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A GUIDE TO AFFILIATE MARKETING
Finance
A GUIDE TO
AFFILIATE
MARKETING
Finance
A GUIDE TO AFFILIATE MARKETING
Finance
INTRODUCTION TO AFFILIATE
MARKETING FOR THE
FINANCIAL SECTOR
Commission Junction provides advanced affliate marketing Company Launch Date
solutions that help marketers increase online leads and sales. Marbles Jul-01
With key clients in the sector, such as Zurich and Capital Morgan Stanley secured loans Dec-02
One, along with 10 year’s experience in the financial affiliate Capital One cards (Europe) Plc Dec-02
marketing sector, we offer a wealth of knowledge. This Loans.co.uk Feb-03
document provides an insight into how financial advertisers Lloyds Insurance Aug-03
can succesfully implement, manage and enhance an affiliate Experian Aug-04
program with Commission Junction. Zurich Nov-04
Capital One secured loans Nov-05
With approximately 32 million online users in the UK (Source: Staysure.co.uk Limited Aug-06
Nielsen/Netratings global internet trends, Q1 2005) the leading Travellers Protection Services Jan-06
financial services companies have, on average, increased
their online spend in the last 5 years significantly. In the period Approximately 25% of all online spend for Commission Junction
2002-2003 total online spend by the top 50 financial brands financial clients is allocated towards affiliate marketing. Is
was £6.5 million, and in the period 2005/2006 total online this enough, given the return on investments that this channel
spend by the top 50 brands was £37.5 million (figures taken can deliver? Are you getting the best ROI from your overall
from ADynamix/Marketmovements August 2006). marketing spend?
Why the increase in spend? GROWTH OF AFFILIATE
“Consumers research financial products online because the
web is quick and easy and lets them browse at home. Most
MARKETING AND RETURN ON
online researchers start at search engines and then use a INvESTMENTS
variety of other sites to research their financial decisions. They
are looking for a mix of product details, comparisons, and help Stepheny Lauer of US retail website www.art.com highlighted
choosing the right product. As a result many people are visiting a very interesting cost of acquisition which they conducted.
independent websites to find the information that they need. It compared various advertising media costs of acquiring
These independent sites are chipping away at financial firm’s customers versus the amount of revenue generated for every
retail relationships, threatening to relegate financial firms to the dollar spent. The results were dramatic:
role of manufacturers that have to pay to secure distribution.”
(Source: Forrester Research 31 May 2006, Where financial Medium Cost of Revenue Generated
researchers go online) Acquisition per $1 spent
Radio £766 £0.04
Consequently financial advertisers are closely reviewing Print £504 £0.05
their overall online media plan from search engine marketing Public Relations £43 £0.60
through to banner advertising and, increasingly, affiliate Email £13 £1.33
marketing. Online Ads £11 £2.42
Affiliates £5 £3.76
TOP COMMISSION JUNCTION (Source: Cost of Acquisition Study, www.art.com August
FINANCIAL SERvICES CLIENTS 2005, figures have been localised for UK market)
Commission Junction has worked closely with some key Other merchants also validated these findings with their own
financial services advertisers to develop successful and statistics. Kathryn Wardell of US site www.eBags.com noted
sustained relationships. that 15% of their revenue is derived from their affiliate channel,
and Reginald Bowser CEO of FanPowerSports reported that
when he was the VP at LendingTree.com, there was a time
2
Oxford House • 182 Upper Richmond Road
London • SW15 2SH • UK
t +44 (0)20 8785 5870 • f +44 (0)20 8785 5844
www.cj.com/uk
A GUIDE TO AFFILIATE MARKETING
Finance
when the affiliate program contributed 60-70% of their revenue! WHAT SHOULD FINANCIAL
The affiliate channel is an effective, low-cost means of acquiring
customers.
SERvICES ADvERTISERS
CONSIDER WHEN LAUNCHING
The UK market for affiliate marketing will grow 60% in AN AFFILIATE MARKETING
2006, breaking through the £2 billion mark to an estimated
PROGRAM?
value of £2.16 billion. (source: e-consultancy Affiliate
Marketing Network Buyers Guide 2006)
Focus on growth - Most companies in the finance sector are
looking to grow their programs considerably. In times where
As our sales team would advise you, partnering with an affiliate
inventory is less available and main portals are saying that content
network like Commission Junction provides you with the benefits
is king, the ‘old big’ display deals are not available and those that
of increasing revenue through a wider access to global and local
are available are priced out of the market on the whole.
markets. Justin Walthall, Affiliate Program Manager, at Lloyds
TSB Insurance confirms that “the (Commission Junction) team is
With most financial products closely guarded in terms of the
extremely helpful in recruiting both local and international affiliates
allowable CPA (cost per acquisition), the security that affiliate
onto our program.”
marketing provides is reassuring. Of course demand starts to
push supply, and, as such, the allowable CPAs will not be picked
Affiliate marketing networks can help advertisers …
up if they are not competitive. Particularly saturated markets with
some pressure on the CPAs are: credit cards, secured loans and
• Drive revenue insurance products - both home and motor.
