PMA mission statement and first year objectives

The Performance Marketing Alliance (PMA) working group have finalized the PMA mission statement and objectives for the first year. The PMA is on schedule to launch Jan 1 and will have a booth at the Affiliate Summit west in Vegas this Jan.

PMA Mission

The Performance Marketing Alliance is the not for profit, trade association for the performance marketing industry. Our core objective is to be a catalyst for industry growth by promoting best practices, establishing guidelines and standards, and increasing awareness of the effectiveness of performance marketing.

Initial PMA Scope

· Drive membership
· Publish best practices and standards
· Coalesce issues facing the industry
· Coordinate advocacy efforts

Congratulations to Beth Kirsch and the members of the Scope group, in coming up with a concise and meaningful mission statement. The message is also well contained, and yet flexible enough to allow our future members to shape the PMA. Us marketers all know how hard that can be!

Cost per Action: 5 Questions Before You Begin

As more marketers demand accountability from more media, both parties need to agree on the best way to pay for performance. The keyword and contextual players want revenue per click of course and the lead gen crew wants – no surprise – revenue for a qualified lead.

Then there are those hardy souls who want to be paid well for business closed – revenue for a specific action. Cost per Action or Cost per Acquisition (CPA) really could be the ultimate expression of performance – if the actions can really be measured. In our experience, attaining this ideal isn’t as easy as the concept. This raises a few considerations for marketers (as well as agencies and media) considering a foray into the world of CPA.

Can your system track source? : CPA can only work if the marketer’s CRM system can capably track the source of each lead. Months can pass from initial contact to eventual sale and there are liable to be other contact points after a performance ad firm initiates the relationship. All parties need to be sure that credit is given where it is due.

Do you want to share information? : Many marketers we speak with prefer not to give specific results of campaigns to 3^rd parties. In CPA programs, the marketer promises to reveal important financial information, i.e. how many accounts are opened or sales are made based on the performance ads. Are you willing to do this? Is your CFO? How will you build an audit track?

How do you manage the continuity? : CPA programs are rarely one-shot deals. There will probably be an ongoing campaign to convert as many of the initial prospects as possible. Media might vary. How will the follow up strategy work? Who will oversee all the creative for continuity programs? Who will manage the responses and coordinate with your database?

How do you set the price for a customer acquisition? : Some marketers base the CPA on current account acquisition norms. If they’re now paying $1000 all-inclusive to get a new customer through other marketing means, they might offer $500 per acquisition for a CPA program.

Often, the price can be set through testing Cost per Action to Cost per Lead and Click. If 0.2% of $2 clicks convert, that’s a $1000 acquisition, as is 1% of $10 leads. There’s a good horse race to see which provides the lowest cost of acquiring new business.

Should you vary the payout? : Good performance marketing enables segmentation. Most likely, you’ll offer your better potential customers a better set of benefits. If some customers are worth more than others, are you willing to pay more to get them? Incentives are powerful: consider paying your performance ad group more when they bring in a prime target customer.

These just scratch the surface of decisions you’ll make when embarking on CPA. But, if you can comfortably answer these questions, you’ve gone a long way toward a potential ROI boost.

Building Trust in Today's Business World

Building Trust in Today's Business World

From the pre-internet era to Web 2.0 and beyond, times have changed, but fundamental business values have not.

It used to be that you could trust someone by their word and the look in their eye when you shook hands. Just because there is less personal contact today, it does not mean that traditional values can be disposed of.

Business has become more virtual but the loss of interpersonal contact does not mean that companies should be able to ‘get away' with more or obfuscate the truth. Trust still must be earned, even if a virtual handshake replaces a physical one.

Even in the internet world, relationships are built one at a time and are not something that technology will ever replace. Relationships will always require trust and meaningful dialog between two mutually benefiting parties. Business partnerships are built with care and attention through intelligent dialog and genuine interest from both parties.

Building trust is a constant, ever-changing process that does not have an end. To grow trust companies must work together, plan, test and repeat. Trust requires learning from one another and sharing knowledge to mutual benefit. Trust means delivering what's been promised and more. Trust means being true to yourself and true to your word.

Understanding the Importance of Trust in Media

The words “trust” and “media” are historically contradictory. In fact, in today's online world, the synchrony of these two ideas is almost extinct. However with more and more of the marketing budget being allocated to online advertising, trust is of extreme importance. Marketeers need their budgets to perform for them, and they need to trust their partners with their investments. So marketers need to be able to trust the affiliate networks that they pay – and rely on - to bring them leads. Real leads. Marketers need a media partner they can trust.

Finding an Affiliate Network Built on Trust

With so many options in today's industry landscape, finding the right affiliate network can be a daunting task. First, businesses should ask pointed questions to ensure the affiliate network is closely aligned to the company's success. Businesses should also review case studies on past and current performance of existing clients. Second, companies should review the existing client lists of an ad network to determine which other companies have trusted them - and received positive results - in the space. Finally, businesses should request a “trial period” to ensure successful results.

Finding the right affiliate network shouldn't leave a marketer feeling nervous. Marketers should be confident about working with the right partner to generate returns on their investment and make sure their brands are protected from an un-vetted network of advertisers and affiliates. Companies that believe in putting the trust back into business should collaborate. Companies should partner with an affiliate network that offers:

1) Trust, Honesty and Integrity.
2) REAL Leads.
3) On-Time Payments.
4) World Class Technology.
5) Excellent Customer Service.

If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to contact me at Jivan.manhas@gmail.com

By Jivan Manhas, Managing Director, Advaliant. For more information, please contact press (at) advaliant (dot) com.

Advaliant (http://www.advaliant.com/) is a next generation performance marketing company comprised of the Advaliant affiliate ad network and the Advaliant services agency. Advaliant offers a ‘one-stop-shop' for solutions across all online marketing channels including: affiliate and search marketing, contextual and display advertising, lead generation, e-mail marketing, mobile marketing, data management, Web publishing and list management.

Advaliant affiliate ad network and services agency work seamlessly together to deliver high-performing, customized, marketing campaigns that create awareness, generate leads, drive sales, and retain customers. Advaliant is a wholly owned subsidiary of MediaTrust.