Leading performance marketing agency, Affiliate Traction has joined forces with global affiliate network, buy.at to offer strategic affiliate marketing solutions for advertisers. Through the partnership, high profile brands including Sketchers, Spencer’s Gifts, Mattel Shop, SOCCER.com and Precious Moments™ are now available to buy.at affiliates. Bringing together market-leading tools and technology, as well as unrivalled levels of account management, the agency and network will collaborate to maximize online presence and ROI for clients.

With over a decade of industry experience and through long-term relationships directly with top internet retailers, many of which fall within the Internet Retailer Top 500, Affiliate Traction and buy.at provide online publishers with a range of opportunities through the performance channel. buy.at’s global reach and proprietary tools coupled with Affiliate Traction’s all-inclusive affiliate management services will focus on delivering results, building long-term strategic partnerships with key publishers, and introducing new, relevant niche sites within specific verticals for advertisers to engage with. (more…)

Merchant ABCs hosts Deborah Carney, Vinny O’Hare and Amy Ely joined Kim Salvino of buy.at and Liz Fogg of Team Loxly to answer a fundamental question for affiliate managers: What key steps should I take when launching (or relaunching) an affiliate program?

Key Steps Include:

Review the affiliate list – check your program’s placement on the site, understand how they’re promoting your program (and make sure they’re compliant with your PPC policy), ask industry contacts about their reputation, consult your network or OPM, review forums and search online for any positive or negative feedback about the affiliate

Evaluate the program terms – make sure you have program-specific terms in addition to network terms, ensure they’re clear and consistent, outline search policies on using brand name in the display URL, misspellings, brand + term bidding, and consider including terms for coupon affiliates to set expectations

Assess the creative – include a wide variety of fresh text link and banner creative in IAB standard sizes, create deep text links (deep linking should be a requirement!!), offer a well categorized, regularly updated data feed and provide content for affiliates to use on their site

Understand the competitive landscape – is your commission structure, cookie length, conversion rate and creative suite competitive?

Develop a communication plan – send out an introductory newsletter to affiliates and an announcement post in forums and social media, consider including a survey to ask what they need, determine when you’ll send newsletters and if you’ll echo communications through social media, provide your full contact details and be approachable, genuine, and responsive to affiliates

Walk through the affiliate’s shoes – sign up to the program an affiliate, identify how long it takes for network approval, understand the process for pulling creative, viewing reports, and more so you can identify pain points that may deter affiliates and consumers

Test, test, test – test your shopping cart in all major browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome), complete a test purchase to ensure tracking and reporting are working as expected, confirm that affiliate transactions across different networks track properly

Download the full podcast here or click here to simply open the podcast in a new window.

Your brand is a hit in your home country and your website is starting to draw sales from across the pond, proving there is an interest in your product range. You add on shipping costs for your new market and display the price of your products with the local currency text identifier (USD/GBP). Traffic is increasing off the back of the SEO you’ve implemented and you’ve launched a PPC campaign, but conversion rates remain stubbornly low.

Here are 10 basic steps, and one golden rule, to optimize the conversion rates of your new territory traffic. (more…)

This week saw another successful Affiliate Summit conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Beginning on January 8th, Caesars Palace played host to the 19th summit where for the first time, more than 5000 digital marketing professionals gathered together for a jam-packed three days of informative industry presentations, extensive networking, and of course, the infamous summit parties with old friends within the industry.

Affiliates, agencies, vendors, advertisers, and networks of all shapes and sizes were in attendance, hoping to forge new business relationships within the performance marketing channel. Several of our advertisers spent time at the buy.at booth –meeting and mingling with existing partners and potential prospects.

Here’s a list of the advertisers who joined us:

Samir El-Alami (Badoo)
Erica Barry (VA Mortgage)
Greg Hoffman (SubscriptionAgent.com)
John Lobrutto (TripAlertz)
Alicia Iveson, Ketan Thanki & Elizabeth Chung (British Airways)
Jen Ward (myOptumHealth Store)
Heather Blackburn (Girly Checks)
Jeannette Saliba (BargainStation.com)

We also hosted another fun and engaging ‘Twitter-a-Winner’ contest for all publishers, with a range of fantastic prizes from several brands including CafePress, Designers Guild, Ghirardelli, Girly Checks, Veer, Whittard of Chelsea, Goldstar, TripAlertz, Value Pet Supplies and the grand prize of a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from BargainStation.com.

