At the other end is what I call the “less is more” model. Under this line of thinking, social network marketers are encouraged to manage their relationships carefully and limit their involvement to high-value contacts they have the time and expertise with which to interact. Others advocate a more “balanced” approach somewhere in the middle that involves an open “trial period” followed by frequent pruning to weed out under-performing or low-value contacts.

I probably fall more into the “balanced” approach knowing that I don’t have time to read and interact with everyone under a “more is better” mentality. Is that an ideal approach? I’m not sure. Frankly, the dilemma of properly managing social media for marketing purposes is frustrating since it’s difficult to truly converse with more than a few hundred contacts effectively.

In thinking of social media marketing, it seems to me that, in essence, it’s a lot like sowing seeds by scattering over a wide area (broadcasting). That visual picture reminds me of a parable (”a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson”) found in the Bible and called The Parable of the Sower. This parable is recorded in Mark 4:1-20 (also Matthew 13:1-23 and Luke 8:1-15) and told by Jesus.

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” (Mark 4:3-8 NKJV)

Illustrations are very helpful to me and, while the focus of this parable is primarily spiritual, I feel it just might hold some clues for understanding social media marketing. So, with that thought in mind, I respectfully offer The Parable of the Social Media Marketer.

“Behold, a marketer went online to connect with others. And it happened, as he used Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn, that some messages fell outside the realm of good taste; and the filters of the corporation came and devoured them. Some messages fell on overflowing accounts, where they did not get noticed; and immediately they were passed over because they had no connection or value. Later when searched via social tools they were rejected, and because they had no relevant content they were permanently deleted. And some messages fell among the self promotional hype and scams; and the spam filter automatically removed them, and they yielded no results. But other messages fell on receptive audiences and yielded a return on investment that enhanced branding, increased readership and produced: some new referrals, some new customers, and some new social capital.”

My question now is what type of social media marketer are you? It seems to me that “more is better” is not always best if the “soil” is wrong or the “seed” is not ready or is poorly scattered. Likewise, a lot of time and bandwidth (”seeds”) will be wasted following this model. The result can lead to a negative reputation and a shrinking pool of influence as large-scale deletions, “unfollowing” and de-friending occurs.

On the other hand, the “less is more” model has its share of problems. For starters, opportunities to find the “good ground” of receptive audiences may be lost forever when social seeds are sown sparingly. That damage is twofold since one misses not only the valuable input of others but also the opportunity to enrich the community by sharing his or her own wisdom. Likewise, small social circles can severely limit one’s marketing potential.

In a nutshell, the Parable of the Social Media Marketer helps me sort out what is important in social marketing. As a general question, is either the “more is better” or the “less is more” model the preferred solution? I don’t think one size fits all in this field. Instead, I feel the optimum marketing benefit is achieved under a strategy that searches for “good soil” before scattering a lot of “seeds.” Such an approach improves relevance and increases efficiency. In effect, it enhances one’s social reputation and thus improves his or her marketing efforts.

Yes, the planting and growing process is challenging but the rewards are a harvest worth pursuing. By carefully planning our social networking and marketing mix, I’m convinced we can match “good soil” with appropriate “seeds” that will produce a hundredfold instead of merely broadcasting content that withers and dies.

Mike Allen
Founder & President
Shopping-Bargains.com

Shields writes:

With Web retailers slashing prices and posting sale after sale on their sites, companies whose core business is discount shopping are enjoying hefty traffic surges this holiday season, according to a new report issued by comScore. In November, the coupon site category saw its audience spike by 32 percent to 35.6 million unique deal-seeking visitors versus the previous month.

The price slashing aspect of this report will discourage many retailers but there is hope for all. Shields continues:

Discount havens weren’t the only ecommerce players to benefit from the kickoff of the holiday season, at least in terms of traffic growth (actual sales are a whole other matter). Recession-conscious shoppers turned to toy and electronics sites in big numbers, found comScore, as well as big-box retailers like Walmart.

