In Bloom: Why you Should Consider Interflora's Affiliate Programme

Interflora are proud to be the UK’s largest and most experienced delivery network with over 1500 talented florists working to deliver ‘wow moments’ every day. 

Name: Interflora Affiliate Programme 

Contact: Peter Potter

Email:  Peter.Potter@interflora.co.uk

What are some developments that Interflora have seen during the past 18 months that puts them ahead of their competitors?

In 2014 Interflora.co.uk launched a new affiliate attribution model, the mechanism for rewarding affiliates for orders generated by their marketing activities.  We took the decision to change the attribution model to ensure the rewards were being received by those affiliates adding the most value to our customer journey and those who align to our strategic objectives.

How did the old attribution model work? 

The previous attribution model which had been in place since the program launched was a ‘Last Click Wins’ model, still the most common attribution model used by merchants.  The LCW model rewarded the full commission for a completed sale to the affiliate who had the final interaction at any stage during the purchase process.  We recognise this could lead to certain affiliates having their cookies overridden by other affiliates who interact later in the journey.  Our analysis found that wasn’t the fairest reward mechanism and did not necessarily reward the affiliates adding the most value. 

How did you decide on the new attribution model?

Our primary objectives were to ensure that we work with affiliates that add the most value to Interflora and provide them with an attribution model that rewards them, more fairly! 

At first we analysed our affiliates performance and identified which affiliates drove the most value and which affiliates were best aligned to the strategy of the business. This was a great starting point.  We then analysed prior performance against a number of different attribution models to ensure we found the one that would achieve the objectives above. 

How does it work? 

The new ‘Last Click to Basket’ attribution model is similar to the previous model, but affiliates are rewarded on completed orders if they had the final interaction before an item was added to the basket.  Our analysis found that affiliates that influence a customer to add an item to the basket provided the most valuable interaction and they should be rewarded if the customer went on to purchase.

How has this affected affiliates? 

It’s a simple model and was introduced to reward affiliates who can drive quality traffic to the Interflora website (for example – content, cash back and closed networks) – these sites have enjoyed the additional commissions they perhaps once missed out on due to cookies being overwritten by interactions after the basket stage.  Obviously affiliates whose first interaction with a customer happens when they bounce from the Interflora site after they have entered the basket have seen a dramatic drop in commission payments.  

Why join the Interflora affiliate program? 

If you can support Interflora by promoting our brand in the appropriate manner, can drive quality traffic and encourage customers to purchase, then you can rest assured that you will be rewarded more fairly for your efforts.  It’s also worth noting that Brand and Direct clicks are ignored if they occur after the Affiliate click and we have an extremely fast approval process.  

To join the Interflora affiliate program, please click here.

In Bloom: Why you Should Consider Interflora"s Affiliate Programme

Optimizing Email Marketing for Mobile: 6 Things You Need to Consider

Mobile continues to account for a greater share of email opens. A study from Movable Ink found that in Q1 2015, 67% of all U.S. email opens occurred on a mobile device. This trend will continue, therefore optimizing your email campaigns for mobile is no longer optional.

The staggering growth in mobile usage—and the opportunity it presents for marketers—has prompted many to refer to mobile as “the new inbox.” Mobile has enabled an always-on inbox, as many of us find ourselves regularly checking our email wherever we are. And users have come to expect for the emails they receive to be mobile-friendly. A study from BlueHornet found that when email isn’t mobile-friendly, 80% will delete the email and 30% will unsubscribe.

It’s more than simply being “mobile-friendly” from a technical standpoint (although that is critical – see #1), it’s also thinking about your email design and content from a mobile-first perspective. Here are several mobile-specific things you should consider to ensure your emails are optimized for a mobile audience.

1. Use a responsive or scalable mobile template

Mobile-friendly email templates have come a long way in the past few years, with most of the reputable ESPs and marketing automation platforms providing responsive or scalable mobile frameworks that can be used to create your custom emails. Scalable emails are typically a narrow, single column design that uses large text. They will basically look the same regardless of what device they are viewed on. As with responsive web design, a responsive email template will allow your email to look “normal” on a desktop client, but will adjust the content nicely to a mobile device. Responsive templates will give you more flexibility with your design—allowing you to use multiple columns and optimize for mobile users, while also maintaining the desktop experience.

