WO2001039010A2 - Procede et dispositif destines a un programme d'affiliation de courrier electronique - Google Patents

Procede et dispositif destines a un programme d'affiliation de courrier electronique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2001039010A2
WO2001039010A2 PCT/US2000/031836 US0031836W WO0139010A2 WO 2001039010 A2 WO2001039010 A2 WO 2001039010A2 US 0031836 W US0031836 W US 0031836W WO 0139010 A2 WO0139010 A2 WO 0139010A2
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
mail
webmaster
subscriber
content
information
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Application number
PCT/US2000/031836
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English (en)
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WO2001039010A3 (fr
WO2001039010A9 (fr
Inventor
John B. Ferber
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Advertising.Com
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Publication date
Application filed by Advertising.Com filed Critical Advertising.Com
Priority to AU17804/01A priority Critical patent/AU1780401A/en
Publication of WO2001039010A2 publication Critical patent/WO2001039010A2/fr
Publication of WO2001039010A3 publication Critical patent/WO2001039010A3/fr
Publication of WO2001039010A9 publication Critical patent/WO2001039010A9/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Definitions

  • This invention is drawn to an e-mail affiliate program and process for marketing purposes. It includes software for the implementation of a system to produce e-mail marketing lists. A preferred embodiment for these lists is to supply subscribers for Internet publications commonly known as "ezines".
  • the present invention is drawn to software that allows an enterprise to offer cash, prizes, or incentives to webmasters or consumers in exchange for their assistance in (i) accumulating subscribers or e-mail addresses and/or (ii) getting subscribers to view advertisements or to refer associates to the program.
  • the subscribers typically subscribed via their e-mail address
  • the subscribers may subscribe for content-based subscriptions/newsletters/alerts, marketing message only-based subscriptions/mailings, and incentive-based subscriptions where the subscriber mayreceive incentives, such as payment in cash, program points toward prizes, discounts on products or opportunities to win sweepstakes, in exchange for responding to future e-mails and other marketing messages or content delivered through internet-enabled channels.
  • the present invention includes: a) a sign-up means that allows webmasters or consumers to enter their information, including e-mail address, and the right to market to it, online through a web browser so that they can participate into the program; b) a set of instructions and computer coding into which the webmaster or participant must use as a method of which to promote the program , including prompting the user for an action, like entering information or clicking somewhere, before they are eligible; c) a statistical interface which provides the webmaster or participant with a way to see how many subscribers and/or referrals they have generatedand or what revenue/prizes/incentives they have accumulated to date (either instantly directly after the transaction, or at any time as a cumulative sum of all chance possibilities that have occurred in the past); and d) a software application which allows an administrator of the program to 1) view accounts of participants, 2) view number of participants, 3) edit information on participants, 4) keep track of subscriber and webmaster referral information, and 5) send e-mails to the subscribers and/or the participants.
  • the software allows a consumer to sign-up to subscribe for delivery of information or content such as ezines, newsletters, alerts or marketing messages with each such delivery to be sent to the subscriber's e-mail address. Consumers may subscribe for more than one offering (i.e., co-registration).
  • the e-mail delivery system of the present invention includes a system that consists of software and hardware allowing the owner of a mailing list the ability to e-mail out marketing messages to their subscribers and enable them to track the responses of those messages.
  • Tracking of responses includes: a) whether the subscriber received the e-mail, opened the e-mail, read the e-mail, how long they read the e-mail, did they perform any action inside of the e-mail such as fill in information, click on a hyperlink; b) the geographic location of the subscriber(s), area code, domain name, ISP, sex, marital status, occupation, etc...
  • this reporting can be in the form of individually reported data or group reported data; c) the ability to track subscribers over time in regards to all of the e-mails they have received, the ads they have received, the ads they have responded to, characteristics about that subscriber, including, but not limited to, observed behavior, demograhic and pyschographic data that is available on the subscriber; d) the ability to track on a timeline when any of the actions, such as opening, clicking, etc., occurred for the population sample mailed to; and e) the ability to send different messages to sample groups with the same info, decision which message is most effective, and send more of the better-performing message to the rest of the population with the same or similar demographics/details.
  • Figure 1 illustrates a basic network architecture for practicing the present invention.
  • Figure 2 illustrates a basic flow diagram for practicing the present invention.
  • the term "webmaster” refers to any entity, including an individual or publisher, who uses a website to deliver or generate new subscribers to a product or service.