• Access affiliates
• Generate sales/actions Commission Junction’s Advertiser Development team
• Drive acquisitions has over 20 years of combined affiliate marketing experience.
• Generate leads Our Head of Advertiser Development Matt Reid has over 10 years
experience in brand and direct marketing, the last six of which
have been spent in various product and marketing roles at HFC
• Reduce costs Bank, latterly as marketing and E-commerce manager.
• Reduce internal costs of managing affiliate programs in-house
• Only pay for the sales/acquisitions you make Ultimately, unless an experienced manager is working on an
• Increase transparency of return on investment (which means affiliate program, some sales will be made but very little will be
that marketing activity can be less hit-and-miss) learned. Affiliate marketing opens up huge opportunities to learn
about online customers. Connecting this knowledge back to the
• Reduce duplication of commission payments
core business can give insight into other acquisition techniques,
(through use of technology)
and highlight how effective management of relationships with
existing customers can boost performance. Justin Walthall, Affiliate
• Improve branding Program Manager, Lloyds TSB Insurance:
• Ensure quality of affiliates “We are delighted with the significant contribution Commission
• Raise perceptions of your brand through exposure on quality, Junction has made to our affiliate program. Their ability to provide
third-party websites a clear strategy for multiple products on one program has been
invaluable”
• Work with networks and agencies to minimise brand-squatting
Lifetime value - Increasingly, although there is a renewed push
• Inform marketing activities on customer acquisition, there is additional pressure on the
• Learn from affiliates about what is working in terms of pricing, ‘Lifetime Value’ of customers acquired. It is clear that the most
offers, products and propositions … and what is not working sophisticated merchants are those who are looking at their long-
• Improve search engine marketing term strategies and the implications of changing consumer trends
rather than taking an approach which is based entirely on short-
• Boost conversion rates
term sales uplift.
3
Oxford House • 182 Upper Richmond Road
London • SW15 2SH • UK
t +44 (0)20 8785 5870 • f +44 (0)20 8785 5844
www.cj.com/uk
A GUIDE TO AFFILIATE MARKETING
Finance
An example of more enlightened thinking is exhibited by those watching to see how such huge portals react to these changes
merchants who are looking closely at their ability to retain, as well as their business models mature. Certainly it is interesting to see
as acquire, customers who are choosing their affiliates based on an that the likes of Moneysupermarket.com now work with affiliate
assessment of the quality of customers in terms of their potential networks, like Commission Junction, to promote products.
lifetime value.
Beyond making substantial growth in affiliate marketing, finance
This may translate into paying certain affiliates a higher rate of companies monitor and are certainly more savvy to quality. With
commission for delivering more valuable customers, rather than credit losses increasing in recent years and the above points
rewarding affiliates as generously if they are delivering customers on ROI, affiliate networks have an increased requirement to
with a greater propensity to switch. ensure that financial services programs are not only meeting FSA
requirements, but are also providing good-quality business and not
Jonathan Forster, European Development Director of Commission exposing brands to inappropriate promotions.
Junction, said: “There is a lot of mileage for clients who want to
integrate affiliate marketing and internet marketing deeper into Creativity Required
their businesses. This type of strategic approach may sometimes Financial marketing is very much regulated by laws and
mean a short-term revenue hit but it is very much in their longer- regulations. April 2006 saw the closure of a number of credit
term interests.” card affiliate programs across the sector. Commission Junction
keeps abreast of the financial advertiser’s hurdles and finds
This has manifested itself in a number of ways, particularly strategic solutions to overcome them. Whilst best practice can be
managing the publisher groups more closely. Here are some applied, a creative approach that works well for one retailer does
comments made by Elliot Antrobus-Holder, Marketing Executive of not necessarily work for another. Regular review and analysis
HSBC Partnership Cards at the Commission Junction University UK of campaigns is necessary to optimise a program and get the
conference in July 2006: best performance. A good affiliate manager will think up new,
innovative ways to constantly improve the performance of the
“There’s a few key things really in terms of delivering ROI for the creatives to meet the regulations.
business. The first one that we found that’s fairly significant is
communicating with the affiliates regularly, building a rapport with WHAT ELSE DOES COMMISSION JUNCTION DO TO OFFER
the key ones and helping them to understand our business model, VALUE FOR THE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR?
