This presentation is from Affiliate Summit West 2014 (January 12-14, 2014 in Las Vegas, NV). Session description: Replicating the home country model may not always be the best solution when going international. Learn about the key aspects that you should consider when launching an international affiliate project.

1. 5 Steps to Accelerate Your
Affiliate International Expansion
Cristian Miculi – Sr. Affiliate Marketing Manager

2. Agenda
Accelerating the International Growth through Affiliates
›
Profitability – is it worth expanding?
›
Where to develop locally?
›
The 5 steps to accelerate expansion through affiliates with examples
2

3. Who I am
Cristian Miculi
Sr. Affiliate Marketing Manager, Avangate
6+ years of hands-on experience within affiliate
marketing in the digital goods area (managed over 100
affiliate programs)
Presentations at Affiliate Summit / other affiliate
venues
a
Published articles in FeedFront, Revenue Performance
magazines
Focus on growing affiliate programs for merchants
+1 650.249.5280 ext. 4645
cm@avangate.com
linkedin.com/in/cristimiculipop
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4. SO YOU WANT TO EXPAND VIA
AFFILIATES…
WHY?
4

5. Are you ready to expand via affiliates?
Run a profitability check
Definitely take it into account if…
You have products that can serve multiple local markets
e.g. appliances, clothes, software products, subscriptions, relevant eBooks and magazines
The business model is easy to scale internationally
e.g. digital goods, locally manufactured physical goods
You’re getting relevant traffic (5%+ of total) from other countries
You’re getting inquiries about availability in certain territories
5

6. Just try it
Worst case scenario: turn the expansion into a long-term deal
Think twice before making this step if…
Affiliates are not generating significant sales for you
e.g. min. 5% of your total volumes via affiliates
The products you sell have a high selling point
e.g. cars, housing - rentals, professional business products
You sell local specific services that don’t apply to other markets
e.g. credit scoring, insurance, transport
Going abroad would mean a huge logistical investment from your side
e.g. showrooms, product stocks, etc.
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7. Where should you expand?
Western Europe, China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, India
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8. Hot affiliate niches – digital goods vertical
Utilities, security, audio-video in English speaking countries, Germany, etc.
Top 10 countries with affiliate
referred sales
Top 5 niches in digital goods
vertical
1. United States of America
1. eBooks
2. Canada
2. Utilities / PC Support
3. United Kingdom
3. Monitoring / Security
4. Australia
5. Japan
6. France
Regional affiliates examples
Download.com (US)
Altech-Ads (Japan)
4. Audio-video tools
5. Productivity
Chip.de (Germany)
01Net (France)
Softonic (Spain)
Siliconaction (Brazil)
PC Advisor (UK)
7. Germany
8. Netherlands
9. Brazil
Source: Avangate stats, December 2013
10. Italy
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9. Accelerating Expansion
You decided where to go.
a
You know you want to use
affiliates.
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10. 5 Steps to Accelerate the Affiliate Expansion
Customize offer, get local assistance, reward performance
1. Customize offer – website interface, payment methods, support
2. Use local affiliate networks for recruitment
3. Get help from local agencies / OPMs on managing the program locally
4. Nurture relationships with performers – get them to sell more
5. Address the local opportunities – hot shopping dates, events
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11. 1. Customize Offer
Dress like a local
Choose partners to support you with…
 Local payment methods
 Tax handling – Merchant of Record
 Support in local language
 Customized shopping cart & emails
 Regional pricing
 Localized websites
11

12. France’s Carte
Bleue has a
market share
of 60%
Over 25% of
shoppers in the
Netherlands
prefer iDeal, a
standardized
online bankingbased payment
method.
24% of all online
payments made by
Brazilian shoppers are
processed through the
12
Boleto Bancario system.
Konbini
payments
account for up
to 17% of
ecommerce
transactions
in Japan.
Alipay is the dominant
online payment platform
in China, accounting for
approximately 50% of
the market.