  • a "participant” refers to any user of the present invention, including a webmaster or a subscriber.
  • click(s) refers to any measurable response from a consumer, including, but not limited to, selection by a mouse, rollerball, pointer, stylus, jog-dial, or any other user- selection device, and/or conversions or sales resulting therefrom.
  • Internet refers to any network of networks, whether wired or wireless, including WANs and global networks such as the ARPAnet-derived network commonly referred to as the Internet and the high- bandwidth Internet2.
  • Ad(s) and “advertisement(s)” refer to any creative or content produced, at least in part, for advertising purposes such as branding or the promotion of products or services.
  • e-mail refers to any messaging to a specific entity over an internet to an internet-enabled device, including, but not limited to, both ordinary SMTP-based POP3 and IMAP e-mail, instant messaging (IM), and short messaging service (SMS).
  • IM instant messaging
  • SMS short messaging service
  • e-mail address refers to any identifier of a participant that allows for delivery of messages and/or content to the participant's internet-enabled device, including, but not limited to, standard "name( ),domain.tld” e-mail addresses, IP addresses, and phone numbers.
  • the following is a rough schema of the tables required by an ezine database of the preferred embodiment. Although described below with reference to an ezine, the system is equally suited for delivery of any information or content requested by subscribers to any internet-enabled device, including, but not limited to, newsletters, marketing messages, alerts and other subscriber requested content.
  • the "basic" tables describe individual entities in the ezine system: users (subscribers and webmasters), ads, and the different ezines themselves. These tables do not rely on information from other tables, and so have unique primary (i.e., not composite) keys.
  • Ad Table Each row of this table describes one ad that can be inserted into an ezine issue Columns: • banner_id (primary key) // required, varchar (30) • banner_text // required, TEXT • banner_URL // required, varchar (80) • num_clicks // required, BIGINT DEFAULT 0 • num_impressions // required, BIGINT DEFAULT 0 • is_active // required, char(l) • entry_datetime // required, datetime
  • Advertiser Table Each row of this table describes one advertiser Columns: • system_account (primary key) // varchar ( 50 ) not null • advert iser_name (unique ) // varchar ( 50 ) , not null
  • Ad Campaign Table Each row of this table describes one advertiser campaign Columns: • campaign_id (primary key) // varchar (30) not null • system_account (unique) // varchar (50) not null, references system_account in advertiser table • banner_id // varchar (30) not null, references banner_id in ads table • num_clicks // bigint default 0 • num_impressions // bigint default 0 • start_datetime // datetime • end_datetime // datetime • comments // text • gross_payment // decimal (5, 2) • percent_done // int (3) • target_percent // int (3) • unit_difference // bigint • effective_CPM // bigint
  • Website Table Each row of this table describes a webmaster and a website (since a webmaster might own several different sites). Columns: • site_URL (primary key) //required, varchar (80) • site_name // required, varchar (80) • site_description // required, varchar (255) • account_number (foreign key) // required, varchar(80), references account_number field in webmaster table
  • Website Sign-up Field Table Each row of this table describes a sign-up field to be displayed to new subscribers when they are referred by the specified website. Columns: • site_URL (foreign key) // required, varchar (80), references site_URL field in website table • field_name (foreign key) // required, varchar (30), references field_name in signup field table • is_required // required -- is this subscriber required to fill in this field when they signup from this site, char(l), Y
  • Website Hosted Ezines Table Each row of this table describes one ezine that can be hosted by a given website when the website is being used by a webmaster to generate subscriptions. Columns: • ezine_code (foreign key) // required, char(2), references ezine_code in ezine table; • site_URL (foreign key) // required, varchar (80), references site_URL in signup field table
  • Ezine Subscribers Table Each row of this table describes one subscriber to a given ezine Columns: • email (foreign key) // required, varchar( ⁇ ), references email in user table • ezine_code (foreign key) // required, char (2), references ezine_code in ezine table • signup_datetime // required, datetime, when user signed up to receive this ezine • last_modified_timestamp // timestamp, this is the last time that the user modified their subscription to this ezine. Initially this is the same as signup_datetime .
  • Ezine Ad Stats Table Each row of this table describes one ad's impression and click statistics for a given ezine or individual mailing of an ezine. Columns: • banner_id (foreign key) // required, varchar(30), references banner_id in ad table • num_clicks // required, bigint, how many times this ad has been clicked from this ezine • position_in_ezine // required, int (3), position of ad in ezine • issue_id (foreign_key) // required, varchar (30) references issue_id in ezine_issue table
