I went into the meeting with plenty of questions, and the amount of ideas and information that Adam shared with me meant we went off on a few tangents. But, every single thing we discussed is incredibly valuable, especially for you, those who care about performance marketing.

The cookie conversation

As Adam pointed out, the cookie deprecation conversation has been going on for as long as we remember, and time is the key here. When it comes to this conversation, something we need to focus on is ‘who is going to stand the test of time?’ Apple definitely seems to be honing focus in on solutions a lot more, and we can expect Microsoft, Google and Meta to follow suit.

From a consumer perspective, increased privacy is obviously a great thing. According to Adam, the creepiness needs to be stopped – consumers want their privacy to be respected. In order to win this battle, more focus needs to be placed on context. This means focusing not on who your customers are, but instead what are they reading about? What are they clicking on? Try to determine what they’re curious about based on what they’re doing!

“In ten years, our children will be shocked that we used to be tracked without giving our permission.”

The beginning of something huge

Adam told me a great story proving the value of trust, especially now that many of us now prefer to shop online as opposed to in store. He wanted to buy a trampoline for his kids, yet when he searched Amazon, thousands of products popped up. So instead, Adam spent time searching through various reviews on review.com. Here, a team of experts had reviewed various trampolines, putting in an incredible amount of time and effort. Then, when Adam came across the right one for him, he purchased it directly from the company.

“I appreciated the effort – I liked and connected with the reviews and then bought from the brand, DTC. I think this is something that is going to become a lot more common, especially with a younger audience that likes to connect to the story and personality behind a brand.”

So, publishers should definitely consider this – it’s a great opportunity to achieve success through content.

Take the New York Times’ Wirecutter and Future; publishers are becoming not only a source of trust for news and entertainment, but also for product reviews. This is a continuation of the context conversation that is taking place. This should matter to you, as an individual working in performance marketing, as it’s a great way that brands can attach themselves to an article in which a relevant conversation is being had about their brand.

The open web

It was really obvious throughout our whole conversation how passionate Adam is about the open web. He said that, if you rely on third party tracking of any kind, it’s important to spend time on the open web to see your other options.

“I support anything that encourages the open web and journalism. If it relates to advertiser and publisher success, I love it. We need to all commit to making the free open web strong and help ensure advertisers are successful outside the big walled gardens.”

Content moderation through AI

Adam told me that with certain things it is critical to combine machines and humans. An example he used to paint the picture of what can happen when content fails to be moderated is that of Facebook. Facebook missed out on being a great feed for users, simply because there weren’t enough humans involved in the process of moderating the feed. This, according to Adam, is mission critical. Any company with distribution to a lot of people needs some kind of moderation, and this is where AI needs to work alongside humans.

“Humans have guts, machines don’t have guts, but they can do other things faster and better.”

Performance advertisers specifically need a lot of tech and AI because, simply put, without them, you wouldn’t be able to do everything.

What is Taboola working on that you should be aware of?

Number one on the list for Taboola is making sure performance advertisers on the platform are successful. Where there are now around 15,000 on Taboola, they want to increase that number. The platform reaches about 500 million people every day, so Adam is keen to see how they can provide them access to great businesses and services they will like, and make this beneficial for advertisers at the same time.

Taboola news is also a new development, and the company’s fastest growing business at present. The aggregate publisher, for android devices, is good for advertisers too, showing relevant ads to customers.

It was Adam’s opinion that a lot of brands do not invest enough in performance marketing. He said the number one priority for Taboola is asking:

“Are you a great performance advertiser, yes or no? Are you dedicated to it, yes or no? If you answered any of those questions with a no, then you need to check your company, culture, processes, team, etc. Now more than ever.

“None of us know how long anything is going to last, but the one resilient piece of business is ALWAYS performance marketing.”

The post Why Performance Marketing is the Single Most Resilient Channel – Insight from Adam Singolda appeared first on PerformanceIN.

You can imagine our excitement when the association announced that registration is now open for the 2022 PMA Virtual Conference.

