. . . and the winner is - Affiliate Networks

Some agencies are backing away from Email and SEM

[cyril kearney]

I don't know how widespread this is becoming. It is certainly too early for me to call it a trend.

Here's what happened. An agency that uses one of my online services has stopped recommending email marketing to their clients. As a results 2 will cease email marketing entirely. Two new (to the agency) clients will not use it as part of their new campaigns. Another new (to the agency) client that will begin marketing next year is not budgeting for email.

Affiliate networks will be used instead. The arrangements are all pay for performance not click-thrus. Like email, search engines have been cut.

Pay for performance works as a business model over the long run. It is predictable. Email has too many risks in the near term. The rising cost of SEM and its uncertainity has priced it out of the equation.

Calls to six other agency uncover a shift away to from email, but no other agency is dropping email entirely yet. SEM does not get a good word from any of those agencies either.

[Travoli]

>Pay for performance

That is the key in my opinion. If you can explain affiliate networks to the decision-maker, it becomes a very attractive option to them. Guaranteed ROI, you say? Amazing!

Try explaining the alternative: "We want to send out a large e-mail campaign" and I can only imagine the cringes.

[OddDog]

in Spain we have only just started to notice a startup interest in email campaigns ... I am talking about stock market listed advertisers.

will be interesting to see what trend evolves in the US.