The definitive highlight of the show was on Tuesday the 10th when our very own Head of Publishers, Kim Salvino was awarded the prestigious Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Manager of the Year. After being nominated for three consecutive years, Kim finally took home the well-deserved trophy and we couldn’t be more excited and proud. We’ll be doing a detailed interview with Kim on the blog next week so make sure to check it out.

Thank you to everyone who made an effort to speak with us at the conference and to all of the buy.at team for another exceptional affiliate summit. Looking forward to ASE 2012 in New York.

Photos from ASW2012 can be seen here.

Lisa Chaikin
PR Manager – UK & US

Week Nine – Let’s go sale-ing

No rest for the wicked. It’s “the holidays” but in this industry, you’re lucky to get any real holiday at this time of year at all. Christmas is over for another year but in the blink of an eye is mega sale time! If you’re stuck working between Christmas and New Year to make the most of the sales peak, we have a competition just for you. Send us a screen shot of your post-Christmas sales promotions and we will enter you into a prize draw to win a £100/$150 bonus for working so hard over the festive season. Email an image of your site featuring any post-Christmas or sales promotions to competitions@digitalwindow.com to be in with a chance of some extra cash! Don’t forget to confirm you affiliate ID or handle in your email.

Terms and Conditions

• Entrants must send an image of an affiliate site they own/maintain featuring post-Christmas/sales content to competitions@digitalwindow.com between 09:00 23/12/11 and 23:59 02/01/12 to be counted
• There will be one publisher account drawn as the winner
• The winner must be aged 16 or over
• There is no alternative prize
• The competition is not open to any employees of Digital Window
• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
• Digital Window accepts no responsibility for any technical factors that may affect the receiving of entries via email or twitter. Only answers that successfully reach our mail server by the cut off time will be counted
• The £100/$150 prize will be credited to the affiliate account quoted in the competition entry
• All US, federal, state and local and Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations apply

Digital Window is pleased to announce the launch of the Spend and Raise eStore platform available through leading performance marketing networks, Affiliate Window and buy.at.

An eStore is an online shopping directory featuring hundreds of retailers. Brands who have partnered with Spend and Raise include John Lewis, Debenhams, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer, with Amazon and eBay joining in the next few months. Any UK based cause can create an eStore, whether a charity, sports group, school or religious organisation. The sign-up process is free and there are no ongoing fees associated with managing an eStore. (more…)

In celebration of Social Media Week, Valentine’s Day, and our blissful buy.at / Affiliate Window partnership, we’re sharing the love though a fun (and simple!) affiliate competition.

What Can I Win?
We’re giving away 3 huge boxes of fantastic chocolate to three lucky affiliates

• - UK affiliates are eligible to win a box of chocolates from Hotel Chocolat
• - US affiliates are eligible to win a gift tower from Ghirardelli

How Can I Enter?
No program performance thresholds or sales required!  Join in through three different ways:

1) Facebook

There’s no love like first love!

We all know that the real use of Facebook is checking out photos of playground crushes to see how they look after 20 years and three kids!

In the spirit of those memorable school days, we want to know the name of your first crush. Simply comment on our competition note on our Facebook page. We’ll be picking a reply/comment at random to be sent a box of delicious chocolate treats. You’ll get an extra entry for including any interesting details!

2) Twitter

Worst pick up line EVER!

Not that old line again! Send us your best brazen ice-breakers and include #dwworstline for a chance to win our second box of deliciousness. We’ll be retweeting our favorites all week and picking the one that makes us gasp the most to win the prize.

3) Flickr

Couldn’t get through the day without you!

What do you love the most? Your thoughtful spouse? Your favorite car? New York cheesecake? A walk at dusk? Whatever floats your boat, upload a picture of it to Flickr and tag it with dwvaldaycomp for a chance to win our final prize. Once you have uploaded your photo, email the link to promotions@digitalwindow.com.

Why not enter all three competitions to make sure you have the best chance of an indulgent gift on the big day? Good luck!