After the success of the association’s two virtual conferences last year, they decided to change things up for 2022, combining all of the content into one big conference. The ultimate goal is to provide education and networking opportunities while allowing attendees flexibility and viewing options.

The conference will run from the 2nd-3rd August, with all sessions being recorded for you to revisit.

There are still sessions being collated and added to the already-packed agenda, but in the meantime, here’s some of what you can expect to see:

• Opening remarks each day to learn about that day’s activities and how you can participate

• 30 minute panel discussions hosted by the PMA Councils

• 30 minute live Q&As each day that will flow from the panel discussions and allow you a chance to network with the panelists and ask your own questions

• 30 minute sessions on a range of topics including diversity, building and scaling your affiliate programme, preparing your marketing for Q4, and more

• Education and networking with companies like Rakuten, CJ, Partnerize, LinkConnector, DMS, Affiliate Insider, RevLifter, Awin, ShareASale, and many more

• Closing cocktail hour hosted by the PMA Board of Directors where you can discuss the presentations, catch up with others in the industry, and learn what the PMA is doing this year

• And the biggest reveal of all: the presentation of the 2021 Affiliate Industry Survey results. This will give you an exclusive view of the results of the second industry-wide survey

Registration is $49, but PMA members can attend for free. Sessions are still being designed, so keep your eyes peeled for any news by signing up to our newsletter.

The post Performance Marketing Association Announces 2022 Virtual Conference appeared first on PerformanceIN.

Find out more in this piece, answering the burning question on every performance marketers’ lips.

The post Performance Marketing in the Platform World; 3 Imperatives For Success appeared first on PerformanceIN.

Performance marketing introduces a dynamic and diverse mix of avenues for advertisers to generate leads (or sales) from high-intent consumers at the moment they are most ready to take action. The performance marketing formula is simple: deliver the right message to the right person at the right time and place to encourage action. Performance marketing de-risks media spend and increases advertising efficiency by connecting you with high-intent consumers interested in your products and services. While this may sound too good to be true, the reality is, performance marketing has proven its effectiveness time and time again. 

With performance marketing, you can pay only for the results you want

One of the leading benefits of performance marketing, with solutions providers like DMS, is that you can set up campaigns to only pay for the results you want. When considering performance marketing, it’s imperative that you find a performance advertising solutions provider that invests their own media dollars, allowing you, as the advertiser, to pay only when a defined action – like a lead or sale – happens.

When you’re only paying for the results you want, the goals of both the performance advertising solutions provider and the advertiser are the same, because you’re both seeking the same final action. This pay-for-performance model allows performance marketers to de-risk the media spend of advertisers while scaling advertising results. That means performance advertising provides trackable results with a linear connection between ad spend and performance, providing clear attribution and accountability in spend. 

Performance marketing provides valuable data that can be used to enhance targeting and  engagement

In addition to providing results, performance marketing provides valuable data. Plus, some performance advertising solutions providers, like DMS, allow advertisers to access aggregated data assets. Access to strong data assets helps performance marketers target the right prospects with relevant content to encourage immediate action. But, to obtain the results you want, it’s important to have access to the right data, which means access to a database that is significant in size and regularly updated.

Real-time data signals

Real-time data signals use current consumer behavior to indicate intent. These signals can provide a better understanding of what stage in the buyer journey each individual shopper is currently at, allowing advertisers to engage and re-engage each consumer with messaging that resonates and encourages action. 

Demographic data

Demographic data can be used to target audiences and allows for early and easy segmentation after a lead has entered the funnel. 

Behavioral data

By identifying behaviors and attributes common in higher-converting segments, behavioral data enables performance marketers to create campaigns that resonate with consumer mindsets, beliefs and intentions.

Disposition data

Disposition data offers insights into what is and is not working in your performance marketing efforts, including lead sources, nurturing channels and sales representatives. This data can be valuable for mapping out lead generation campaign optimisations and enhancements. 

