SendTec's Greg Morey says an offer premium must be crafted to appeal to the consumer, in order to capture a publisher's attention on CPA.
Doing what I do, I live in front of my PC at work. Around this time every month, usually after a very productive day, I’ll open a new word doc and type something at the top from whatever pops into my mind. For those of you who have read more than one of my ramblings and have already picked up on this little factoid and still come back, seek professional help … there are prescription drugs available for you.
Today happened to be the day I dealt with the issue of promotional premiums on many fronts. We perhaps are painfully aware that most media folks view the sale to a consumer as the client’s responsibility, and to a certain extent, that is fair. The product or service has to have consumer appeal. However, audience quality is derived from what drives the audience to the publisher’s site, so I can’t say that the media is completely without responsibility or accountability. The media buyers have all heard it and rolled their eyes and the media sellers have all said it and secretly smiled, saying “We want it to work for everyone.” Fortunately, direct response marketing actually creates a “put up or shut up” stance on behalf of the client.
Clients typically believe in the power of their product or service and the ability of that product and service to stand on its own two feet when being marketed. To a certain extent that can be true, but how do you actually qualify something like that to the consumer who will simply say, “So what?”
Media publishers who will consider engaging in a CPA campaign need to know how they will get paid. Yes the answer is on a per-action basis that occurs from their site, but the bigger issue is the assessment of the action itself and what the expectation of the consumer is. Essentially what’s the bounty and what does the consumer have to do in order for the publisher to be paid the bounty?
For example, if all the client requires is a list of valid names and valid email addresses, you’ll have a very wide swath of publishers that will gladly line up to take your money for less than a buck each action. That’s easy money for them, even if duplicates are excluded. However, start adding things like phone, qualifying questions, and finally the ultimate accountable measure a valid credit card, well the price increases while the universe of CPA media publishers diminishes. So the dilemma is and has been, what can the client do to create better conversions of a click to justify a publisher continuing to offer free impressions and get paid on an action?
Nothing melts resistance like a great idea!
Promotional events in an online sense are varied, however, there are sites completely dedicated to a 24/7 promotions party that will draw the attention of any subset of internet culture you are marketing to. One of the biggest, consistent and most copied successes is perhaps the Free iPod. I will not issue my opinion on who offered the first iPod for free but I’m just pretty sure it wasn’t Al Gore.
In the interest of simplicity for this article, I’m lumping all promotional items of interest online into a category called the “Free iPod.” Truth be told it really varies by lifestyle interests. It could be “Free Pre-loaded Gas Cards,” “Free Pre-loaded VISA check cards,” “Free Pre-loaded Starbucks cards,” or even a “Free Washer and Dryer,” although you have to do your own loading for that.
Direct marketing in its very basic premise is really about a promotion, or a specific offer. It is of course up to the agency and/or marketing team to deliver an offer that is desirable to the target market. What happens when a client believes a “Free Trial’ of their product is a decent enough premium as their offer to the consumer? Run away … very fast!
Seriously, consider using a site that offers promotional premiums as incentives to the consumers to act, creating a buying audience ready to act. But be cautious. How the offer is crafted really is the key to quality customer volume versus a bunch of “something for nothing” people trying to beat the system.
For example, if the client creates a Free Trial, no credit card required offer, many will try the offer but it is highly unlikely that a large percentage of the trials will convert into paying customers. If that’s the goal -- trials -- then you’re golden! However, for those who want to drive something more from an action, involve a credit card in the Free Trial.
Many agencies and marketers avoid these types of publishers as they are worried about the brand experience the consumer will have, and/or people not getting their “Free iPods” after following the process. Completely valid. There are a number of sites that are pulling crap in, which means the client is, of course, getting crap out. However, there are plenty of credible sites that don’t make it impossible for the consumer to get the “Free iPod,” who are already spending CPM dollars on very valid channels to drive quality traffic to their sites. The real question comes down to how well you know the space and are following who is doing what to generate traffic to their site.
Can the client offer a “Free iPod” within the offer and use a different site that doesn’t scare them? Possibly, depending upon the client and the “Free iPod” offered. But why create another “Free iPod” offer when there are so many out there doing it already and willing to get paid for every new customer given? Use them to figure out if the offer works first before you add to its “curb appeal.” You’ll not only know if the offer works, you’ll have statistics to use with your target sites to convince them to try a CPA deal. With behavioral targeting in place at many of the “established” sites, there should be no doubt about a publisher’s ability to fulfill the audience requirement and get paid on the desired client action.
Greg Morey is director of client services for SendTec, Inc. In that position, he oversees campaign execution and optimization including client planning, media placement, optimizing placements to deliver leads and customer data at clients’ ad allowable cost. He also supports internal process for creative and offers development, and maintains responsibility for unit margins.