In the toy area alone, November saw a 24% spike in unique visits over October. Electronics sites saw a 17% increase over this same time frame. Similarly, bricks and clicks retailers Walmart experienced a 50% increase to 44 million unique visitors while Target saw a 26% increase to over 39 million visitors.

Interesting numbers indeed. As Shields concludes, it does look like the data supports the hypothesis that consumers are increasingly using the Internet to facilitate their hunt for bargains and deals this Christmas and holiday season.

That being the case, it’s good news for those in the online coupon and deal space. Likewise, it’s good news for online retailers in general since many more consumers will be exposed to their brand. Such exposure, when paired with a positive user experience, can lead to increased order sizes and followup purchases that can carry them through an otherwise difficult economic cycle.

What do you think? Do you have any data that supports or refutes this report? Interestingly, Yan Bezugliy of ProBargainHunter.com maintains a monthly list of “Popular Coupon Sites” based on top 100,000 Alexa rankings. His November compilation lends support to the comScore report and shows significant increases for most of the 31 “coupon sites” in this list.

Mike Allen
Founder & President
Shopping-Bargains.com

What follows is some basic information on MyPoints and a detailed walk through this specific BonusMail message and its call to action. I have included full quotes and a few screen captures for details.

As stated on their company information section of their website, MyPoints:

[P]rovides advertisers with an effective means to reach a large online audience with targeted marketing campaigns. The MyPoints program also enables consumers to earn points-based rewards by responding to email offers, completing online surveys, shopping online and engaging in other online activities. Rewards points are redeemable in the form of third-party gift cards and other benefits from over 60 merchants, including retailers, theaters, restaurants, airlines and hotels.

The body of the BonusMail message MyPoints sent me today contained the following message personalized to me:

Mike, Congress made a solemn promise to America’s seniors to supply more affordable medical care, but now they’re limiting seniors’ access to doctors, making it harder for them to get the care they need. Tell Congress to protect seniors’ access to doctors.

With over 3.2 million baby boomers becoming eligible for Medicare in three short years, and a government-predicted shortage of 85,000 doctors by 2020, doctor payment cuts will create an access-to-care crisis for America’s seniors.

If Congress doesn’t act soon, Medicare doctor payment cuts will hurt America’s patients. Doctors will be forced to defer the purchase of new medical equipment and information technology; seniors will have a harder time finding medical and surgical specialists and will have to travel greater distances to see a doctor; and more Medicare patients will be forced to go to expensive emergency rooms for routine care that could have been treated in a doctor’s office.

S. 2785, The Save Medicare Act of 2008, has been introduced in the Senate. This bill would stop the Medicare physician payment cuts for 18 months, long enough to begin working on a long-term solution to the broken payment system. In addition, the bill will not increase the cost of permanently fixing the fatally flawed Medicare physician payment system. Urge your U.S. senators to co-sponsor this legislation and tell all your representatives in Congress to stop doctor payment cuts.

Following this message there was a prominent “get your points” section as shown below (click image to enlarge):

Clicking the “get points” button illustrated above brings one to a form page shown below (click image to enlarge) with a simple message urging readers to contact Congress on behalf of the American Medical Association as shown below. (Strangely the stock photos do not contain pictures of seniors. The most prominent image is that of a pregnant woman.)

Filling out this form and clicking the “go to step 2 – to send a letter to Congress” button shown above produces a list of both my Senators by name and my Representative by name. The following instructions are provided:

Tell Congress to make good on their promise to America’s families today! Call Congress using our toll-free grassroots hotline at (xxx) xxx-6200. Or, you can send an e-mail to their offices by clicking below.

Please note that MyPoints points are only awarded for sending the email. Below these instructions are two email messages. The first email is for my Senators and is ready for me to click and send. It reads as follows:

On July 1, doctors and their patients will be hit by a 10 percent Medicare cut—with an additional 5 percent cut coming a mere six months later—unless Congress acts now.

These proposed cuts are a huge problem for patients—and for many families—because they will prevent doctors from taking on new Medicare patients, discourage many from investing in new health technology and make some think about closing their medical practices altogether.

