'Net Features : forrester

Canadians A Loyal Bunch, and Other Insights on Global Affiliate Marketing

Michael Garrity — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:15:00 GMT

Working online means running a business that has the potential to go global right from the get-go, which means keeping an eye on emerging trends from around the world is really important, especially for advertisers that use affiliates to reach new customers from all over.

Attempting to uncover these kinds of insights is what led Rakuten LinkShare to commission a study by Forrester about global selling through the affiliate channel called quite bluntly, “Key Trends and Best Practices Selling Globally Via the Affiliate Channel,” which surveyed more than 2500 online shoppers from Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the United States, Canada, Brazil and the United Kingdom. Forrester rapped with various advertisers AND publishers that are either managing affiliate programs in multiple countries or preparing to expand internationally.

The survey was focused on finding out about the opportunities and challenges presented by cross-border selling through the affiliate marketing channel. Forrester determined that while advertisers and publishers should think globally, they should act locally by enacting country-specific strategies. Businesses should also build their brand in each new country they enter, focus on fulfillment operations and lever the “halo effect” associated with international selling.

For more country-specific data, the Rakuten LinkShare study also found:
-    68 percent of affiliate shoppers have made an online purchase from a company outside of their home countries in the last year
-    US affiliate shoppers spend more online than the global average, and they’re especially loyal to brands that make offers across multiple websites
-    UK shoppers also spend above average and are “highly likely” to reconsider an abandoned cart after receiving an offer
-    Canadian shoppers are the most likely to buy outside of their country, and use a lot of loyalty/cash-back sites
-    Australians care the least about duties and taxes, but they’re also the least likely to reconsider an abandoned shopping cart
-    Japanese shoppers use a lot of multi-brand and comparison shopping sites, but insist on offers to close a deal when they’re undecided
-    Brazilians avidly use the affiliate channel

In addition, Forrester also found that shipping costs and times are still the biggest challenge to cross-border e-commerce, but duties and taxes also inhibit many global brands from competing. Moreover, the survey determined that local payment types are essential to global online success.

All in all, this provides advertisers, publishers and brands looking to take their e-commerce businesses to the world with valuable information that will help them better make their way into the world’s most important economies. Food for thought, ya know?

Webtrends Studies the Splinternet

Michael Garrity — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 07:00:00 GMT

A study conducted by Forrester Consulting, and commissioned by Webtrends, that examines "the effect that the explosion of new devices, emerging technologies and the fragmentation of digital marketing channels" has been having on both marketers and digital marketing strategies was released today.

Webtrends is considered one of the world's leaders in unified mobile, social and Web analytics and engagement and sanctioned the study, entitled "The Implications of the Splinternet and the Future of Web Analytics," in an effort to research the potential future of Web analysis and discover emerging trends in the digital marketing environment ahead of time.

The study was conducted in May of this year with 210 global senior-level digital marketers across various industries in both the United States and Europe.

What they found was that there are many marketers who seem to be having trouble with the fragmentation of technology standards and customer touch-points, and that this problem persists across most, or all, digital platforms and devices.

According to a Webtrends press release, the study produced three key conclusions:

- Disruption of the marketing landscape: The Splinternet, technology and channel fragmentation, leads to marketers trying to quickly adapt to a new multichannel environment and "racing to understand the Splinternet." In the study, 85 percent of the respondents said that they "Completely or Strongly Agree" that in order to best serve customers today, they have to improve their multichannel capabilities.

- Marketing strategies need rebooted: The foundations of the marketing strategies of many firms will need to be evaluated, and in some cases completely redone, in order to best establish "mutually beneficial relationships" with customers in an environment composed of new channels, technologies and high expectations from more sophisticated consumers. One question posed by the study asked what skills the respondents thought would be most important to their organization over the next five years in a post-fragmented climate. A total of 50 percent said that strategy was most important, followed by 28 percent who thought campaign planning was key.

- Multichannel success can be achieved by mastering multiple disciplines: A multidisciplinary approach will be the best way for firms to harness the opportunities that the Splinternet will present. Included in this are technology, organization, process and measurement, all of which are considered interrelated contributors to an effective campaign. Forrester found that 84 percent of respondents "Completely or Strongly Agree" that they would drive more sales and profit by establishing themselves as multichannel companies.

Webtrends Director of Product Marketing, Analytics Steve Earl says, "Clearly, as the results of this research demonstrate, future success in interactive marketing is inextricably linked to effective measurement across digital channels."

Starting on September 23, Webtrends will have a copy of the study available online here.

Peer Influence Analysis Informs SMM Strategy

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:52:00 GMT

Research company Forrester released an analytical framework today designed to aid marketers in reaching social media influencers and scale their WOM (word-of-mouth) marketing efforts.

From the release: Peer Influence Analysis gives marketing and strategy professionals insight into the demographics and behaviors of what Forrester calls Mass Influencers — the army of social influencers who generate the majority of impressions and opinions about a company’s products and services.

Those Mass Influencers Forrester estimates were responsible for more than 500 billion consumer-generated brand impressions.

“Social media has created a new type of influencer — one defined not merely by number of friends or frequency of dialogue but by both,” said Forrester Research Senior Analyst Augie Ray. “Brands can succeed with Mass Influencers by creating programs that energize large numbers of these enthusiasts. The challenge is that marketers do not and cannot know the identity of the vast majority of their Mass Influencers. Thus, they need ways to reach them en masse, not individually.”