Insights – Real Attribution, from competition to cooperation

Since the launch of Real Attribution there has been a huge shift in the way publishers have been behaving and interacting with each other. As they are now rewarded for adding value through the whole consumer decision making process, they have begun to adopt different promotion methods in campaigns that use Real Attribution. A lot of publishers are now seeing the value of cooperating with other publishers instead of fighting for the last click. Here, TradeTracker will delve into the value created for both advertisers and publishers when publishers move from competing to cooperating.

The last click model has long been established in the affiliate marketing industry, with publishers only earning a commission if they won the battle for the last click. In some cases they may have  received a manual assist bonus, but even with this in place why would an affiliate even consider focusing on the earlier stages of the decision making process? TradeTracker’s Real Attribution now not only encourages publishers to focus on the full consumer journey, but also increases the likelihood of conversion, as publishers can direct consumers to other sites which are more likely to convert whilst still receiving their own commission.

Focus on the consumer, not the click

Let’s say we have a consumer looking for a new bike. As this is a relative large investment, the decision making process is relatively long. The consumer must first decide what kind of bike he would like to buy in the first stage, which brand he would like to buy in the second stage, where to buy it from in the third stage, and how to find the best price for the bike in the final stage. In all of these stages different publisher sites are used to gather information.

For publishers focusing on initiating this process the chances of earning a commission on the classic last click model are relatively small compared to those with a larger focus on the later stages. However, as advertisers adopt attribution models, the goal of all publishers shifts from making the client convert as soon as possible to providing the necessary information to make the right decision.

From competing to cooperating

A noticeable effect of campaigns running with TradeTracker’s Real Attribution is that publishers started to direct consumers to each other in order to boost conversion, and thus income. This kind of cooperation can be seen very clearly in the below conversion path.

In this example the penultimate affiliate provided the consumer with the necessary information to make the decision about where to buy the product, whilst also including information about the voucher site which was the converter in the path. By stating that the consumer could get a discount if he used the voucher supplied by this voucher site, the publisher knew that the chances of the consumer actually buying the bike, and of commission being awarded, increased.

This is one of many examples that TradeTracker has seen of publishers starting to cooperate with one another, uniting around a single goal: to get the consumer converted and the commission shared. This completely new approach to performance marketing has allowed advertisers adopting attribution to realize triple digit growth! Unlock the full potential of your campaign and make the switch to Real Attribution – generating more revenue!