Category: In the News

Curated Performance Marketing News – Consumer and Industry Trends-Affiliate Networks, Business Insights and more.

Four Good Reasons to Resume Your Affiliate Marketing Campaigns on Search Platforms Now

There is no denying that the last three months have been quite challenging both for advertisers and publishers. Driven by the uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, many advertisers were left with little choice but to pause most (if not all) of their affiliate marketing campaigns. While this decision has certainly enabled businesses to save costs in the short run, many countries are slowly lifting restrictions. 

If you are still considering whether or not to resume your affiliate marketing campaigns on search platforms, here are four good reasons why you should:

1. Be one step ahead of your competitors

If you made the decision to work with search platforms or price comparators in the first place, it’s because you had certain priorities that such publishers could support you with. But as you might know, unlike with some other affiliate partners, such services require a bit of time to ramp up and build ROI. Now that many countries are entering their recovery phase, making sure that your products have time to reoptimize on publisher sites will enable you to be one step ahead of your competitors,  thus increasing your sales and market share.

2. Compensate for the loss in revenue caused by the lack of brick-and-mortar sales

As governments were forced to take restrictions in order to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, many brick-and-mortar stores were mandated to close their physical stores, which resulted in a significant loss of earnings for businesses that were not 100% ready to switch to online commerce. Despite the fact that many countries are slowly recovering from the pandemic, it will take some time for things to get back to normal. But how do you make up for the loss of revenue caused by brick-and-mortar stores being temporarily closed? Resuming your affiliate marketing campaigns on search platforms might be the perfect solution: for a low investment, you will not only generate additional revenue but also bring new users to your website and boost your brand awareness.

3. Sell your excess or out of season inventory

Despite the fact many countries are slowly recovering from this pandemic, it’s safe to assume it will take some months before brick-and-mortar stores see similar foot traffic as before. As many products will be out of season when stores open again, it will be very challenging for stores to sell their current collections. Resuming your affiliate marketing activities can therefore enable you to sell your excess inventory while increasing your sales. Additionally, if you are experiencing lower demand for these products on your target markets, why not target new strategic countries where your items can still fit the local customer needs?

4. Get support in achieving your goals

Each business’s goals have shifted a bit in reaction to the pandemic, and it’s of course in the interest of publishers to support advertisers in achieving them. During the past three months especially, Stylight has tried its best to ensure we support our advertisers’ goals as much as we could. Reaching out to your publishers will allow you to see where you stand in the market and where you can be more competitive. Hand in hand with the publishers you collaborate with, you should be able to put an action plan in place that will help you make the most of the situation. 

The post Four Good Reasons to Resume Your Affiliate Marketing Campaigns on Search Platforms Now appeared first on PerformanceIN.

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How news publishers are combating burnout with extra days off and mental health support

It was a shock to the system.

In the weeks after companies moved their operations remote due to the coronavirus and the hard realization set in that this would be much more than a three-week long quarantine and distancing, a flurry of surveys went out to staffers and one-on-one meetings were set up with human resources at news media organizations, all aimed at trying to get a better understanding about how employees were faring mentally under stressful work conditions.

“Our employees are our most important asset, so we always do everything we can to make sure they feel supported and that they can do their best work,” said Axios’ svp of people operations Dominique Taylor. 

The common challenges of working remotely include an abundance of Zoom calls, leading to Zoom fatigue, as well as not knowing when to click out of the Slack window at the end of the day. But on top of the daily work load, there is the constant overhead gloom of the coronavirus threatening the health of individuals as well as the economy. That combined with a new series of protests tied to police brutality and institutionalized racism that are understandably weighing on people’s minds.

Naturally, for news publishers, not only is the tension and turmoil occupying staffer’s thoughts during non-work hours, but they are at forefront of their minds as they report on this challenging time.

In general, according to a survey of 1099 U.S. employees done by the Society for Human Resource Management in May, 41% of U.S. employees said they felt burnt out from work, while another 23% reported feeling depressed as a result of the psychological costs of coronavirus.

Wanting to combat this, Axios, as well as Politico, The Guardian and Bloomberg have been rushing to add new benefits and extra perks for their entire workforce. This includes additional PTO, company holidays and training that focuses on mental health. (Shopify has gone a step further: It has instituted no meetings Wednesdays and will give employees Fridays off throughout the summer.)

Taylor said her team realized through a series of surveys and one-on-one meetings that Axios staffers were struggling to set boundaries between work and home life since moving remote. So in March the company started giving employees an extra day of dedicated PTO each month. The staffers can use it whenever they feel like they need a break, she said. 

Then, the company also implemented monetary benefits for workers to have a healthy and productive work environment at home, including transitioning its commuter benefit into a WFH benefit of a $100 monthly stipend. And for those staffers impacted by coronavirus in particular, the company created a $100,000 Family Fund to provide additional financial support.

Politico has taken a similar approach to giving employees time off as a break from the constant news cycle.

The publisher added a full week’s worth of holidays divided up as one additional day off per month from April to August, according to chief talent officer Traci Schweikert. She said that they chose to do paid holidays because the company already has unlimited PTO, but people were not taking it as liberally as they might need to avoid fatigue.

With the office closed, “everyone has the opportunity to disconnect at the same time without missing out,” Schweikert said. And if breaking news prevents the newsroom from shutting down on those days, she said individual employees are able to make up that day when they can. 

Politico is also discouraging holding any meetings on Friday afternoons, Schweikert said.

At The Guardian, its U.S. operations closed for a day during Mental Health Week at the start of May, according to a company spokesperson, but a major focus for the publisher has been providing additional training around physical health and wellness and offloading stress and getting emotional support.

Managers across the company’s U.S. and U.K. divisions are all required to take a mandatory online training led by a therapist, including courses like “Common mental health problems and how to recognize the symptoms in a team member or colleague.”

Bloomberg also implemented a “resiliency” training and coaching program. The company also has an employee program for counseling services and online resources for both part- and full-time employees to use if in need. It also launched a virtual meditation series in March that has sense expanded into a daily work break.

And in light of the recent protests demanding justice and racial equality following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police offer last month, the company launched an internal discussion series with the Bloomberg Media Diversity and Inclusion Committee to help employees share their own experiences and also process recent events together.

Looking forward at the future of work, Poltico’s Schweikert said “necessity is the mother of invention and that is very much the case for talent and the way we work.” And while there were a lot of benefits to the way that her company operated in February, she expects that the actions her team are taking now will stick around well beyond the pandemic for the betterment of employees.

The post How news publishers are combating burnout with extra days off and mental health support appeared first on Digiday.

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