Last week a4u, in association with Commission Junction, released their inaugural Travel in Performance Marketing Report for 2012.
Whilst not necessarily relevant to my all of my US-based readers (unless, of course, you market in the UK as well), the topics discussed include several important subjects, including mobile implementation, attribution solutions, long-tail affiliates, brand control across the affiliate base, and much more. Here are just a few snapshots from it:
Vertical By The Numbers:
- The average Travel Affiliate Programme paid out £75,000 in commissions during 2011, across an affiliate base of 2,312 who are providing a sales revenue of £2,500,000.
- Voucher Code and Incentive Affiliates bulk up an advertiser’s revenue through the affiliate channel, with the average contribution from these affiliates being around 55%.
- The affiliate channel is responsible for a maximum of 30% of an advertiser’s overall online marketing revenue. The average revenue percentage attributed to the affiliate channel is 8.2%.
Biggest Challenge in 2012
Long-Tail Affiliates
Long-tail affiliates are still valued highly by travel advertisers and are accountable for up to 80% of affiliate revenue, however for the majority of our respondents the average amount of revenue attributed to long-tail affiliates is less than 10%. The longtail firmly holds its place as a valued demographic of affiliate however, and is a focus point for nearly all advertisers over the course of this year.
Most Important Area of Development in 2012
Once again, if you do any business in British travel vertical, this paper is a must-read. You may download the full 19-page report here.