Commission Junction is probably the largest and longest established affiliate network there is. Commission Junction works on a pruely CPA or cost-per-action basis, usually on a per sale or per lead basis depending on the advertiser. CJ in my opinion is the most powerful affiliate network due to their tremendous database of affiliates and publishers that comprise the network. When you launch an affiliate program on Commission Junction you will get a great burst of affiliate sign-ups in the first few weeks. These new affiliate applications needs to be review and either accepted or denied based on they type of affiliate the merchant is looking for. It’s the job of the affiliate managers to work with the affiliates that do sign-up by contacting them to provide: tools, coaching, resources, banners and whatever else they may need. Having good affiliate program management in place is essential to growing your new affiliate program properly. If you just launch a program and expect it to grow on it’s own, you will likely be disappointed. However with good, proactive affiliate management in place you can really build a great revenue channel on Commission Junction. I think CJ’s strengths are in their affiliate base and their tracking. It’s vital to have good affiliate tracking in place to ensure affiliates are getting credited for their sales or leads. CJ has a very diverse affiliate base with everything from bloggers to large web properties. I highly recommend using Commission Junction as your affiliate network of choice. If you would like to discuss either affiliate management or affiliate recruitment please let us know.
Commission Junction Affiliate Network put out a nice little video on the reasons to attend CJU. The video features some attendees talking about why they liked it. This year should be a great event, with lots of great people to meet, interact, and do business with. Here is the video:
Are you going to CJU? Well you should! It’s a really great experience for both affiliates and merchants alike. You can expect to meet a lot of great CJ people and do some phenomenal networking with all tpyes of people in the affiliate world. Commission Junction is a largest and most powerful affiliate network (IMO), so why wouldn’t you attend Commission Junction University. You will learn a great deal about affiliate marketing and the techniques that work. Solidify your knowledge of the affiliate space by attending CJU, you won’t be sorry you did!
Commission Junction is having another webinar in their CJ webinar series. This time it’s focused on an issue that has persisted in the world of online marketing for years: trademark infringement and brand hijacking. Here is the break-down from the CJ website:
Every e-retailer is susceptible to the ever-growing practice of online trademark infringement that occurs when consumers mistype your domain name and are “hijacked” by fraudulent domain owners who make millions. This practice, known as cybersquatting — or typosquatting — costs brand holders millions of dollars each year in lost revenues.
In this Webinar, a domain recovery expert will show you how typosquatters thwart your marketing efforts and what you can do to:
• Protect your brand
• Recover lost revenue
• Prevent misdirection to competitor sites
Join Dave Duckwitz, CEO of CitizenHawk, and Jeff Ransdell, Director of Compliance and Support Operations at Commission Junction, to learn about typosquatting and find out who’s hijacking your brand.
This is a must because most companies are venerable to these types of practices by rogue affiliates and other individuals that would choose to damange a company’s reputation.
I just got done with the Commission Junction Coupon Code webinar and I thought it was really good. Very well prepared and full of information and good ideas. Here are some of the highlights from the couopn code webinar:
- Coupon codes are gaining popularity based on the bad economy, here are the latest percentages of where web visitors are going on the Internet: Search 37%, Coupons 25%, Comparison sites 17%, Auctions 17%
- Coupons are the fastest growing category on websites, boasting
#1 in the top 10 website categories
- October 2008 to November 2008 up +32%
- Unique visitors to coupon sites are up almost 50% over a year ago
- Coupon Sites in general are up 34% year or year growth
- 62% of US shoppers are using coupon when shopping online.
- Searches for “coupon” doubled to 19.9 million, while “discount” rose 26% to 6.3 million searches.
Strategies for merchants using coupons effectively with affiliates:
- Plan for Success
- Add negative match to search policy
- limit redemptions
- Purchase threshold
- Beware coupon stacking
Coupon Code’s viral nature: Coupons can be great because they get spread around to firends and family.
How to maximize coupons so they don’t hurt your margins:
- Coupons aren’t all or nothing
- Choose higher margin products
- Coupons can be product specific
- Use coupons to clear out inventory
- Use custom codes and links
- Create exclusive coupons
- Use vanity coupon codes
- Recent studies are showing that online shoppers are shopping specifically because of special offers and coupons.