Please—do not delay. Take action now to ensure that doctors and the patients who need them do not suffer from more cuts to Medicare payments. Take care of our doctors so they can take care of us.

The second email is for my Representative and reads as follows:

Did you know that an American Medical Association survey found that 60 percent of physicians said a projected 10 percent Medicare payment cut will force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat?

Further, about 25 percent of Medicare patients seeking a new primary care physician already have problems finding one, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the group that advises Congress on Medicare. Couple that fact with a government-predicted shortage of 85,000 doctors by 2020 and the first wave of baby boomers turning 65 in three short years, and the future for Medicare patients’ access to care is bleak, unless we take steps to turn the tide.

I know you’re aware that a deep, 10% Medicare physician payment cut is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2008. Please, I implore you to make sure these cuts don’t go through, for fear that more doctors discover they can no longer take care of those who need it most.

Our doctors are always there to take care of us – shouldn’t we finally return the favor?

At the bottom of this page there is a “Take Action!” button to send the emails. I noticed that the email messages are user-editable so readers could presumably write their own letters or edit the default wording. I didn’t see any subject line listed or way to edit one.

MyPoints members are awarded 5 points for visiting the AMAj’s Patients’ Action Network page shown above. If a member takes action by sending the emails to Congress they will receive 50 points.

I’m all for citizen input and contacting Congress and making our voices heard. I also support group efforts to mobilize concerned citizens around focal issues. However, I’m concerned about this incentivized procedure undertaken by MyPoints and the American Medical Association. I’ll explain below.

MyPoints is part of the Classmates Media Corporation and reported that “as of September 30, 2007, more than 8.8 million members were registered with MyPoints, 6.0 million of whom were registered to receive email marketing messages from the company.” As such, MyPoints owns a large database of consumers motivated to receive points for actions. Combine this with the lobbying efforts of the American Medical Association and you have a potentially powerful force of compensated letter-writers influencing public policy along a specific agenda.

Members of Congress know most people don’t write or voice their opinion. I’ve been told they tend to assume that for every one person’s input there are probably 100 or so others who are in agreement and feel strongly along the same lines but simply didn’t write or call about the issue. The American Medical Association knows this too and is using the MyPoints database and incentive structure to generate potentially millions of emails to members of Congress in an effort to influence public policy in their favor. Assuming one only fills out the form and clicks all the required buttons, the MyPoints/American Medical Association process takes only about 45 seconds to complete. The result is 55 easy points earned by the member action (5 for reading and 50 more for sending the emails).

I feel it is disingenuous for anyone or any organization to drum up “public support” using such tactics and the American Medical Association should be ashamed for pulling this stunt on Congress and ultimately the taxpaying public. To an unknowing outsider or member of Congress, the incoming emails may look like democracy in action and a flood of public support; however, in my opinion, this process is more like bribery in action and trickery by a powerful lobbying organization with a self-serving political agenda.

What do you think? Should something be done about this MyPoints/American Medical Association partnership? Should MyPoints incentivize public policy actions?

The negative tone.

The article is clearly written from a negative point of view. Note the absence of positive examples from the Affiliate Summit. For example, Kadet writes as if this event began with a drunken boozefest (actual Meet Market time was noon to 6:00 pm with a 1 hour networking cocktail following). Her “Jacuzzi party at the Palms Hotel” statement was out of context. As stated on the official agenda, it was a private event — and for the record the jacuzzi pool is about 12 inches deep and overlooks an open aired view of the Las Vegas strip on an outdoor deck area. (Kadet also fails to note any of the educational sessions or even the 2nd Annual Gospel Brunch put on by the Christian Affiliate Marketing Association.)

Kadet’s quotes from Affiliate Summit keynote speaker Jason Calacanis, while technically accurate, are clearly taken out of context. His “whopper of an opening line” statement, while offensive to some, was nevertheless part of his show and something for which he is known by industry-insiders. (Watch Calacanis’ whole keynote presentation here.) He was preaching to the choir and not trying to destroy the industry. He knew most of those in his audience did not have a “Lex Luthor mind-set.”

