Best Performance Marketing Technologies

Much time and effort is spent on building and maintaining websites as well as advertising on the internet, but what are the most important performance technologies that can be delployed to improve the success of website projects? Well, here is our picks for the top existing and and emerging technologies, especially for the booming mobile applications.

Data analytics

Data analytic technologies are a key ingredient for marketers in 2012. Data is the key element of all fields of marketing. Data helps you to learn, it helps you to evolve your product correctly, and it helps you to understand your end user (the consumer, in an affiliate’s case). With improved gathering, interpretation and application of data you can focus your offering so that it makes more conversions.

Web data can tell any online business about which segments of users are most valuable and therefore where to target time, resource and investment..

Video

Video usage is becoming of increasingly top priority. Analytics firm Bytemobile recently published its quarterly report on mobile data usage, which disclosed that video amounted to half of all mobile traffic. On some networks mobile video was accounted for 69% of the data use.

 

Coull is one company taking advantage of this media boom by monetizing digital movies for publishers to use in their websites. CEO Irfon Watkins says that the Coull is building “a video player that actually encompasses all the functionality a consumer wants before making an actual decision”. Users will be able to access a wealth of information without ever having to leave the video itself.  Dynamic Video Tracking Technology and Network, is a tool for adding affiliate tracking to advertiser videos. Advertisers and publishers can use this to achieve affiliate conversions via interactive video.

 

Coull offers a variety of related Conversion Rate Optimization software and services. These include Search Engine Optimization technology that lets you see all of the link placements of your competitors;. Competitive keyword reports that shows keywords in use by competitors and the level of importance of each keyword; Multi-Channel Reporting that provides overall performance from all of your promotional channels through one interface.

 

NFC

Voucher providers currently require a code from a mobile app to be shown – or worse, a paper printout to be manually noted – at the redemption stage in high-street shops and restaurants. Without delving too deep into the technology, Near Field Communications allows smartphones to be used as the payment device rather than a cash or credit card.

Voucher services have been keeping tabs on this technological advancement for some time. The trick to successful deployment isn’t about how to implement it, but rather just ensuring that there are enough NFC-supporting devices out there to make the tech worth introducing. Max Jennings, co-founder ofVoucherCodes.co.uk, thinks that high-street retailers need to shoulder as much responsibility for this as the device manufacturers themselves. “While the industry is in agreement that the use of NFC-enabled voucher systems will become the norm, growth in this area is very much dictated by investment from retailers,” he explains. “In order to get to the stage where sites can run successful voucher campaigns utilising NFC systems, we need to see a significant rise in the number of point of sale systems that support NFC technology.”

ExactView

Developed and pioneered by real-time performance marketing technology provider Performance Horizon Group, ExactView is a global platform for tracking, reporting, managing and optimising performance partner relationships. Should the technology prove successful, it could be the start of pressure for affiliate networks who could be made redundant from some top publisher earnings - simply because their share of override will be removed from the equation which they may lose out on.

Competition is something that can cause any industry to innovate or revolutionise standard practices, and Matt Bailey, commercial director at Performance Horizon Group, believes that their product will do just that. “ExactView is going to facilitate a new wave of performance marketing,” he enthuses. “It provides the first credible alternative to working with an affiliate network, giving brands and agencies greater control over their performance marketing strategy. The fact that ExactView sits on top of our own proprietary API opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the performance channel.” Could this be the dawn of a new era where advertisers can go at it alone?

Attribution solutions

Tracking, reporting and optimisation should be the key words for an affiliate project, because they’re all completely necessary when it comes to analysing performance. The trouble is, you don’t want just any old report delivery system. Your choice has to be full of stats that can help you to improve your offering.

DC Storm’s Storm Platform  identifies the different roles that every marketing channel plays in the path to conversion, from instigators to converters, and allows users to analyze each channel on its own merits.”

Not all users are the same, and while this is an obvious fact, being able to distinguish between them is something that Storm Platform does well. Morley tells us how differently some traffic can behave: “There are big variations between users viewing travel guides for research and customers at the buying stage who are comparing prices, but both are valuable. The Storm platforms helps evaluate the true value of each partner."

Social media

You might think this an obvious one, but the use of Web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook and Twitter to market products is still very much in its fledgling stage. We recently reported on some YouGov stats that revealed a little under half (43%) of those polled were unlikely to talk about a brand on a social media site even if they heard something positive about it. The same survey also exposed that 44% of the British online population would not feel more positive about a product their friends have followed and/or liked.

The only thing that’s likely to change the hearts and minds of these people is the creation of new and innovative ways to market brands on these platforms. One example from Digital Animal is fandistribution, where a consumer is recruited to become a micro-affiliate of sorts. Strategies likes this are still in their infancy, but we’re sure 2012 will be an important year for social marketers.

 

Skimwords

Skimwords has developed a technology that focuses on specific products and shows users where they can buy said products. The keyword-monetizing mechanism has been receiving some serious coverage. These articles have mostly come from the mainstream consumer tech media who we feel have very little understanding of performance marketing. Much due to Pinterest, its headline technology is now well-known by many.

 

Skimlinks have now launched the second generation of Skimwords, Marketing director Aaron Weissman believes that there are two reasons why Skimlinks will likely maintain its momentum throughout 2012: First and foremost, the technology is a way of profiting from your web presence. “It’s an additional monetisation stream that's previously untapped, and all it takes is a click of a button to turn it on,” Weissman points out.

 

The second reason comes back data. You’ll be able to learn about your users and find out what makes them tick. “[SkimWords gathers] an enormous source of data about the role that [a] publisher's content plays in intent generation,...Knowing how users interact with their site allows publishers to make adjustments to improve performance.”

 

Call monetisation

Networks are constantly looking for ways to minimise leakage and bring new and existing channels into the affiliate sector. One such company in network circles is Freespee, which is basically an API that sits between consumer-facing affiliate and advertiser. Freespee’s product provides a measurable and monetisable phone number through which consumers can get hold of somebody and discuss the item they’re looking to purchase. Advertisers are then able to bid for calls in the hopes of converting one of those queries to an actual sale.

Affiliate Window's ability help secure mobile sales by offering m-commerce platforms.

Google Search Plus

Google’s new search technology latest layer of functionality divides opinion. You either love it or hate it, but it looks like the technology staying.

Google’s previous attempts at social networking weren’t well-received. (Wave and Buzz). But Google+ topped 90 million users last month so it would take something catastrophic for Google to give up on that substantial userbase now.

“You have to use social media, and Google+ in particular, to spread your message because only then is it picked up by Google and shown in the SERPs,” said   van den Beld an industry expert.

MyMCart

Innovations in mobile technologies is still surging. While mobile tracking solutions are still thin on the ground, there are several new pieces of technology worth keeping an eye on. MymCart is one of them. It allows small businesses to create their own mobile commerce-capable application or website.

MymCart was launched by Mark Kuhillow, founder of affiliate management agency ROEYE. That fact makes this interesting startup one to watch as it will almost definitely have its sights set on mobile tracking, with small business commerce being the first step.