Performance Horizon Moves AI Into Affiliate, Partner Marketing Channels

Performance Horizon engineers have developed five prediction models using artificial intelligence (AI) for partner marketing to analyze data and recognize trends in online behavior.

The model, announced Tuesday, adds predictions for partner performance. It analyzes incoming and historic data for each brand to predict consumer behavior for the next 28 days. 

Marriott Hotels & Resorts, British Airways, and fashion marketplace The Iconic were among the first to test the AI capabilities.

"It was a bit of a gamble because we didn't know if we'd get a high level of accuracy based on the data," says Pete Cheyne, founder and CTO at Performance Horizon.

Cheyne said after four or five months of testing and cross-referencing the predictions with the reality, the data came back with 90% accuracy for a lot of clients.

Performance Horizon, which tracks the relationship and facilitates the payment for traffic or sales generated, has collected in aggregate about 45 billion pieces of data collected in the past seven years.

But predictions are "just the tip of the iceberg," Cheyne says, alluding to "other" plans. In the future brands could have the ability to automatically review and profile potential affiliate partners. 

Traits of the modern affiliate marketer have changed, Cheyne said. They are much busier these days, have many more obligations toward brands, and have become much more of a partner concerned with working with others to contribute to the benefit of consumers visiting the retail or brand websites. At least in his company's network. The trend has moved affiliate marketing more toward partner marketing.

Cheyne said having the data helps brands understand the trends. The five prediction models range from iterative linear regression to a neural network modeling. The platform can select the prediction model for each client that is most effective.

The biggest challenge is understanding the data, so Performance Horizon tried to make it as easy as turning on a button that reads "Turn on Predictions" in the reporting dashboard. It then shows the next 28 days of performance across marketing (affiliate) partners in the campaign. As brands become comfortable viewing the data, Performance Horizon will provide deeper analysis in the dashboard.  

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