The “talking down” attitude.

Kadet defines affiliate marketing as a “mom-and-pop sliver of the online advertising business” and states that “most participants are regular folks who work from home.” I would argue that affiliate marketing is much more than this and is not just the profession of “regular folks” but includes many Fortune 500 companies and media conglomerates. Many in affiliate marketing are brands in themselves and are larger than the companies they market for.

I’ve got to take issue with this as well. Just because somebody works from home doesn’t mean they are insignificant or somehow less than qualified. Many large companies are outsourcing work to contractors and allowing their employees to telecommute. It’s efficient. It saves resources. Hey, it’s even green.

And one more thing. Just because Kadet can become a Wal-Mart affiliate over her lunch hour doesn’t make it a questionable activity. Likewise, one can open a retirement account or even get married over the lunch hour. Does that make these events insignificant? Poor argument on her part.

The poor examples.

Kadet is correct that there are lots of shams in affiliate marketing. The same is true about sales reps in any industry I can think of. Calacanis correctly pointed out these problems at Affiliate Summit and chided the industry for putting up with it. He urged affiliates to “think big” and pursue excellence.

Kadet stated that “it’s tough to earn affiliate-marketing cash the honest way.” That’s true. Earning cash the honest way is also tough for every business I’m aware of and that’s why 90% plus businesses fail. A 3 week test with a few blog ads is not sufficient for Kadet to dump on the industry.

One final thing about poor examples. Kadet’s admission to signing up under her dog’s name might be funny but it is a sure way to doom oneself to failure. I think it amounted to a subconscious admission that she wasn’t going to make any money. Think about this with me. A dog’s name may be a fine login but to claim it as her name on the application is being dishonest. (Remember, she’s the one chiding the industry as being dishonest.) In reality, using a non-legal name becomes a troublesome legal problem when it comes time to deposit checks and pay income taxes.

Conclusion.

I don’t mind honest critiques of the affiliate marketing industry. Instead, I welcome them. We need more transparency and self-control. Those who are unethical need to be rooted out and exposed. Likewise, it would be wise for merchants to more rigorously evaluate their affiliate applicants. Such a scenario would move us closer to the ideal. This article, though, in my opinion, does not move us in that direction. Instead, it unfairly paints everyone in affiliate marketing with a wide and dirty brush.

Please note for the record: I have been an affiliate marketer for almost 10 years and am the founder and president of Shopping-Bargains.com, LLC. I attended Affiliate Summit West 2008. I am also on the Affiliate Summit advisory board. These comments and opinions are mine alone.

Ironically, this email had the standard CJ footer stating it had been sent via the Commission Junction network. The email also pointed out that there will be 5% bonus for “traffic” tracked through the new eBay network for 1 month. Beyond noting a bonus would be available, no more details are provided.

Here’s a copy of this email:

We are excited to announce eBay’s new global affiliate platform: the eBay Partner Network.

The new platform will go live on April 1st, 2008 PST, at which point eBay will no longer be running its affiliate program through Commission Junction. Beginning April 1st, affiliates should register with eBay Partner Network and migrate their links from CJ to the new platform.

While CJ and ValueClick have been valuable partners to eBay throughout the years, we’ve decided to give our affiliate community a customized experience for eBay affiliates.

All the great tools and benefits of working with the eBay program will remain the same – access to the Editor Kit and affiliate API, the flexible destination tool, the great payout structure. In addition, the eBay partner network will provide several new features:

• Easy global registration to multiple countries simultaneously
• New, targeted banners and rich media creatives
• New landing page optimization and geo-targeting capabilities
• More detailed reporting capabilities for eBay’s programs

The eBay Partner Network and Commission Junction will run in parallel for one month through this process, so please plan to complete your migration by May 1st, 2008.