Real success in lead generation comes with regular testing and optimisation, resulting in the best balance of quality versus quantity. Data must play a big part in those optimisations, especially campaign performance data. With the right data, testing strategy and performance advertising solutions provider, lead generation efforts can help advertisers drive consumer interest, prompt decisive actions and generate loyal customers. 

A diversified, yet targeted media mix creates more effective campaign optimisations

Performance marketing gives advertisers access to a diverse media mix, including search, social, email, display and more, helping advertisers put their brands in the places consumers spend their time. But, performance marketing is not designed for the “spray and pray” approach. Performance marketing is meant to be targeted to the channels and audiences that perform best.

For example, performance marketers can structure campaigns to target specific zip codes or high-performing keywords, as opposed to targeting broad audiences that encompass consumers who are less likely to become loyal customers. Many advertisers tier their audiences with the greatest media spend going to audiences with the greatest propensity to convert. Smaller budgets can go to test audiences that may or may not achieve average performance. That way, advertisers are able to test and scale without breaking the budget or producing disappointing results.

Performance marketing is the way forward

Today’s highly fragmented digital ecosystem, within which consumers are increasingly window shopping, presents a clear path for the pay-for-performance advertising model. Performance marketing has, time and time again, proven its effectiveness as a solution that consistently helps advertisers ensure they are receiving and paying for actions that specifically align with their advertising objectives. 

For advertisers seeking innovative and effective ways to create long-term engagement and drive actions further down the funnel, the answer is clear: performance marketing is your solution.

The post Generating High-Quality, High-Converting Leads with Performance Marketing appeared first on PerformanceIN.

The post The Essential Trends for the Performance Marketing Industry in 2022 appeared first on PerformanceIN.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to those who nominated a peer or colleague for this year’s Top 50. The list is curated from a B2B perspective, and it is made up of a combination of peer nominations and research conducted by the team at PerformanceIN, ensuring we have highlighted only the best in class. It aims to shine a light on extraordinary individuals across the industry; including brands, publishers, SaaS platforms, networks and agencies.

“The past couple of years have made it very clear how agile our industry is. 2021 began in a challenging way, with the pandemic still presenting issues. However, the performance marketing industry rallied, and this year has been one of the best yet, with incredible individuals driving their companies to have a successful and inspiring year. The industry shows true adaptation, innovation, and growth.

“Those who work within the performance marketing industry are what has enabled it to thrive and mature. They have tested and pushed boundaries, which is why we believe it is important to acknowledge and congratulate the individuals who are paving the way for the future.” – Niamh Butler-Walton, Staff Writer at PerformanceIN.

View the PerformanceIN Top 50 Now.

If you, your peer, or your colleague features on the list, or if you would like to congratulate those who achieved their well-deserved spot on the list, please do so using the hashtag #PerformanceIN50 on social media.

Again, we want to say a huge congratulations to all of those who were selected, and we cannot wait to see what 2022 has in store for the performance, affiliate and partner marketing space.

The post Meet the #PerformanceIN50 Class of 2021 appeared first on PerformanceIN.

We already knew that most mobile sales came through Apple devices, so losing the biggest share of these was always going to be a big blow for brands.

So, can iOS 14.5 be a good thing for the performance marketing industry?

The answer is potentially. Which is a bit of a fence sit but at this stage there are a lot of unknowns. Some media buyers are reporting huge drops in performance over the last few weeks. But this was to be expected, everyone will still be running the same strategies they were running before iOS14.5, it didn’t make sense to change strategy before we knew the impact.

Top performing campaigns before were likely retargeting campaigns that showed customers images of products they had looked at on the site, these were effective because they were relevant. Of course, these no longer work when targeting iPhone users.

These changes alongside Google’s move to a cookieless future mean that your own first party data is going to become even more relevant. Facebook is working on links with Shopify sites to help feed the data funnel, TikTok already have built in tracking with Shopify sites. So, where there is currently a gap in data, these businesses are moving quickly to bridge that gap with other methods.