- Coupon codes create urgency
Regarding whether coupon codes create long-term customers or not:
- Coupons create customer engagement
- Customers love the “treasure hunt”
- Loyalty is built-up over time
Disspelling the myth that coupons destroy the brand:
- Holiday Season 08 - coupons really went mainstream
- Even high-end stores are in the game
- Have a good strategy when rolling out coupons
Advice for affiliates on how to use coupon sites and make their site more valuable. Goal should be to have a site visitors bookmark and share with their friends. Check and see how well the coupon is performing on your site. Put your coupon codes into your newsletters. Develop long-term advertiser relationships.
Advice for merchants:
- Not just a discount strategy
- Great for new customer acquisition
- Coupon code traffic sticks
Questions and Answers:
- Can coupons be offered without codes? Yes they can. Doesn’t have to be a code, could be free shipping, or new product launches, and gift cards.
- What are the best perfoming offers for coupons? Percent or dollar off. Answer: some sites see dollar off and some see % off converting better. Recommendation to advertiser is to test different strategies and maybe a combination. Research shows that dollars off the sale are more effective, but it depends on the nature of the business/offer.
- What is the negtive match aspect about? Answer: advertisers should make clear in their SEM policies whether they want the affiliates to show up in search for your trademarks with the word coupon.
- Will the affiliate receive the commission if the link isn’t click by the buyer. Answer: is to embed to coupon code within the text link or banner ad.
- Vanity codes are higher converting and affiliates like them too!
All and all, I think it was a good webinar. They covered most of the hot topics and there was a good amount of statistics to back it up. I personally think all affiliate merchants should be using coupon codes to their benefit. I’d love to know your opinion on coupon codes best practices for affiliates and merchants. Thanks!
Commission Junction will be holding a webinar for merchants about coupon codes and coupon strategies in general. As we know, coupon codes have become one of the most popular forms of online marketing for affiliates. Merchants not offering coupon codes are likely not tapping into as many good affiliates as they could be. With the economy in it’s current crisis, couponing by consumers will likely increase. So, all merchants leveraging the affiliate marketing channel should be using coupon codes with their affiliates to increase traffic and sales. Here is the information from the Commission Junction webinar sign-up:
The current economy and the sophistication of online shoppers have created the “perfect storm” for online coupons. But can coupons be an effective and profitable long term business strategy? We’ve all heard the common concerns about margins and lack of control. The truth is, when used effectively, coupons can generate incredible revenue for both advertisers and publishers alike. It’s the “used effectively” part that can be tricky!
Join us for this Webinar and you’ll learn how:
• Both advertisers and publishers can use coupons in a way that benefits both groups
• To set up link activated coupon codes
• To create a Web site that makes user come back time and again
you should register and check out this CJ webinar. You will likely learn a few things about coupon codes and coupon code affiliates. I look forward to it myself and your feedback on this site. Thanks!
If you run an affiliate program, then running affiliate contests can really invigorate your affiliates into promoting your company. Done well, affiliate contests can be tremendous for motivating current producers and also inspiring non-producers to get to work on your program. There are many creative and innovative contest you can run for your affiliates. Affiliate surveys show that the best motivator for affiliate is cash, which makes perfect sense especially in the current ecominic climate. Often times companies only seek to motivate the big super-affiliates and not the smaller affiliates of the program. However, running a contest that motivates all your program’s affiliates to try to win the prizes is a good way to motivate the entire program.