and, in turn, ourselves understanding their business models. The
next thing is drilling down to an individual affiliate level and looking CJ Finance – In May 2006 Commission Junction conducted a piece
at the traffic they’re driving through and the value of that traffic. of marketing research amongst the top 20 leaders within the affiliate
Obviously if you do find that one affiliate is driving particularly good sector, encompassing both agencies and marketers with the aim
traffic to your site, that it’s converting well, then you should reward being to assess customer needs to ensure that we were aligning
that affiliate accordingly, in which case you can then start looking our services and positioning correctly. Commission Junction now
at life term value. I think that’s one of the next big key things has a focus on vertical sectors – travel, retail, gaming, agencies and
that we need to start looking at as a business, actually drilling finance. Becoming one of our financial clients within CJ Finance
down to those key affiliates, looking at the value of the traffic that gives you immediate access to the following:
they provide on a lifetime basis and then paying those affiliates
accordingly, which, I think, is really only fair.” • CJ Finance Portal – currently in development this password-
protected area will give you access to Forrester, Jupiter, IAB
Supporting this requirement is something that can be easily research reports, links to online events, an archive of finance and
seen if you look at initiatives like CJ Performer. CJ Performer is a online-related news articles.
premier affiliate marketing solution for top performing publishers
that leverages Commission Junction’s expertise and resources to • Roundtables – every quarter Commission Junction hosts
facilitate new opportunities for revenue growth. advertiser and publisher roundtable events to discuss issues,
opportunities, the changing landscape of the sector and publisher
Comparison Sites business models.
The stalwart of CPA models in finance has been comparison sites
such as Moneysupermarket.com. It is interesting to note that these • Vertical sector get-togethers – a finance session will be held
have not seen substantial growth in the last few years, as more by Commission Junction getting together key advertisers and
content-rich inventory has played them down. It will be worth publishers in the sector.
4
Oxford House • 182 Upper Richmond Road
London • SW15 2SH • UK
t +44 (0)20 8785 5870 • f +44 (0)20 8785 5844
www.cj.com/uk
A GUIDE TO AFFILIATE MARKETING
Finance
Promoting your Program Public Relations
We understand that part of the success of a program is how In the business to business environment nothing is quite as
well, and how frequently, it is communicated to the publishers. effective or carries as much credibility as PR. Our PR team will
Consequently we have set up a number of channels to facilitate work closely with you to come up with suitable news angles, case
this promotion: studies and whitepapers.
Email newsletters Commission Junction Partnership Marketing
“The affiliate space is about combining technology and
CJ Offer Portal: relationships to deliver results. Commission Junction is our
preferred affiliate network as they understand the word
The Commission Junction offer portal is a direct Real Simple ‘relationships’ in and out. Since starting our relationship with
Syndication (RSS) feed to publishers promoting network programs. them in 2001 they have delivered a significant proportion of sales
for our business by providing proactive and pleasant account
CJ UK Mail: management, alignment to our business goals and even building
partnerships with the extended marketing team.” - Jackie Tasker,
A bi-weekly communication to the top 200 UK publishers. Includes Head of Customer Acquisition, LX Direct.
a general intro/update, a list of new advertisers and an advertiser
update. The key word for our financial services advertisers is
‘relationships’. How can we leverage these both externally and
CJ Wire UK: internally? Our marketing department has 10 years of media,
creative, sponsorship & event management skills, enabling them to
A bi-monthly publisher communication that features a strategy sit down with you and come up with a bespoke solution specific to
piece, new and featured advertisers. This goes to all the affiliate/new media arena. In the last two months Commission
UK & Ireland publishers. Junction and eBay have worked on a bespoke launch party and a
roundtable event.
CJ What’s Hot UK:
Commission Junction University
A monthly publisher communication that features advertiser Every year Commission Junction holds a full day conference
promotions and incentives. This goes to all UK & Ireland publishers. for advertisers and publishers, allowing them to learn from key
industry speakers and network. In 2006 the event attracted 160
CJ Quarterly UK: delegates, visit http://uk.cj.com/news/cju2006_agenda_uk.html
for more details. It is important for advertisers to meet publishers
A quarterly advertiser communication that features a strategy piece, so we are also requesting that they come forward as speakers or
latest news and a featured publisher. with suggestions on content.
A4UForum Banner Summary
Commission Junction has an exclusive banner on the A4UForum This is just a basic insight into affiliate marketing for financial
www.a4uforum.co.uk, a site that is regularly visited by services advertisers. For more information please contact Tina
approximately 9,000 affiliates across the UK regularly. Once signing Wild, Business Development Manager, Commission Junction -
up with Commission Junction we will immediately look to run a Tel. 020 8785 5871 email. twild@cj.com
program banner for you.
New Media Age Strip Advertisment
New Media Age is one of the UK’s leading online media
print publications, which is distributed on a weekly basis to
approximately 6,500 new media publishers, agencies and
marketers. Commission Junction has a 100 x 33mm size print
sponsorship advertisment on the letters page. This strip can be
used to advertise your program complete with branding and a call
to action.
5
Oxford House • 182 Upper Richmond Road
London • SW15 2SH • UK
t +44 (0)20 8785 5870 • f +44 (0)20 8785 5844
www.cj.com/uk
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