Terms and Conditions

1. Competitions run from Monday 7 February to 23:59 (GMT) Thursday 10 February 2011
2. One winner will be chosen from Facebook entries, one from twitter entries, and one from Flickr entries
3. You must have an Affiliate Window or buy.at affiliate account to enter
4. Affiliates can enter each competition multiple times
5. Twitter entries must contain #dwworstline hash tag
6. Flickr entries must be tagged with the term dwvaldaycomp
7. Winners must be available for us to contact on Friday 11th February to confirm delivery details
8. Winners need to be aged 16 or over
9. There is no alternative prize for any UK winner(s)
10. An alternative prize of equal value from Ghirardelli will be supplied to any winner(s) in the US
11. The competition is not open to any employees of Digital Window
12. The judges’ decision is final
13. No responsibility can be accepted for entries which are not properly received due to communications beyond our control
14. All US, federal, state and local and Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations apply

We know that the holiday season is a busy and stressful time; keeping sites up-to-date and compiling numerous e-mail newsletters is not easy and can be a struggle for even the most experienced affiliate. So, we wanted to make our Digital Window competition as easy as possible to enter and it doesn’t get more simple than this:

Every time you generate a sale or lead for a buy.at or AWin merchant we will allocate you one ticket for our BIG Christmas draw!

That’s it. No catches, no minimum order values, no maximum entries; just an opportunity for every single sale-generating affiliate to be in with a chance of taking home a BIG prize.

The winning affiliate will be randomly drawn on the first working day after Christmas and with there being no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ gift, we have put together a range of fantastic options for the winner to choose from:

3D Home Cinema Package

One of the biggest advancements in home viewing this century has been the development of 3D viewing in the home. No longer limited to the big screen, those watching from the comfort of their own sofa can now enjoy the fully immersive experience that 3D TV brings.

Our ultimate home cinema set-up includes state-of-the-art Sony Bravia technology; packed with cutting edge 3D image technology, including LED boost to bring you the brightest 3D pictures possible. What’s more, we’ll make sure you have everything you need to start viewing in 3D straight away; including enough 3D glasses for all the family, an annual subscription to Sky 3D and a Blu-ray player complete with 10 full HD films!

Prize includes:
* Sony Bravia 40” Full HD 3D TV
* Sony Active Shutter 3D Glasses ( 4 x Adult, 2 x Kids)
* Sony Home Cinema Speaker System
* Sony 3D Blu-ray Player
* A year’s subscription to Sky HD 3D, including ALL movie & sports channels (alternative provided for non-UK entrants)
* PLUS 10 x 3D Blu-ray films including Avatar, StreetDance 3D and A Christmas Carol

Shopping in The Big Apple

You and a friend will fly British Airways to New York City where you’ll jump in a yellow taxi to your 4* hotel, for a weekend of shopping in style!

Enjoy perusing the stores in the city that never sleeps. Take advantage of lower taxes and the current exchange rate and get more for your £500 spending money each!

And no trip to NYC would be complete without a night on Broadway, so take your pick of any show and we’ll make sure you and your travel partner watch the show in style, from the best available seats in the house!

Prize includes:
* British Airways return flights to JFK (alternative provided for non-UK entrants)
* Return Yellow Taxi transfer to/from the airport
* Three night stay at a 4* hotel for 2
* £500 (~$790)  spending money each
* Theatre tickets to a Broadway show of your choice
* Fully comprehensive travel insurance

The Ultimate Gadget Gift Set

If there is one company who in recent years have consistently hit the mark with their line of innovative and user-friendly products, it’s the team at Apple. Love them or hate them, there is no denying the fact they have a real flair for designing gorgeous gadgets complete with market-leading software.

With our ultimate Apple gift set you don’t need to queue in-line around the corner or pay the earth to get your hands on these ‘must have’ products. Instead, let us supply you with everything you’ll ever need to store your media or stay in touch whether at home, in the office or on the move!

Prize includes:
* iPod Touch 64GB 4th Gen
* iPhone 4 32GB
* iPad 3G + WiFi 64GB
* iMac All-in-One Computer
* MacBook Air

Take the Money and Run!

If you are already a very successful (or lucky) affiliate, then it could be you already own the iPhone, iPad and iPod. Perhaps you’ve been to New York recently and don’t fancy another flight stateside. Maybe 3D home viewing is just not your cup of tea, in which case, this is the prize for you.

Decide exactly what to spend your money on by choosing a cash prize of £3,000 (~$4,750); we’ll even give you a nice envelope to take the notes home in. You can spend it on a New Year break, buy yourself a few indulgent treats, treat your better half to some sparkling jewellery, or finally get round to finishing that home improvement project you started last year. The great thing is, the choice is yours.

