More than Brand Links and Logos

Wow, what an amazingly crazy fourth quarter that was. I think I slept about an hour a night, and not just because of my newborn baby girl. It always seems like the 4th quarter is so far away during the year and then out of now where it is here and gone. I hope everyone had a successful Q4 and a safe holiday and I am sure you are running 100mph into the new year.

I have been digging through our numbers and doing a personal re-cap of the last quarter. I wanted to write about something I saw very often while working with affiliates to get better placement, improve conversions and generate more sales through their sites that may help a few affiliates. We manage several programs, from large established brands like Hilton and Mikasa, to smaller, less recognizable ones like FactoryCard.com and Taylor Gifts or relatively new companies like MyWinesDirect.

I noticed that for the less recognizable companies, affiliates’ sites that performed well showcased more than a simple brand logo or text link. The ones that didn’t perform well simply placed a logo on their page. Usually a 120×60 or 88×31, and sometimes accompanied with a short blurb of text, was pretty much what they used.

There are a couple of things that contribute to low conversions (Can you tell I am a fan of lists?):

1. An 88×31 is pretty hard to fit anything worthwhile. It usually only shows a logo and is often to hard to read.
2. These companies may be new to consumers and a logo may not show them enough to solicit a click.
3. With a small image there is virtually no pre-selling. What does the customer expect they are going to get when the brand is not self explanatory or the logo not very descriptive of the products offered on their site. It’s unfortunate, but many companies, even large brands, have logos that just don’t represent their product well. .

The affiliates that performed well:
1. Used a larger banner size, 120×90 or 125×125. This allowed for product shots, a call to action and even a tag line at times.
2. They often coupled the banner with several text links. These text links described top products, consumer offers and company taglines. Having this space available allows you, as an affiliate, to pre-sell the consumer on this product. It allows you to catch their eye and present them with an additional company that offers the product they are looking for. And this is even better for you if that smaller company offers better commission rates, which is common with companies trying to gain more market share.
3. The more text, product links, or coupon links you can offer for each merchant, the better chance you have at converting a shopper into a customer. Some customers will like that new widget that just came out while others will act on that free shipping offer.
4. It’s all about the product. The customer wants to purchase something, so show them as many products as you can as often as you can.

Well, there is my first blog of the year. Hopefully this helps some of you increase your site’s performance this year, or others share more ideas or heck, you can even tell me I’m wrong. I’m sure you veteran affiliates have a lot more to say on this subject than I do, you are the experts. Happy New Year!