You can receive an additional 5% bonus for all traffic tracked through eBay Partner Network in April 2008 (bonus applicable to traffic sent to Half.com and US, UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, India and Spain eBay sites). The sooner you migrate, the more you’ll earn! Just:

• Register with eBay Partner Network on April 1, 2008
• Confirm your registration, and obtain your new identifiers
• Update your links with your new identifiers.
• Reminder: Please plan to complete migration by May 1, 2008.

You will receive more information and step by step directions for the transition on April 1st. A special help desk to answer your questions about migration will also be available starting April 1st. You can find more details, including a list of programs that will be affected, at http://affiliates.ebay.com.

Thanks for being a valued partner. We’re excited for a successful transition, and the opportunity to grow your business through even more innovations, information and communication moving forward!

Sincerely,
eBay’s Affiliates Managers

So what does this mean for affiliates in general and Commission Junction specifically?

For affiliates (publishers), it will mean another independent program to keep up with and a lot of links to change out. Beyond that I’m not sure since very little additional information has been provided at this stage.

For Commission Junction, I suspect it means the loss of one of their largest merchants (advertisers). This reminds me of Sam Harrelson’s March 3, 2008 post about ValueClick’s 10-K Filing report where he quoted a few segments including one that noted ValueClick had an increase in transaction volumes that was “partially offset by a reduction in revenue from a large customer in this segment.” I wonder if the July 2008 report will note a similar offset due to eBay’s migration.

After having several hours of travel time to focus deeply on the conference as a whole, I have a few “big picture” takeaways to share. While nothing new, it was good to be reminded of these basic truths.

1. Don’t just work for money.

We may have entered affiliate marketing for the money or for the flexibility or a combination of the two. Whatever the case, if we’re just in it for the money we’re missing the main benefits of this powerful tool. We’re also selling ourselves short since simply chasing money is a lonely and short-sighted goal.

Chasing money instead of following our passion into work leads to many of the “dark-side” temptations that pollute the pond we all swim in — as noted by keynote speaker Jason Calacanis (more on that later). So, with this in mind, I challenge each of us to rethink our goals and passion and see if we can better align them in constructive ways. Passion produces great ideas and the endurance to build them out. Money tends to follow those who are successful in so doing.

2. Think Big.

As challenged by Calacanis, I agree that we should think big. Calacanis pointed out that we are the smartest in the industry and should live up to that potential and build on that greatness.

When we simply chase dollars we do not think from our heart. We do not work on what we are passionate about. We fail to enjoy life, and settle for less than we could have.

3. Help people succeed (and in the process you help yourself).

One of the best ways to help yourself is to help others get where you are going. Basically live the Golden Rule — do unto others as you would have them do to you — and help others succeed. That doesn’t mean you give away your trade secrets but it means playing fair, networking, and sharing ideas and advice.

It always amazes me how much I learn informally at industry conferences — usually talking in the halls and at social functions. The interchange of ideas produces a real synergy that is hard to quantify. And to think it starts when somebody gives an idea away. . . amazing!

4. Keep the pond clean.

Some people were offended by Jason Calacanis’ statement that many affiliates are polluting the pond we all swim in. While his brush was wide and his words harsh at times, I have no fear in them personally because I am transparent about what I do.

He is right about some in our industry, though, who are pumping toxins into our pond. Those who do such things know exactly what they are doing and that it is unacceptable. However, under the cover of ambiguity and anonymity they persist for selfish reasons. This poisoning simply must stop. I was glad to hear calls for an industry oversight body to be developed before the government steps in to regulate our pond.

It appears that the FTC agreed that Google’s online ad sales business does not compete with DoubleClick’s ad-serving technology. The FTC analysis determined that “the companies are not direct competitors in any relevant antitrust market.”

While this deal cleared U.S. hurdles rather easily, a similar investigation is underway in Europe. The European Commission must approve of the purchase or it cannot be completed as proposed. They have given themselves until April 2, 2008 to complete their review.

Google’s proposed acquisition of DoubleClick was first announced in April 2007. The reasoning laid out for the purchase, according to Rugaber, was that it would “combine Google’s leading position in online text ads with DoubleClick’s ad-serving tools that help publishers place and track display ads.”