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If you have a well-established email marketing program, this will likely necessitate the rebuilding of many different email templates, auto responders, triggered emails and lead nurturing campaigns. But don’t let the extra work prevent you from converting! Starting with a mobile-friendly, responsive template is the first (and arguably most critical) step in optimizing your email for mobile.

2. Keep your email short, sweet and to-the-point

Mobile users are often multitasking or on the move; they’re in meetings, sitting at a stop light, standing in line at the store or walking down the hall at work. Email can be deleted ever so quickly on a mobile device, so it’s important to make sure your subject line and main copy are enticing, engaging and to-the-point. Creating short and engaging subject lines is key to bringing in readers and making sure they open your email (note that iPhones only allow 32 characters before cutting off the subject line).

And once they’ve opened your email, be sure it contains quality content with relevant information, a compelling offer and a clear call-to-action. Make your design clean, simple and uncluttered. Don’t succumb to the temptation to cram a lot of text in the email; be concise, use easy-to-read fonts and make it easy on the eyes. If your email contains several sections with a lot of content, create a simple table of contents at the top with anchor links that allows users to easily jump to the portions of the email that they are most interested in.

3. Utilize the preheader

You always want your emails to stand out in the inbox and get opened. The preheader is the short summary text and the first item that follows a subject line when an email is viewed in the inbox. Most people simply include a “view in a browser” link or something similar. You should always include the option for the reader to view the email in a browser, but you might want to consider putting something more important in front of that link. The preheader might be a great place to include a summary of your email’s purpose or a call-to-action, since this will be one of the first things that gets displayed in your reader’s inbox.

4. Make your call-to-action buttons finger-friendly

Speaking of calls-to-action (CTA), a typical adult finger covers 45 pixels when pressed on mobile screen, so create your CTAs with this in mind. Make sure your CTA images are padded to avoid frustrating tap errors. The easier it is to click on a button, the more likely it is your readers actually will. It’s also best to use “bulletproof buttons” for CTAs instead of images. Bulletproof buttons are built using basic HTML and CSS and they’re more efficient than images. Lastly, don’t overlook the way you handle links. Smaller screens can make links unclear especially when they are surrounded by clutter. So set links to stand out and make them easy to tap on using a tag and a contrasting color.

5. Be intentional with your use of images

While images can certainly enhance your emails, try to strike a balance between text and images. Your emails shouldn’t be entirely dependent on images; rather the images should support the text that conveys the message you’re trying to get across. Also, when it comes to using images, the smaller the file sizes the better. Mobile devices typically have slower download speeds than desktop computers, so keeping the image file sizes small can really help with the email downloading quickly and efficiently. It also helps your subscribers be less frustrated and less likely to delete your email before it loads.

6. Test, test and test again

Don’t waste all your hard work optimizing your emails without testing extensively! Testing is a critical step in anything digital, and mobile-optimized emails are no different. After you’ve set up your email, be sure to test it thoroughly on all types of mobile devices, as iPhones and Androids render emails differently. And just like each web browser renders web pages differently, email clients (e.g. Outlook, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, etc.) do as well. Check to make sure that your links work properly, images load quickly and what displays in the preview pane is going to get you an open. And one last check on spelling and to make sure your offer or purpose is clear and compelling won’t hurt either.

With more people viewing emails on mobile devices, you don’t want your email deleted simply because it’s not optimized for mobile users. And more importantly, you want your emails to fulfill their intended purpose—getting opens, click-throughs and ultimately conversions. While there are certainly others, hopefully these considerations will help you make that happen.

Author: Tim Asimos

Tim Asimos is VP & Director of Digital Innovation at circle S studio, a strategic marketing and digital design agency, specializing in results-driven strategy, brand development, creative, content marketing, web development and online marketing services. Follow Tim on Twitter…. View full profile ›

Optimizing Email Marketing for Mobile: 6 Things You Need to Consider

3 reasons to consider affiliate marketing for your business

Dozens of brands, from the online game “Clash of Clans” to superglue maker Loctite, recently gambled millions of dollars by putting out Super Bowl ads.