  • the software of the invention also provides various web interface tools for the ezine system, including those used by ezine administrators, webmasters, subscribers, including: • Ezine Content Creation This allows a list creator/moderator to submit content for a list. • Distribution Administration Allows ezine administrator to indicate start time for distribution of one or more ezines. Also allows administrator to cancel one or more distributions in progress. Administrator should be able to add or remove subscribers or webmasters, as needed. • Stats Viewer Allows ad server personnel to view/extract database stats about ads, lists, webmasters, individual ezines, or subscribers. • Subscriber Sign-up Allows subscribers to sign up for one or more ezines or other information they want.
  • the user enters their e-mail address and selects the ezines or other information they want.
  • a confirmation number is e-mailed to them, which they must use to confirm their sign-up. If possible, a cookie is put on their device at this point.
  • Subscriber Confirmation This is where the user confirms their sign-up for the selected ezines. They are optionally required to fill out a survey. Once completed, they are added to the mailing list for the desired ezines or other information.
  • Subscriber Ezine Change Allows subscribers to sign-up for new ezines or cancel subscription to ezines they're already receiving.
  • Webmaster Sign-up Allows webmasters to sign up, and indicate a referring (second-tier) webmaster.
  • the webmaster is required to fill out a survey of information.
  • Webmaster Stats/Admin Allows webmasters to view the stats for the number of subscribers and webmasters they've referred to the program (and the payout they'll receive). They can also change their account info and get the required HTML code to place on their webpages or get other information needed to refer subscribers.
  • Conversion utility Imports existing flat files into a database (i.e., MySQL or Oracle). These are a series of perl or other language scripts that process the various flat files, and write a handful of new flat files which contain the combined data. These new flat files can then be imported into the database via the LOAD or other command.
  • Bounce remover Removes undeliverable addresses from the database. To facilitate this, the present invention adds its own header to each e-mail sent: X-Sent-To: address@domain.com.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a basic network architecture for practicing the present invention, wherein an ad server 110 supplies the needed software to webmaster servers 120 and subscriber devices 130, either directly or indirectly (i.e., via another webmaster server or subscriber device which already has downloaded the software) over internet 100.
  • the ad server 110 provides both an ad server database 112 and a referral/payout database 114.
  • the system also can include a separate list server 140, that maintains its own subscriber list database 142, and a separate content server 150.
  • Figure 2 illustrates a basic flow diagram for practicing the present invention.
  • An initial step 200 in the process is for webmasters to sign-up and download the software needed to practice the invention from an enabling entity such as an ad server.
  • This sign-up can be done in any suitable manner, but is preferably accomplished through use of a web-based sign- up form or page, wherein the webmaster provides the input required for the user table and the webmaster table, as described above. This input can also include any referring webmaster information.
  • this sign-up can be done in any suitable manner, but is preferably accomplished through use of a web-based sign-up form or page, wherein the consumer provides the input required for the confirmation table, user table, and subscriber table, as described above.
  • This input can also include any referring webmaster or referring subscriber information.
  • the webmasters and subscribers have the necessary software/code to refer, at 230, other webmasters and subscribers and this information is tracked by the ad server, at 250.
  • the information or content that the subscriber has opted-in to receive is e-mailed to the subscriber at 240, and the subscriber responses are tracked at 250.
  • the information collected is then used for purposes such as to calculate incentives and payouts for the program participants, at 260.
  • the ad server can analyze the collected information by categories/fields, including but not limited to, website, ezine, ad campaign, ad, ad position, subscriber (including demographics, etc.), time, etc. to improve the effectiveness of the marketing response.
  • categories/fields including but not limited to, website, ezine, ad campaign, ad, ad position, subscriber (including demographics, etc.), time, etc. to improve the effectiveness of the marketing response.
  • the present invention makes it easy to collect, manage, and communicate with consumers using e-mail and other forms of push-based messaging as the primary vehicle for communication of marketing content.
  • the present system makes it simple to offer bounties or other types of compensation to any participant interested in referring new users into the system as well as offer a multiple tier referral system so that those participants can refer others as well.
  • the present invention makes it possible to track the entire path of a communication and all of the actions inside of it for modeling, reporting, auditing and other analytical purposes.
  • the system also simplifies the process for generating custom marketing communications in large capacity.
  • the present invention simplifies the process of enabling the selection, insertion and delivery of marketing communications inside of the main communication layer and enables an administrator to easily administer all aspects of the software from an intuitive web based interface. As disclosed, it enables the systems to run self-sufficient and be monitored for maximum performance.
  • the present invention also enables the entire system to be scaleable.