Opponents like Microsoft and AT&T oppose the purchase and feel that Google and DoubleClick’s services do overlap in a way that gives Google a dominant share of the online advertising market. Many privacy advocates like the Center for Digital Democracy and the Electronic Privacy Information Center are concerned about the huge concentration of data under one roof that can be used to track individuals.

In addressing privacy concerns, the FTC clarified that they only have the legal authority to block the deal on antitrust grounds. However, the FTC appeared to at least partially agree that privacy issues are a real concern. Suggesting privacy issues “clearly transcend” this particular deal, the FTC proposed a set of “privacy guidelines” for the online advertising industry as a whole.

Most privacy advocates, however, do not feel such guidelines alone are sufficient. It is interesting to note why the lone dissenter, Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour, did not vote in favor of the purchase. She dissented “because I make alternate predictions about where this market is heading, and the transformative role the combined Google/DoubleClick will play if the proposed acquisition is consummated.”

It will be interesting to see what stand European regulators take on this proposed acquisition since their authority may extend beyond that of the limited scope of the FTC.

While we often see “made in USA” prominently printed on packaging and touted by offline stores, there is rarely an online equivalent. Since we cannot hold and read the package online and the country of origin is rarely identified, the consumer is left in the dark on this important issue.

Therefore, in an effort to meet these information needs, I offer the following recommendations for all online retailers:

• Identify the country of origin for all products
• Highlight all products that are made in USA (use an icon and/or colorful text)
• Establish a sortable and searchable section on their site for made in USA products
• Create affiliate links and banners to promote this made in USA section

Not only do I feel that these actions will enhance online conversion rates with a significant segment of American consumers, but I am convinced that American-made products overall will sell at higher rates than their imported counterparts. Here’s why.

First, American consumers place more trust in the safety of American-made products, especially toys, since they know that American law holds the manufacturer responsible. Second, most consumers are patriotic and would even be willing to pay a little more if they knew their money went to strengthen their economy and would protect American jobs. And finally, a majority of consumers do not want their money to benefit nations known to have sweat shops, to use forced and child labor and with dismal human rights records.

By identifying the country of origin, the consumer is empowered to make a more informed purchase decision that matches their values and preferences. The merchant benefits as well and converts more sales from people committed to such values.

I see this move as a win-win scenario. That makes it a perfect fit for affiliate marketing!

The FT.com report pointed out that the FTC was nearing the end of their investigation and could issue a ruling before the end of this year. No significant objections are expected on the US side but that may not be the case in Europe.

The European Commission stated that one focus of their investigation would be whether DoubleClick, without intervention from Google, would be capable of growing into “an effective competitor of Google in the market for online ad intermediation”. In other words, if DoubleClick were to remain autonomous, would they on their own become a strong competitor to Google in the ad serving marketplace.

Google’s response to this investigation is to express dissapointment but a willingness to work with the European Commission to show how the “proposed acquisition will benefit publishers, advertisers and consumers”. Google also noted that they “seek to avoid further delays that might put us at a disadvantage in competing fully with Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL and others whose acquisitions in the highly competitive advertising market have already been approved”.

Whether this European investigation amounts to a mere formality or is an exercise in political posturing to extract special concessions from Google remains to be seen. My concern is that a bureaucratic decision could be reached that serves nobody well on either side.

In electronic commerce, means of achieving greater market penetration through websites who target specific groups of internet users. For example, Amazon.com (which sells books, electronics, pharmaceuticals, toys, and many other items) has thousands of affiliated interest specific websites from where the visitors can reach products offered by Amazon. The entire sales transaction takes place at Amazon’s website which is equipped to handle the complete online payment acceptance process. Amazon passes on a percentage of the sold item’s price as commission to the affiliate website from where the sale originated.

I especially like the clarity of their definition that I think summed up exactly what affiliate marketers do: “achieving greater market penetration through websites who target specific groups of internet users.” In just 13 words they pointed out the value that affiliates provide to merchants. Well done, BusinessDictionary.com!