But it’s difficult to tell how this promotion impacts the success of a business, despite the high cost. Instead, what if you used a marketing channel where you paid for the marketing spend only after a sale was made?

That’s the beauty of affiliate marketing.

This pay-per-acquisition marketing channel is one of the most effective online marketing tools that some merchants have. To help determine whether an affiliate program is right for you, here are three reasons your company might want to consider one:

1. Your vertical is big on blogging

When your business is in a vertical with a large and active blogging community, there will be a wide range of partners who could make good affiliates. For example, companies that sell apparel, home goods and products for kids and moms work extremely well with affiliate marketing. E-commerce sites that sell these things can tap into the large fashion and mommy blogger communities.

Make sure that there are potential affiliates and networks that align with your vertical and strategy. For some very specific niches that have a hard time locating relevant or high-quality affiliates, this strategy might not make as much sense.

2. You have good margins and customization

It’s beneficial if you have a healthy margin so you can offer affiliates an attractive commission. It’s also easier to entice affiliates to sell your product if it’s unique. Merchants with their own brand or an element of customization are much less susceptible to comparison shopping and have better conversion rates for affiliates.

Robert Glazer, founder and managing director of Acceleration Partners, is a customer acquisition specialist with an exceptional track record in growing revenue and profits for fast-growing consumer products and services companies. His clients include Adidas, eBay, Gymboree, The Honest Company, ModCloth, Reebok, Shutterfly, Target, Tiny Prints, Warby Parker, and zulily.

3 reasons to consider affiliate marketing for your business

Why You Must Consider Mobile In Your Email Marketing

Mobile matters. Want proof? Check out these stats:

• Eight percent of users report reading email on mobile devices. (HubSpot)


• Nearly half of emails are opened on smartphones and tablets—a 500 percent increase in four years. (Litmus)


• Thirty-seven percent of consumers are more likely to purchase on a mobile-optimized site. (ExactTarget, 2014 Mobile Behavior Report)

So when you’re sending out those meticulously-designed, graphic-heavy emails to your customers, are you giving any thought to how they might be viewed on a mobile device?

Most mailing-list programs give you an option to send a text-only version of your marketing emails – but most people are still going to receive the full version on their mobile devices. So you have to take mobile into consideration from the subject line onward.

Here are five tips that will get you a better open rate and response rate when readers open your marketing emails on their smartphones and tablets.

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1. Use short subject lines

Keep your subject line under 50 characters for the biggest impact. Not only are these shorter subjects easier to read on a mobile device, but research shows that they have a higher open rate in general.

2. Use a single-column template

This is common sense. Multiple columns look squished on a smartphone screen. Even on the gigantic new models that are coming out. (Have I mentioned that it feels like I’m putting a piece of toast up to my ear when I answer my iPhone 6 Plus?)

3. Keep images small

The smaller the image size, the lower the load time and the less bandwidth your email takes up.

4. Make your call-to-action stand out

If your CTA is a contextual link (hyperlinked text within your email copy), a reader might have a hard time clicking that on a smartphone screen. Instead, use a clear, distinct button with compelling copy.

Side note: Don’t use an image for your CTA. It’s not always obvious they’re clickable, which makes them a very poor prompt to get your reader to take action.

5. Avoid using menu bars and stacked links

Fingers are not styluses. They are not designed well for clicking on narrow links in an email. How many times have you accidentally clicked the wrong link on your smartphone or tablet, then had to wait for the page to load so you could go back and try again? Don’t do that to your readers.

Author: Jessica Mehring

Jessica is the founder and director of Denver/Boulder-based Horizon Peak Consulting. She has been an editor and copywriter specializing in Web content and business writing since 2000. Her career path gave her a front-row seat to the online-marketing boom, and she is passionate about sharing this knowledge and experience with small… View full profile ›

Why You Must Consider Mobile In Your Email Marketing