Calling all Affiliates: To Diversify Your Traffic Channels or Not, That is the Question
The landscape of digital marketing is ever changing. According to Statista, search engine optimization was the top traffic source at 69.22% among affiliate marketers worldwide in 2016. As we are almost halfway through 2018, email, native ads, social, and mobile media are becoming even more popular than in previous years. Push Notification traffic has also moved into the spotlight as a natural segue for mailers to monetize their subscriber base. I sat down with Jennifer Rozario, Madrivo’s Director of Affiliates, to get insights into why it’s important for affiliates to expand and diversify their traffic channels to attract new readers to generate more sales.
Question: Why should affiliates diversify?
JR: With the migration of Verizon, AOL, and Yahoo going into effect in early 2018 and culminating in Oath, AOL and Yahoo mailers have spent months panicking over the future of email as they have known it. They have been crippled by delivery issues and heavy filters, and are doing their best to adapt to the new world of mailing. We’ve also seen how algorithms change on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, as well as Google. Given the urgency to adapt to these changes, I strongly encourage affiliates to not put all their eggs into one basket. By expanding their traffic channels and finding the right mix, it will put affiliates in a better position to weather these changes, while diversifying their revenues streams and attracting advertisers who want to diversify their traffic sources.
Question: So now that we know why affiliates should diversify, how can they go about it?
JR: Affiliates can diversify by evaluating the way consumers search and engage with brands. This will help to determine what channels they can use to drive and monetize traffic. In addition, working with an affiliate program allows affiliates to figure out what content is attracting readers and helps them optimize their site and increase traffic. In-depth analysis, reporting, and experimentation are essential in determining the diversification of traffic channels. I would also advise affiliates to be flexible, test, and be open to learn because what might work for one affiliate, may not work for another.
Question: How can affiliates utilize Madrivo to accomplish this?
JR: Affiliates do not have to waste valuable time and money testing offers, as Madrivo provides recommendations based on real numbers and mitigates the risk of being a guinea pig on offers with no legitimate statistics. Affiliates are provided with in-depth analytics based on extensive internal testing, to include best assets, best domains, eCPMs, and target demographics. Through Madrivo’s proprietary tracking software, affiliates are given powerful reporting to help optimize their campaigns.
About the Guest:
As Director of Affiliate Partnerships, Ms. Rozario manages affiliate relationships as a strategic partner for the dozens of world-class publishers with whom she’s connected during her 12 years in the industry. Jennifer works with clients to optimize campaign messaging, targeting, and distribution strategy. She specializes in monitoring analytic data to allow for continual improvement, guaranteeing the highest possible returns for our affiliates and for the advertisers. Prior to joining Madrivo, Jennifer co-founded a network and worked as a mailer, gaining first-hand experience with email strategy, warm-up strategy, and the best offers to run to their particular data and lists. Jennifer holds a BA in History with a minor in English.