We’re likely going to see some brands begin to move their budget away from Facebook and towards more measurable channels, once the dust has cleared, I would expect performance marketing teams to see cheaper CPCs and CPMs which is going to mitigate some of the impact.

What’s in it for advertisers?

The good news for advertisers is, the better you are at your job the better place you are to take advantage of these changes. Users that understand the customer journey and their customer funnel will be able to engage more customers through awareness-based marketing for cheaper and then pick them up through more conversion focused messaging.

It’s also good news for creative teams as higher quality ads will now be needed, no longer can advertisers rely on banks of previously viewed products. Video content will help brands and advertisers stand out from the crowd.

Finally, there’s a couple of best practice steps that marketers should be taking to ensure that they’re getting the most out of their existing FB strategy. If your audience sizes are big enough then split out Android and iOS users, theoretically Android performance should remain the same as before, so you don’t want the data muddied by iOS devices. Advertisers should also ensure they’ve set up the new pixel event tracking and identified their top eight events.

To summarise, the poor performance advertisers are seeing at the moment is more likely to be a hangover effect of pre-iOS14.5 strategies combined with a new different world. As first party data gets clearer, campaigns structures are updated, and ad quality improves I would be surprised if we didn’t start to see the performance gap close back to where we were. In the end this should provide better experience for end users and see better advertisers get more out of Facebook.

The post Can Apple iOS 14.5 Be a Good Thing for the Performance Marketing Industry? appeared first on PerformanceIN.

A recent YouGov survey found that 57% of British people want to work from home after the pandemic. So, it seems that remote work is here to stay, but what does it mean for the affiliate marketing industry?

Location and talent 

The digital marketing industry has traditionally mainly been London based; however, we have seen a trend towards other hub cities emerging, such as Bristol and Manchester. The speed of this change has dramatically increased as both employees and companies realise the daily office commute is not a necessity.

In the last six months, we’ve recruited 18-people into the EMEA business; 12 of those people live outside of London. A diverse range of backgrounds and skills applying for roles from outside of London can only be a good thing for the industry. 

There is a disadvantage to the workforce being more dispersed. Affiliate marketing was built on relationships and socialisation, dispersion will dilute what has made the industry unique and thriving in the last 25-years, and we will need to work hard to keep this. 

There is a cost to working from home in terms of equipment, fast internet, increased living costs, and the need to have a workspace. Companies need to ensure that there is levelling, and nobody is disadvantaged due to their circumstances, which will be challenging for companies to navigate. 

Better technology

Remote working is only successful if you have robust technology to support communication, processes and collaboration across a large, dispersed team. Since the lockdown, companies have needed to upgrade their technology so people can work effectively from home. In an eCommerce world where country barriers don’t exist, this is a positive development for our industry – being able to communicate effectively with colleagues and clients globally and remotely will support the development of the industry. 

But can technology ever really replace the value of face-to-face contact?  I think back to when times have been tough in my career, or we had been working on a big client pitch or project, working together in a room made it possible to overcome challenges.  Unfortunately, it’s impossible to create that same togetherness via video conferencing. 

What do you need to get right as an employer?

1. Equip all employees with what they need to be successful.  Reimburse for the fast broadband, make sure all employees have access to the best equipment, technology, and tools to do their job. 

2. Have robust processes and structures to monitor performance, clear goals, strategy, and transparency. Everyone should know their role and the part it plays in the broader company vision. 

3. Create social interaction, but don’t make it forced. Use technology like Slack, allow organic affinity groups to develop, create local Hubs where people can interact face-to-face. 

4. Train and coach people to communicate effectively in a remote environment. Don’t expect people to know how to deliver a presentation, create discussion, or present themselves on video. 

Despite the YouGov survey results stating that 57% of British employees want to work from home, I think it’s too early to say what employees will want to do when the pandemic is over. These have been strange times and working from home hasn’t been ‘normal’. 37% of the people surveyed said they wanted to work from home some of the time. Many companies will likely need to manage a hybrid approach, creating many challenges such as managing capacity in offices, to equity across all employees regardless of how they are working. 

