Daily Deals sites such as Groupon, LivingSocial and their international equivalents (KupiKupon in Russia, for example) have received a lot of press lately. Article titles like “The three worst daily deal mistakes and how to avoid them” prove that, from the perspective of merchants and advertisers using the group-buying sites to gain business, a consensus has yet to be reached on their true value.
However, in favor of marketers everywhere, insights provided by Daily Deals Media show merchant deal satisfaction at the level of “extremely satisfied” rose 9% between July and December 2011. Since average or less satisfaction ratings dropped, we can say that this vertical is still growing, albeit not quite as strong as it was one year ago, and merchants will continue to invest their marketing budgets in Groupon and its competitors.
At Affiliate Summit East 2012, I attended a session entitled “Effectively Monetizing Traffic with Daily Deals” which focused on new directions that sites like Groupon are taking to better meet their merchants’ needs, and what affiliate marketers can do to get the most out of this rather dynamic vertical.
Session Attendees
- Scott Ginsberg, Director, Publisher Development, Commission Junction (Moderator)
- Peter Hamilton, Partner/CMO, HasOffers
- Carolyn Kmet, Director of Affiliate Marketing, Groupon.com
- Rafael Zelik, Marketing Director/Partner, affiliaXe Ltd
Trends of the moment
Mobile
Daily deals are being seen more and more on mobile devices and inside mobile apps. The deals arena is definitely going towards mobile and geo targeting – Groupon, LivingSocial and others are good examples in how they offer creative that dynamically updates to show the most relevant ad to the consumer based on their location.
Personalization
Daily deal newsletters are getting more and more targeted and sophisticated. If in the past we were all used to getting the same emails with exactly the same deals, that is now over. Continuing the personalization trend directly to consumer inboxes, daily deals companies are starting to send deals newsletters based on your purchase history, favorite deals, and your shares and likes.
New verticals
When the daily deals trend started, (read my article introducing daily deals from last year), restaurant deals monopolized the offers. One-by-one, merchants of different colors joined the ranks, widening the appeal for users and affiliates.
Travel
More and more daily deals are going into the travel arena, creating coupons for travel, starting with flights and up to complete trip packages.
Jewelry and Apparel
Jewelry and apparel are markets that haven’t been explored by the daily deals gold rushers, and we expect to see this vertical take hold in the near future.
What are the big daily deal sites looking for in their affiliates?
Daily deals sites make affiliates lives very easy by allowing easy feed and tracking options. The session used Groupon as a case study, stating that they looking for innovation in promoting their brand. They like new and proactive approaches and are willing to learn from their affiliates.
One caveat: It’s important to be as transparent as possible when promoting daily deal brands as they are very concerned with brand sentiment and user value.
If you are a publisher looking for daily deals offers to promote, click here to view all the Matomy Market offers in the Daily Deals category.

Nadav Trenter Moser
Sales & Business Development Manager at Matomy Market

