Comments on: B2B publishers need to make more traffic pay http://businessmedia.co.uk/2009/04/09/b2b-publishers-need-to-make-traffic-pay/ My thoughts on the business of media Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:30:13 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Tackling the B2B Ad Sales Problem « Neil Thackray’s Business Media Blog http://businessmedia.co.uk/2009/04/09/b2b-publishers-need-to-make-traffic-pay/#comment-363 Tackling the B2B Ad Sales Problem « Neil Thackray’s Business Media Blog Tue, 12 May 2009 10:12:54 +0000 http://businessmedia.co.uk/?p=748#comment-363 [...] B2B publishers need to make traffic pay (businessmedia.co.uk) [...] [...] B2B publishers need to make traffic pay (businessmedia.co.uk) [...]

]]> By: Jonathan http://businessmedia.co.uk/2009/04/09/b2b-publishers-need-to-make-traffic-pay/#comment-303 Jonathan Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:14:29 +0000 http://businessmedia.co.uk/?p=748#comment-303 Hi Oiliver, Thanks for your response. The adoption of CPA marketing can happen, it just needs a change in mindset and the promotion of good case studies. In the UK there are many advertisers looking to target the business community; from energy (npower) and finance (Alliance and Leicester) to computing (Dell). The sales cycles for these will all vary in length and it can be tracked by the relevant affiliate networks. It's also an alternative for publishers who just rely on selling CPM space. If a publisher can run a campaign which generates 100 leads where the advertiser is paying £20, surely that has to be worth some consideration. Our point is that, publishers need to thinking about charging the advertiser for the traffic they send to their site, rather than reporting a product and service for free. To do this, publishers can plug into the relevant affiliate networks and programmes. Thanks Jonathan Hi Oiliver,

Thanks for your response.

The adoption of CPA marketing can happen, it just needs a change in mindset and the promotion of good case studies.

In the UK there are many advertisers looking to target the business community; from energy (npower) and finance (Alliance and Leicester) to computing (Dell). The sales cycles for these will all vary in length and it can be tracked by the relevant affiliate networks.

It’s also an alternative for publishers who just rely on selling CPM space. If a publisher can run a campaign which generates 100 leads where the advertiser is paying £20, surely that has to be worth some consideration.

Our point is that, publishers need to thinking about charging the advertiser for the traffic they send to their site, rather than reporting a product and service for free. To do this, publishers can plug into the relevant affiliate networks and programmes.

Thanks
Jonathan

]]> By: Olivier Travers http://businessmedia.co.uk/2009/04/09/b2b-publishers-need-to-make-traffic-pay/#comment-299 Olivier Travers Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:19:05 +0000 http://businessmedia.co.uk/?p=748#comment-299 Publisher-driven b2b lead generation is for the most part not tied to sales and that's how it should be. It's the advertiser's job to take it from there and convert down the road. If those leads don't convert then work with the publisher or do something else. Affiliate marketing is, for the most part, a bad idea for b2b publishers. Sales cycles are too long and involve too many people and touch points. Vendors are struggling to track leads internally so you can bet sales will rarely if ever be attributed back to a publisher who originated a lead 9 months earlier. Add in long payment cycles and account receivable issues and the publisher gets paid (maybe) 12 months after running an ad? Terrible business model. At the end of the day CPM vs. CPC vs. CPA has little to do with performance or accountability, and a lot to do with who bears the risk and who gets the rewards. A model where publishers bear all the risk and get little in the way of rewards is not going to be sustainable. Lead gen for actions such as signing up for a webinar or white paper can work for all parties (i.e. early in the sales cycle), but that's about it. Few online b2b marketplaces (remember these?) really ever worked, and even fewer once you factor out vendor-driven marketplaces (as opposed to these created by third parties). Publisher-driven b2b lead generation is for the most part not tied to sales and that’s how it should be. It’s the advertiser’s job to take it from there and convert down the road. If those leads don’t convert then work with the publisher or do something else.

Affiliate marketing is, for the most part, a bad idea for b2b publishers. Sales cycles are too long and involve too many people and touch points. Vendors are struggling to track leads internally so you can bet sales will rarely if ever be attributed back to a publisher who originated a lead 9 months earlier. Add in long payment cycles and account receivable issues and the publisher gets paid (maybe) 12 months after running an ad? Terrible business model.

At the end of the day CPM vs. CPC vs. CPA has little to do with performance or accountability, and a lot to do with who bears the risk and who gets the rewards. A model where publishers bear all the risk and get little in the way of rewards is not going to be sustainable.

Lead gen for actions such as signing up for a webinar or white paper can work for all parties (i.e. early in the sales cycle), but that’s about it. Few online b2b marketplaces (remember these?) really ever worked, and even fewer once you factor out vendor-driven marketplaces (as opposed to these created by third parties).

]]>