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For help with your holiday promotional activities keep an eye on this blog for regular seasonal updates, or access OfferCentral via your MA. If you have any questions regarding the BIG Christmas draw then drop us an e-mail, promotions@digitalwindow.com.

Best of luck!

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Competition T&Cs
* Every sale or lead generated between 00:01 Thursday 21st October and 00:00 Friday 24th December on both the buy.at and AWin networks will earn the referring affiliate one entry into the BIG Christmas draw
* Winners will need to be aged 18 or over
* There is no alternative prize
* The competition is not open to any employees of Digital Window
* The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
* All US, federal, state and local and Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations apply

Prize T&Cs
* Prizes are subject to availability and are non transferable
* Prizes are valid for six months from the time of winning
* Prize winners must be 18 years or older
* Prize winner must provide 6-8 weeks notice to arrange prize
* Holiday prize not to be taken over bank or public holidays and it is the responsibility of the prize winner to arrange any necessary travel to and from their departure airport
* Spending money/travel allowance will be provided in the form of a cheque

Yesterday Digital Window hosted its first gifts, gadgets & toys event at Kettners in Soho. A combination of sector-relevant presentations and a mini-expo, the event provided the perfect opportunity for our key merchants and affiliates to discuss ideas, new products and bespoke activity just in time for the festive season.

Our key speaker was BBC2′s Something for the Weekend’s Gadget Girl, and buyer for IWOOT, Ella Williamson. She kindly took time out of her busy schedule to talk us through her take on the biggest trends hitting the gifts market this year, plus demonstrated ten of her hottest product recommendations. With items such as the Kymera Magic Wand and Meerkat Chatimal featured in her presentation, Ella’s session was as exciting as it was insightful.

The afternoon was spent networking, as merchants including Needapresent, Red Letter Days, I Want One of Those, Interflora, La Senza and buyagift created stands in order to showcase the best of their customer and affiliate offerings in the run up to Christmas. Both The Entertainer and Debenhams brought along in-store demonstrators, ensuring fully interactive networking opportunities could be had. As if that wasn’t enough, the guys from Game pulled out all the stops by setting up an Xbox Kinect in The Den; you can see some of our attendees in action below!

Towards the end of the day we held a charity raffle in aid of The Prince’s Trust, with fantastic prize contributions from Atelier des Chefs, Gizoo, Great Magazines, Interflora, I Want One of Those, La Senza, Laura Ashley, Menkind, Needapresent, Photobox, Prezzybox and Red Letter Days. Thanks to the generosity of our guests we raised over £280; many thanks to all those that bought a ticket.

Initial feedback has been phenomenally positive, with one affiliate going as far as to say “it was probably one of the best run affiliate events I’ve been to.” We were delighted with the sheer number of conversations and business opportunities that arose across a single afternoon and look forward to seeing many of those plan come to fruition as we enter the festive period.

Sam Surry,
Head of Communications

Last night Digital Window hosted its 4th annual black tie reception, Review, at the exquisite Altitude 360. With spectacular views of famous London landmarks including The River Thames, The London Eye, and The Houses of Parliament, the evening was the perfect setting for us to thank all of our clients and partners for their continuing support and to celebrate the successes we have enjoyed throughout the year.

Over 300 merchants, affiliates, agencies and other industry representatives attended the gala and enjoyed divine food, copious amounts of wine, and a memorable evening of strengthening existing relationships and forging new ones.

As the after party commenced, the infamous Digital Window vodka luge became the evening’s hot spot in addition to the photo booth snapping some hysterical pictures, the digital graffiti wall and of course the dance floor which didn’t stop rocking until 3 am.

Jo Lyons from e2Save commented; “All of us at e2save thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at last night’s annual black tie event. Not only were we able to meet new affiliates and discuss possible promotional opportunities but it also gave us the chance to meet up with some our top performing affiliates and thank them for all their hard work. Thanks again for a wonderful night, once again Digital Window exceeded our expectations.”

On behalf of Digital Window, thank you again to everyone that attended and helped to make the evening a memorable one.

All photos from the photo booth can be found here.

Please use the following login details to access the photos.

Username: digital
Password: window

Lisa Chaikin
PR Manager