INSIGHT for data points, affiliate marketers can absorb the statistical findings of AI platforms and use them to more effectively deliver on their role as communicators. Demand Metric’ s 2016 study on hyper-personalisation and automation showed that 80 % of respondents believe that personalised content is more effective than‘ unpersonalised’ content. And, although affiliates can allocate resources for retaining top-tier acquisitions, it’ s unreasonable to expect that same philosophy to be applied across an entire database without detracting from other marketing efforts.
If AI can help to minimise the time dedicated to tasks of this nature, which are still central to a robust affiliate operation, it will help liberate resources for activities where AI is less proficient.
3) Live video streaming There are innumerable instances of a brand’ s reputation suffering the consequences of irresponsible social media management, tone-deaf creative or a simple lack of foresight. No marketing tactic, however, combines opportunity and peril quite like live video streaming.
The uniqueness and immediacy of online video was made apparent in May, when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the addition of 3,000 new hires to help monitor violent footage posted to the site. The move came after two disturbing videos had appeared earlier in the year.
And a year earlier, Facebook Live, which launched in April 2016, suffered embarrassment of a more innocent nature, when the video feed for a BuzzFeed interview with President Barack Obama stalled. In fairness, BuzzFeed and Facebook Live, along with several other companies, including Dunkin’ Donuts, Tastemade and Tough Mudder, have all experienced great success with subsequent live streaming initiatives.
It’ s widely accepted that online video will dominate the future. A 2016 Cisco report predicted that online video would be responsible for 80 % of global internet traffic by 2019. That figure puts marketers in a challenging, albeit familiar, position where resource allocation needs to be complemented with messaging that rises above the noise.
Savvy affiliate marketers will recognise the potential of live video streaming, which comes from its flexibility, dynamism and ease of implementation. Furthermore, it offers a more earnest method of engaging audiences and building brand reputation.
Kathy Klotz-Guest, founder of Keeping It Human, highlighted the potential to humanise via live video streaming in an article for Convince & Convert.“ Use streaming to create conversations, give customers important information and
highlight fans, partners, employees and new technologies( and share the spotlight),” she wrote.“ Sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses is yet another way to thank your biggest fans and enable them to help share your brand story.”
4) Virtual reality All the tools exist for marketers to interact with audiences more fully. The challenge is amplified, however, as the number of marketing channels grows beyond what marketers can reasonably be expected to manage effectively. With that in mind, can these professionals also justify diving into the burgeoning realm of virtual reality( VR)?
VR, like live video streaming, is a test of a marketing team’ s creativity, drive and resources. A successful VR initiative, perhaps more than any other technology mentioned here, is reliant on a strong collaborative relationship between affiliates and the companies they are affiliated with. Although businesses can and should be evaluating what VR could mean for their brand marketing, affiliates are similarly equipped with the ingenuity to bring new ideas to the fore.
Defining the objective behind those ideas is another challenge entirely. As Michelle Greenwald, CEO of Inventours, said in a recent Forbes article, From Storytelling to VR‘ Storyliving’,“ Consumers take VR messages and stories to heart in deeper and potentially longer-lasting ways. The more multisensory communication enables viewers to better see, hear, feel and identify with what others are experiencing.”
There are already innumerable examples of inspired marketing and engagement using VR. Whether it’ s HBO’ s Ascend the Wall experience at SXSW, the New York Times experimenting with storytelling and distributing Google Cardboard glasses to loyal subscribers, or the Guardian’ s 6x9: A Virtual Experience of Solitary Confinement, the evidence clearly shows that the possibilities are limited only by imagination.
“ Most would understandably think that igaming can’ t offer the same level of excitement as a trip to Westeros— maybe it can’ t. But to say that igaming is devoid of storytelling potential would be false”
At first glance, most would understandably think that igaming couldn’ t possibly offer the same level of excitement as a trip to Westeros— maybe it can’ t. But to say that igaming is devoid of storytelling potential would be false. Although some verticals may have more organic paths to implementing VR, each invites affiliate marketers and businesses to collaborate on inventive campaigns and experiences.
Conclusion Technology is changing how marketers do their jobs. However, the way in which they tell stories and make connections via technology is still their decision. And although igaming may not offer the same ease of execution for affiliate marketers as do some other industries, it remains an industry that promises to entertain, surprise and push boundaries.
SARAFINA WOLDE GABRIEL is VP of strategy and operations, Paysafe’ s Income Access. Sarafina’ s role focuses on developing the Income Access brand and overseeing the evolution of the company’ s suite of products and services. She has worked in the iGaming affiliate industry for well over a decade. She holds a master’ s degree in marketing from the University of Surrey, in the UK.
iGB Affiliate Issue 65 OCT / NOV 2017
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