13. AVS4YOU – 40% increase in sales volumes
Through localized shopping cart and regional pricing
Actions
Customized shopping cart
Regional pricing
Put your screenshot here
Results
5% increase in conversion rates
30% decrease of shopping cart abandon rates
40% more sales in France, 20% increase for Germany
Source: Avangate
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14. 99Designs: +50%-60% growth in DE vs. US
After localizing the website for Germany
Actions
Localized website for Germany, including presentation
video!
Put your screenshot here
Got local support number
Started supporting local payment methods
Results
50 to 60% increased growth in Germany vs. US
Source: TNW Conference Europe 2013, Keynote Patrick Llewellyn, 99Designs CEO
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15. 2. Use local affiliate networks
Recruit people that target those regions
When searching…
 North America: CJ,
ShareASale, LinkShare
 Segment the affiliates from the network you
already work with
 Europe: Zanox, Affiliate
Window, Trade Doubler
 See which business models they support
 Ask for clients case studies
 Latin America: Clickmagic,
Soicos, Pampa Network
 Get a look at their top publishers
 Asia: 8Affiliate, J-A-Net, DGMIndia
 Look into the possibility of them managing
your program in their network
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16. Kaspersky Turkey – 400% uplift in sales
From local affiliate network
Actions
Partnership with local affiliate network adTriplex
Local affiliate network to manage program
Put your screenshot here
Results
Affiliate sales going through adTriplex grew the overall
program performance with more than 400%
Source: Avangate
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17. 3. Get local help to manage program
Use agencies and affiliate OPMs with local knowledge
Have the relevant leverage for your expansion
 Save time & money – focus on other things
 Accelerate adoption – agencies / OPMs hold
the relevant relationships
To help your local online presence,
also look at agencies for the other
channels as well as:
 See other local opportunities you may not
have thought about
 Market research
 Get an expert advice on where to take your
program further
 Lead generation
 Localization of campaigns
17

18. Bitdefender UK: +50% YOY in affiliate volumes
With local agency handling affiliate program
Actions
Hired local agency to handle UK affiliate program: dayto-day management, recruitment, campaigns
proposals, reporting.
Put your screenshot here
Results
50% YOY increase for the UK program
Source: Bitdefender
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19. 4. Nurture relationship with performers
Affiliate manager important for 75% of affiliates
Identify, reward performance, motivate
 You might have affiliates in your original
program that are able to sell locally
 Use performance tiers and adjust them
according to territory specifics
 Keep the communication open – you’ll be the
first to know about a better deal from your
competitors
 Meet your affiliates at events
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Source: AffStat 2013 Report

20. IObit – top local affiliate doing 66% of sales
Partnership with Incredimail to penetrate US market
Actions
Custom version for Incredimail users with special
discounted pricing to penetrate US market.
Put your screenshot here
Special affiliates commission for Incredimail.
Exclusive email and holidays campaigns for Incredmail
users to increase adoption.
Results
60%+ of affiliate volumes of Iobit were generated by
Incredimail
Source: Avangate
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21. 5. Address the local opportunities
Build affiliate awareness to your program
Get noticed locally:
 Create a calendar of local holidays and hot
shopping dates
 Take part at local performance marketing events
for networking and education
 Run ads on influencer blogs / magazines
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22. 85% increase in UK sales for YesAsia.com
Via customizing website information & recruiting local affiliates
Actions
Launched program on network with local capabilities
whose account managers helped with local, shopping,
cultural and language issues.
Put your screenshot here
Results
YesAsia.com affiliate program has seen an increase in
sales by:
• 86% across the UK,
• 97% across USA,
• 65% across France
• 58% across Germany.
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23. Recap: Accelerating Affiliates Expansion
Customize offer, get local assistance, reward performance
1. Customize offer – website interface, payment
methods, support
• +40-60% more sales
2. Use local affiliate networks for recruitment
• +400% more sales
3. Get help from local agencies / OPMs on managing the
program locally
• +50% more sales
4. Nurture relationships with performers – get them to
sell more
• +200% more sales
5. Address the local opportunities – hot shopping dates,
events
• +86% more sales
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24. Successful expansions via affiliates
Where can you get more examples?
 Ask the affiliate network you’re
working with about this
 See case studies from local agencies
and affiliate networks
Put your screenshot here
 Online marketing communities /
affiliate marketing blogs:
eConsultancy, Geno Prussakov,
ABestWeb, etc.
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25. EXPANDING THE BUSINESS VIA AFFILIATES
TO BOLDLY GO WHERE
MANY HAVE GONE BEFORE
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26. Key Takeaways
Just Try It!
1. Be ready to address the local market
2. Use affiliates to penetrate the new local market – risk-free
3. Get all the local help / experience to drive your efforts
4. Be educated about the local opportunities and take advantage of them
5. Monitor what your competitors are doing and keep your performing affiliates loyal
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27. Thank you
Avangate Inc.
Redwood Shores CA., USA
Tel: (650) 249 - 5280
Avangate B.V.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 890 8080
info@avangate.com
info@avangate.com
Cristian Miculi
+1 650.249.5280 ext. 4645
cm@avangate.com
linkedin.com/in/cristimiculipop