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  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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Abstract

La présente invention a pour objet de faciliter la collecte et la gestion d'informations ainsi que la communication avec des utilisateurs utilisant le courrier électronique et d'autres formes de messagerie en tant que véhicule principal pour la communication de données mercatiques. Un logiciel facilite l'offre de primes ou d'autres types de récompense à chaque participant disposé à indiquer de nouveaux utilisateurs pour ce système, et met à disposition de ces participants un système de référence multiniveau leur permettant également d'indiquer d'autres personnes. La présente invention permet de suivre l'ensemble du trajet d'une communication et tous les événements qui s'y produisent en vue d'une modélisation et pour la réalisation d'autres objectifs analytiques. Elle simplifie le processus d'autorisation de la sélection, de l'insertion et de la distribution de communications mercatiques à l'intérieur de la couche de communication principale, et permet à un administrateur de gérer facilement tous les aspects du logiciel à partir d'une interface intuitive basée sur Internet.
PCT/US2000/031836 1999-11-20 2000-11-20 Procede et dispositif destines a un programme d'affiliation de courrier electronique WO2001039010A2 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU17804/01A AU1780401A (en) 1999-11-20 2000-11-20 Method and apparatus for an e-mail affiliate program

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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US16669099P 1999-11-20 1999-11-20
US60/166,690 1999-11-20

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WO2001039010A2 true WO2001039010A2 (fr) 2001-05-31
WO2001039010A3 WO2001039010A3 (fr) 2002-05-10
WO2001039010A9 WO2001039010A9 (fr) 2002-11-21

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Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2002054174A2 (fr) * 2001-01-02 2002-07-11 Tucciarone Joel D Systeme de messagerie electronique et procede d'utilisation
DE102004035550A1 (de) * 2004-07-22 2006-02-16 Siemens Ag Verfahren zum Betrieb eines Netzwerks
US7203684B2 (en) * 2003-10-07 2007-04-10 Google, Inc Serving content-targeted ADS in e-mail, such as e-mail newsletters
US7260783B1 (en) 2003-07-08 2007-08-21 Falk Esolutions Gmbh System and method for delivering targeted content

Citations (3)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5848396A (en) * 1996-04-26 1998-12-08 Freedom Of Information, Inc. Method and apparatus for determining behavioral profile of a computer user
WO1998058334A1 (fr) * 1997-06-16 1998-12-23 Doubleclick Inc. Procede et appareil de placement automatique de publicites
US5937392A (en) * 1997-07-28 1999-08-10 Switchboard Incorporated Banner advertising display system and method with frequency of advertisement control

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5848396A (en) * 1996-04-26 1998-12-08 Freedom Of Information, Inc. Method and apparatus for determining behavioral profile of a computer user
WO1998058334A1 (fr) * 1997-06-16 1998-12-23 Doubleclick Inc. Procede et appareil de placement automatique de publicites
US5937392A (en) * 1997-07-28 1999-08-10 Switchboard Incorporated Banner advertising display system and method with frequency of advertisement control

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Title
DR. RALPH F. WILSON: "Relationship E-Mail Marketing vs. Spam" INTERNET ARTICLE, [Online] no. 59, 1 August 1999 (1999-08-01), pages 1-5, XP002182554 Retrieved from the Internet: <URL:http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmta/email-r elationships.htm> [retrieved on 2001-11-12] *
KOHDA Y ET AL: "UBIQUITOUS ADVERTISING ON THE WWW: MERGING ADVERTISEMENT ON THE BROWSER" COMPUTER NETWORKS AND ISDN SYSTEMS, NORTH HOLLAND PUBLISHING. AMSTERDAM, NL, vol. 28, 1 May 1996 (1996-05-01), pages 1493-1499, XP002037594 ISSN: 0169-7552 *

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2002054174A2 (fr) * 2001-01-02 2002-07-11 Tucciarone Joel D Systeme de messagerie electronique et procede d'utilisation
WO2002054174A3 (fr) * 2001-01-02 2002-11-28 Joel D Tucciarone Systeme de messagerie electronique et procede d'utilisation
US7260783B1 (en) 2003-07-08 2007-08-21 Falk Esolutions Gmbh System and method for delivering targeted content
US7203684B2 (en) * 2003-10-07 2007-04-10 Google, Inc Serving content-targeted ADS in e-mail, such as e-mail newsletters
DE102004035550A1 (de) * 2004-07-22 2006-02-16 Siemens Ag Verfahren zum Betrieb eines Netzwerks

Also Published As

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WO2001039010A3 (fr) 2002-05-10
WO2001039010A9 (fr) 2002-11-21
AU1780401A (en) 2001-06-04

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