SERPS with Social Media:
8/9 out of 10 positions taken by 1 guy
Used Squidoo
Zanga
Blip.tv
Clip Marks
MyblogLog
Hub Pages
Blue Dot
Still Not Convinced? The Silver Surfer Halloween Costumes Domination http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip-eBjlEJGg

Summary Why should affiliates try social media?
It can generate loads of traffic
You can dominate the SERPS
You can increase click rates to merchants
You can increase conversion rates
It’s the future of Google Algorithms
Your competitors are doing it
It’s fun!
Check out leemccoy.co.uk for more information

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Updated: A4UExpo Social Media Presentation

by getvisible on Oct 28, 2007

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Updated: A4UExpo Social Media Presentation — Presentation Transcript