Here are some of the March Madness affiliate contests being run by Experience Advertising, the premier outsourced affiliate management company:
MatchMaker.com - Date.com Affiliate Contest:
Top 4 Most Improved Affiliates (over January-February Average) - $250 Each
Top 5 Best Looking Online Dating Website - $100 Each
Top 5 New Affiliates (have not previously produced a sale or not produced a sale in 3 months) - $100 Each
Top 5 Best Articles about Online Dating Featuring Date.com or MatchMaker.com - $100 Each
TheNerds.net Affiliate Contest:
Top 2 Most Improved Affiliates (over January-February Average) - $200 Each
Top 3 Best Looking electronics websites/blogs featuring TheNerds.net - $100 Each
Top 2 New Affiliates (Has not previously produced a sale or not produced a sale in 3 months) - $100
Top 2 Best Articles about electronics/gadgets featuring TheNerds.net - $100 Each
Spyzooka.com Affiliate Contest:- Top 2 Most Improved Affiliates (over January-February Average) - $200 Each
- Top 3 Best Looking spyware removal websites featuring Spyzooka.com - $100 Each
- Top 2 New Affiliates (Has not previously produced a sale or not produced a sale in 3 months) - $100 Each
- Top 2 Best Articles about spyware removal featuring Spyzooka.com - $100 Each
UPromise.com Affiliate Contest:
- Top 2 Most Improved Affiliates (over January-February Average) - $200 Each
- Top 3 Best Looking Parent/child/education websites/blogs featuring UPromise.com - $100 Each
- Top 2 New Affiliates (Has not previously produced a sale or not produced a sale in 3 months) - $100
- Top 2 Best Articles about saving for college featuring UPromise.com - $100 Each
BistroMD.com Affiliate Contest:
- Top 2 Most Improved Affiliates (over January-February Average) - $200 Each
- Top 3 Best Looking Diet/BistroMD Websites - $100 Each
- Top 2 New Affiliates (Has not previously produced a sale or not produced a sale in 3 months) - $100
- Top 2 Best Articles About Dieting or losing weight Featuring BistroMD.com - $100 Each
BabytoBee.com Affiliate Contest:
- Top 2 Most Improved Affiliates (over January-February Average) - $200 Each
- Top 3 Best Looking Baby/parenting websites - $100 Each
- Top 2 New Affiliates (have not previously produced a sale or not produced a sale in 3 months) - $100 Each
- Top 2 Best Articles About Babies featuring Babytobee.com - $100 Each
Climber.com Affiliate Contest:
Top 3 Most Improved Affiliates (over January-February Average) - $100 Each
Top 3 Best Looking Resume Websites featuring climber.com - $100 Each
Top 2 New Affiliates (Has not previously produced a sale or not produced a
sale in 3 months) - $100
Top 2 Best Articles About Seeking jobs featuring Climber.com - $100 Each
If you are interested in participating in any of these exciting affiliate contests, then please join the advertiser through your Commission Junction account. If you have any questions at all, please let me know! I look forward to hearing your feedback.
Commission Junction announced that they are the affiliate network of choice for more companies on the Internet Retailer Top 500 list. CJ has an impressive list of clients and they continue to dominate with brand-name merchants.
Here are the highlights from the story:
- For the third consecutive year, Commission Junction is the affiliate marketing network of choice for 53% of the companies working with third-party providers in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
- Of the top 25 companies, more than 50% of those with affiliate marketing programs choose to partner with Commission Junction.
- Commission Junction is the third overall most-named vendor in all categories.
Here is the actual press release:
Fifty-Three Percent of the Internet Retailer Top 500 Who Use Third-Party Affiliate Marketing Providers Choose Commission Junction
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - June 12, 2008 - Commission Junction, a division of ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCLK), announced today that it is once again the affiliate marketing provider of choice for America’s largest retail Web sites. Among the retailers listed in The 2008 Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, 53 percent of those with third-party affiliate marketing partners have selected Commission Junction – more than all other affiliate marketing providers combined.
“In a recent survey of our Internet Retailer Top 500 clients, we were pleased to hear that the primary reason retailers choose Commission Junction is because we deliver sustainable year-over-year growth for their affiliate marketing programs,” said Kerri Pollard, General Manager of Commission Junction. “They also told us they prefer Commission Junction because we are the largest affiliate marketing network, which enables them to partner with a greater number of top-performing Web-site publishers. We truly appreciate our clients’ taking the time to give us this feedback and we will continue to provide superior service to all advertisers and publishers in our network.”
“As the largest and most comprehensive affiliate network, Commission Junction has been a powerful ally in keeping our customers up to date with the latest and greatest of our offerings and special promotions,” said Tommy Chang, director of internet marketing at Newegg, which ranks tenth on the Internet Retailer Top 500 and is the second-largest Internet-only retailer in the United States. “Commission Junction’s level of service has allowed for seamless integration into our marketing strategy and quickly brought success to our affiliate program.”
Among the ten largest online retailers with third-party affiliate marketing programs, in addition to Newegg, Commission Junction counts Staples, Apple, Dell, HP, QVC and Best Buy as customers.
Affiliate Marketing Can Drive More Than 20 Percent of Online Revenue
Affiliate marketing continues to be a popular channel with online retailers because of the guaranteed ROI inherent in the cost-per-acquisition model in which retailers pay publishers for driving consumer sales, not just clicks. Internet Retailer statistics confirm the popularity of affiliate marketing, with 75 percent of the Top 500 retailers using third-party affiliate marketing providers. Commission Junction’s survey of its Internet Retailer Top 500 clients revealed that nearly one in three companies derived more than 20 percent of its online revenue through its affiliate channel.