In the same survey, 37% of people said they never wanted to work from home, and just 20% said they wanted to work from home full-time. People are hugely diverse, with different lifestyles and needs at various stages of their lives. Companies will need to decide how and if they will offer their workers flexibility. It will likely become a choice of where to work for many employees, rather than how to work. 

If you’d like to find out more about Acceleration Partners and their remote work opportunities visit their website.

The post The Dramatic Acceleration of Remote Work, and the Effect it’s Having on the Performance Marketing Industry appeared first on PerformanceIN.

Camilla studied at the University of Virginia, receiving a bachelors’ degree in History, before going on to receive a diploma from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Prior to Vashi, Camilla has worked in marketing for 11 years, with roles including Global Director of Advocacy at Charlotte Tilbury, Head of PR & Events at Benefit Cosmetics (LVMH) and Associate Director at Halpern (part of The&Partnership, part of WPP).

Now here’s Camilla to talk about her history and the trends she is noticing within the industry:

What’s your role and what does it consist of?

I am Brand Communications Director at fine jewellery brand Vashi. In my role, I oversee brand marketing, communications, advocacy (including influencer marketing) and social. My focus is building brand advocacy and brand awareness, to help Vashi become the number one jewellery brand worldwide. 

Who or what inspired you to get into marketing?

It all started with my mother, who worked in PR and inspired me to get into the industry. After a summer placement at Halpern, under the mentorship of the incredible Jenny Halpern Prince, I knew this would be my home for many years! 

On the brand side, what do you think is most interesting in the agency and SaaS arena? 

When I started my career, agencies relied on years of heritage and case study work for their reputation; it was therefore hard to break into the industry with a new proposition.  Now it’s often the newcomers of whom I’ve not heard much who impress me most in their thinking, business solutions and proprietary tech. I always take time to look into every cold call or email I get for that reason.

What’s impressed you so far this year?

I have been blown away so many times this year. Firstly, by the entries in the Performance Marketing and Influencer Marketing Awards that I had the pleasure of judging. The talent in our industry is second to none. Next, by how marketers have pivoted in our post Covid-19 world – there was no rule book on how to navigate the challenges! The success stories are great – and there have definitely been some silver linings to the pandemic in making marketing more progressive in some areas. 

What are you most excited about right now?

The most exciting daily evolution is how we can attribute and measure ROI for influencer marketing – and it’s improving daily!  I can’t believe how far it’s come and it’s one of the most empowering developments for our industry.

What’s your top tip for those in our industry? 

I’ve been lucky to have worked with and for many incredible female founders who have passed down their invaluable tips and advice. The one that’s stuck with me the most and is what I tell my teams too, was Charlotte Tilbury teaching us to “dare to dream it, dare to believe it, dare to do it!” Half of the challenge is believing you can! 

What one thing would you change about the industry?

I’d love the industry to continue to fight the cause for flexible working, particularly to enable women to balance the pressures of their career and motherhood. Too often I see women having to choose or make sacrifices. 

What other areas of the industry would you be interested in being involved in in the future?

What I love most about our industry is how quickly the landscape is changing and new media is emerging. Marketing is unrecognisable versus the industry I started in.  I’m excited to see what’s round the corner. Growing up, I was taught that every day is a school day, and I can’t wait to learn the next big thing.

We hope you enjoyed this installment of The Advertiser Diaries. If you would like to get involved please get in touch via our Typeform.

The post The Advertiser Diaries: Camilla Craven appeared first on PerformanceIN.

So, as we all career towards a world without masks and social distancing, I feel it would be remiss not to look back at what’s changed, what we have acclimatised to, and how our lives have subtly, but inexorably become more digital than they were on March 22nd 2020.

Are QR codes ushering in a new era of proper ‘omnichannel’?

