Sadly, for years affiliate marketing has been seen as the poor relation of the digital advertising family.
Tracking networks and technology companies typically selling the channel as a no-frills, “no-win no-fee” way to pad out marketing plans.
Earlier this week I wrote an article on Econsultancy about Black Friday and whether UK retailers will abstain or get involved with the American inspired retail holiday.
Well, like in politics, a week is a long time in retail. Today might be Armistice Day in Europe, and a day of sombre reflection, but in China it’s the wildly popular Singles’ Day sales frenzy.
It’s that time of year again; the weather’s miserable, tear jerking Christmas ads are back on the telly, and everyone in British retail is trying to decide what to do about Black Friday.
With Christmas fast approaching, it’s important that brands are ready with a strategic email marketing campaign plan.
So following on from my previous Christmas email post, here are steps 6-10 towards festive email marketing success…
Nominet’s proposals to add a .uk domain have not been popular, to put it mildly.
However, it has decided to introduce the change anyway, albeit with some minor concessions.
Critics point out that the new domains aren’t necessary, devalue the existing .co.uk domains, and impose unwanted costs on online businesses.
So why has Nominet decided to go ahead with the move anyway? I’ve asked the question…
The recent decision by Nominet to forge ahead with the introduction of new .uk domains has not been met with widespread approval, to say the least.
Nominet’s own consultations uncovered strong oppostion to the plans, but this was apparently not enough to force a rethink.
I have made our opposition to the proposals very clear, but one conpany in favour of the planned .uk domians is 123-reg.
I’ve been asking Matt Mansell, Head of Domain Strategy at its parent company Host Europe Group about his views.
Nobody outside of the organisation seems to think this is a good idea, but Nominet is going ahead with the .uk domains anyway.
As we have reported before, the plan for the new domains will force many online businesses to grab extra domains, thereby paying extra renewal fees and more.
There are no convincing benefits for online businesses, though Nominet and its members look set to profit from the move.
No matter though, as Nominet has announced that the new domains will be rolled out from summer 2014.
Our Internet Statistics Compendium has seen another bumper update this month, collecting the best freely available data from across the digital spectrum across our easy-to-explore ISC documents.
Perhaps the biggest news on the digital media front in August was the release of the hugely comprehensive Communications Market Report 2013 from Ofcom.
We look at a good proportion of the report in our latest update, but I wanted to collect several of the findings here – some of which may be surprising, even to those with the keenest eyes on the UK’s digital scene.
The new .uk domains seem to be unstoppable, despite the many potential drawbacks for UK businesses and consumers.
Here are a few reasons why I, and others, think this is a bad idea…
I reported at the end of last year on Nominet’s controversial proposals for .uk domains, which were viewed with scepticism by many businesses.
Nominet recently came back after a consultation process with modified proposals, but the big question still remains: are they actually necessary?
The problem is that this move potentialy devalues .co.uk domains, and will therefore force businesses to cough up for the .uk equivalent.
And who benefits? Nominet, to the tune of £25m+…
Email marketing is still one of the most effective channels for reaching your audience, but the inbox has become increasingly crowded these days.
Kickdynamic is a startup aiming to help you keep your message fresh through a product and analytics suite that puts live content in your control, post send button.
We spoke with Matt Hayes, Kickdynamic’s co-founder to get a better picture of the product offering and the team’s approach.
UK affiliate marketing has gone a long way since its inception. It has become more mainstream, and altogether more complex.
And regardless of all the challenges, it now offers (both advertisers and publishers) more opportunities than ever.