Affiliate Trends 2009

March 9, 2009

Having returned from the Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas, Tom recently put pen to paper and wrote a missive for DM Weekly, Marketing Week’s online cousin.

 

Rather than repeat in full what he said, here’s Tom’s abridged view of the latest Affiliate Trends 2009:

 

“At the recent Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas two trends stood out:  the muscling in of large UK ad agencies and the upgraded importance of cashflow and early payment terms.”

 

It was no surprise to see some of the large UK ad agency networks present at Vegas.  Ad agencies are desperately trying to grab a slice of the affiliate action. Will they be successful?  Partially perhaps, but lead gen demands consummate experts because all the marketing risk is borne by the agency.  I’m not sure whether ad agencies have the expertise to do this.

 

The second trend is more ominous.  Affiliate networks are demanding faster payment terms in order to secure their cash flow.  This is not surprising – we’ve already heard of rumours of one mid-sized UK lead gen agency defaulting on their affiliate obligations to the tune of up to £50k owed to just one network alone. 

 

Safe business is now the order of the day in affiliate marketing and credit checks and due diligence the very minimum requirement.  Whilst it’s a sign of a maturing market, it also means that clients can expect better delivery of their campaigns than ever before.  That can’t be bad.”