I’m not the greatest fan of the term ‘omnichannel’ as it’s been thrown around as much as ‘new normal’ has more recently. But we do have to recognise the subtle shifts we now take for granted. For me, the greatest hero on this front has been the humble QR code. Having languished as a reader in the back of our app stores for decades, they have taken on a totally new value during this crisis and now become a part of our daily lives. It’s virtually impossible to go into a restaurant or pub without the (sometimes painful) UX experience of ordering through one.

This digitisation of our physical experiences is just one way in which the role of the high street is currently being overhauled as a consequence of the pandemic. There is very obviously a lot of pain being felt by many high street retailers and businesses that have been slow to respond to online’s gradual, and then very sudden, adoption. However, I do believe that in the long run there are some enormous gains to be had overall from this transformation.

With my SingleView hat on, we relish the opportunity to add even more visibility to our multi-touch attribution capabilities. The prospect of connecting the dots for our clients across both online and instore environments is one that will finally bring true meaning to the term omnichannel and deliver a higher order of magnitude in marketing value than we’ve ever witnessed before.

Performance marketers attain new value following the great e-commerce migration

Speaking of physical retail, the most obvious instance of change during lockdown has been in our shopping habits. With Covid restrictions closing non-essential retail for so long, e-commerce was primed to shoulder the burden of that demand.

In 2019 almost 80% of retail sales still occurred in brick and mortar stores in the UK (a startling reminder of physical retail’s historic dominance for those of us operating in our digital echo chambers). But by the end of this year, eMarketer’s latest forecast suggests that share will drop to closer to 60% as e-commerce fully takes flight.

As new online shoppers flooded the market (at one point in early lockdown Awin was tracking new customer rates as high as almost 40% across our programmes), so the need for experienced online marketers swiftly followed. Digital marketing recruiters are expecting a post pandemic uplift of 75% in the number of roles being advertised, with salaries being inflated by 12-15% during the same period (don’t get me started on inflation…).

Performance-based marketing roles have seen particular growth in client-side roles, with spikes in the number of PPC, social and affiliate jobs available, as well as supporting CRM and e-com merchandising roles too. Closely aligned with digital marketing job growth are those for the techies whose futures are now as assured as a chartered accountancy qualification would have been 25 years ago.

For those of us in the performance industry who worked our way through the lockdown, it’s been a true challenge to the cliché that this is an industry predicated on relationships. Covid didn’t do our networking any good, in fact it all but killed it. Yet, for the most part, our trading relationships have not just survived, but thrived.

As networking returns we can expect to see a swathe of new business enter the space as service partners and agencies come dashing into our arena with a proliferation of client briefs, desperate to capitalise on the performance-based marketing model. New SEO, PR, influencer, media/agency networks and international consultancies are talking ‘cost-per-x’ in ways they would never have dreamt pre-pandemic.

Symbols of change in an industry transformed

All these changes really hit home last week when I heard about Impact’s latest fund raise, the most notable part being the fact that they’d justified a $1.5Bn valuation. That’s massive. I don’t mean in terms of the quantity of cash, I mean symbolically for the whole industry, for every one of us working in the performance marketing ecosystem.

We’ve seen double digit growth at SingleView during this period and now, being part of Awin, have witnessed skyrocketing expansion across every region too. Impact’s news is just the latest form of external validation for our channel.

From Future’s revelation that it generated some £85m in revenues via affiliate marketing in the first half of the year, to the central place that affiliate takes in BuzzFeed’s investor deck prior to its planned IPO – our industry is finally breaking into the media mainstream, as we discussed recently on our podcast.

Taking a step back, these updates all confirm the news that our channel has properly arrived. Would it have happened without the pandemic? Probably, given the growing importance of e-commerce more generally, but Covid has thrust the performance sector into a seat at the top table of marketing in a manner never previously imagined.

483 days later, we stand ready to benefit from a golden age of digital commerce.

The post 483 Days Later, Our Industry is Transformed appeared first on PerformanceIN.