They also looked for nontraditional avenues via which to sell product. “We typically focus on more of the high-price-point products, because that tends to be what sells better online,” Rist states. But, he adds, iRobot offers refurbished products at a discount, which requires a different strategy. In this case, Performics found Woot, an e-tailer that promotes one-day sales for one product at a time; all the units sold within hours of being announced.
By going beyond the basics of affiliate channel development, iRobot scored a tenfold increase in sales from the last quarter of 2005 to that of 2006. But Rist was pleasantly surprised to see another positive outcome: “This is the first time with my affiliate program where it’s generating more revenue than my paid search program. From my background and experience, I’d always expect the search program to perform better—and not that it’s not performing well, but ... the ROI is very strong for the affiliate program.”
—Hallie Mummert
Social Media ROI
Email Marketing that Works (2nd Edition)