Unsung Heroes of Affiliate Marketing – Part 7 – Helen Southgate
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Helen, my role is senior online marketing manager at BSkyB. More specifically I work across the ppc search and affiliate channels. I manage the in-house team for both these channels and work closely with the rest of the marketing team to ensure integration and online support for all campaigns.
What is your day to day role?
Every day is completely different. In general I work with my teams to optimise both the PPC channel and affiliate channel to drive more sales and efficiency. I also work closely with the rest of the online team to ensure campaigns are integrated, budget is being deployed effectively etc. Additionally, I try my best to get involved in other parts of the Sky business such as 3D TV to sell in the role of PPC and affiliate to these business units and help support their activity.
What was your previous job and was it related to affiliate marketing?
My background is purely in affiliate marketing, I have worked at two affiliate networks since leaving university, most recently DGM where I spent a very enjoyable 2.5 years.
What do you love about affiliate marketing?
I love that affiliate marketing is a microcosm of all online marketing. Affiliates do PPC, SEO, email, DM etc. I love the variety of this and the enthusiasm of the affiliates that goes with this.
What do you hate about affiliate marketing and what would you change if you could?
There are a lot of people in this industry that profess to be experts and publicise themselves widely as just that. In my experience those that are really good at it keep quiet, are modest and are very successful from doing just that.
List your top 5 resources that help you with your day to day job?
Twitter – keeps me posted on industry news
Google Reader – keeps me updated on the blogs I like to follow
Excel – couldn’t live without it
DART tracking – lets me know everything, all the time
Sky News – keeps me posted and grounded on what’s happening in the real world
If you were an affiliate how would you help someone in your role?
Be transparent about what you are doing and be open to testing new ideas. Sky is an incredible place to work in that everyone is always open to trying new things. I’d love more affiliates to come to us with more ideas about how to generate sales.
In your opinion what is the future of affiliate marketing and how can affiliates take advantage of this?
This is the first time in a few years now that i have felt really positive about the future of affiliate marketing. I think we went through a bad patch with a real reliance on brand traffic but stakeholders in the industry have really broadened their reach and as a result affiliate has become an invaluable channel.
This needs to continue and I can see more affiliates developing themselves as brands. I also think there is still a huge opportunity for the long tail affiliate, especially on a campaign such as Sky where there is so much scope to tap into a content niche. I don’t like to jump on a well travelled bandwagon but multi-channel attribution has to become part of affiliate marketing at some point, if only to protect the real content affiliates. I also, controversially, think post impression may make a comeback for those affiliates that can create a brand / sticky / high trafficked site. Exposure for brand such as Sky is really key and if affiliates can offer this then I think there is an argument for remuneration.
What is on your Ipod?
Spotify with a very varied music taste, I like anything from Take That, to Phil Collins to Lady gaga and The Killers, weird I know but I love all music.
How can people get in touch with you?
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