For the complete list of Commission Junction clients in the Internet Retailer Top 500, please go to www.cj.com/internetretailertop500.
About Commission Junction
Commission Junction (www.cj.com) provides advanced performance marketing solutions that help marketers increase online leads and sales. By facilitating strategic relationships between advertisers and publishers, Commission Junction leverages its proven expertise in affiliate marketing and search marketing to drive measurable results for clients.
About ValueClick, Inc.
ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCLK) is one of the world’s largest online marketing services companies, offering comprehensive and scalable solutions to deliver cost-effective customer acquisition for advertisers and robust revenue streams for publishers. ValueClick’s performance- based solutions allow customers to reach their potential through multiple online marketing channels, including affiliate and search marketing, display advertising, lead generation, ad serving and e-mail technology, and comparison shopping. ValueClick brands include Commission Junction, ValueClick Media, Mediaplex, PriceRunner and Smarter.com. For more information, visit www.valueclick.com.
Commission Junction is offering a webinar for merchants and advertisers to see if CJ and affiliate marketing is the right move for your business. If you need a good affiliate management agency to properly launch and grow your affiliate program you should use Experience Advertising. Here is the break-down on what Commission Junction is offering in their webinar for prospective advertisers courtesy of their site:
Affiliate marketing is one of the most cost-effective investments you can make, but getting started can be challenging if you’ve never done it before. Determining if affiliate marketing is right for your business is the first step for you and your company. We’ll guide you through understanding the benefits of the affiliate channel and choosing an affiliate network and a service plan that meets your needs. We’ll also provide you with a number of resources and:
• Give you the basics on affiliate marketing
• Share the steps for launching a program
• Help you avoid costly mistakes
Is affiliate marketing right for your business? Find out in this complimentary webinar.
I just received an email that the Overstock.com affiliate program is moving from the Linkshare Affiliate Network to the Commission Junction Affiliate Network. And guess what? They email had no From in the sender as has been the cases for ages with the Overstock.com affiliate newsletters. That has always irked me! I even pointed it out to them but they couldn’t seem to get it fixed. I’m sure they will better luck sending emails properly through Commission Junction. Here is the main information in the email I received:
We are delighted to announce that the Overstock.com Affiliate Program will be transitioned from the LinkShare network to the Commission Junction network. As many of you are aware, we have had a long and mutually successful partnership with LinkShare, but feel at this time it is in the best interest of our Affiliate Program to make this change. We look forward to and appreciate both networks’ commitment to ensuring that it is a smooth process for our publishers. The transition to Commission Junction will begin within the next three to four weeks.
It goes on…in other news…and proceeds to list out a bunch of specials. Going for one last promotion push before bailing Linkshare! Hope the transition from Linkshare to CJ goes well, this can be a very difficult thing to accomplish.
Commission Junction UK has launched an official blog and it looks pretty nice! Full of good posts. You can check it out here: CJ UK Blog.
I wonder when Commission Junction USA will launch their own blog. Probably pretty soon if they see the UK blog doing well. I think they should seriously consider it, since its a great way to get word out about new happenings at CJ. And there are plenty of interesting and smart people working at Commission Junction, so filling it up with good posts about affiliate marketing and new developments at CJ shouldn’t be too difficult.
Commission Junction is currently sending out this very legal sounding email to publishers encouraging them to perform due dilligence with a link to a PDF from NY state’s tax office…
As you may already know, the State of New York recently enacted new legislation that addresses tax registration, collection, and other time-sensitive obligations. As with all laws, this law may or may not apply to you and your business. We are actively monitoring the law and will use reasonable efforts to protect ourselves and our publishers as we deem appropriate.
The application of the law is dependent on particular business and factual circumstances, and Commission Junction is not in a position to provide legal and tax advice regarding this law. However, we encourage you to perform the appropriate due diligence as it relates to your business.
For your convenience, we have provided a link to a memo from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Office of Tax Policy Analysis, Taxpayer Guidance Division that addresses the new legislation:
While certainly not as personal and emphatic as ShareASale’s response on their blog or on the ABW forum, it is a little heart warming to see CJ addressing the issue.
I was hoping for more of a “these are the steps we will take to educate merchants and protect our publishers” type email, but it looks like this is all we’re going to get from CJ at this point.
