Brands employ affiliate marketing programs to gain exposure, awareness, and revenue. They use this performance-driven tool to connect with influencers, paying only when the consumer follows through on the desired action, typically a sale.
Affiliate marketers (aka publishers) benefit through the association with reputable brands and their earned revenue from their brand recommendations. Because it carries a relatively high value with little risk, the dollars spent on affiliate marketing have increased over 50% in the last five years, to a staggering 8.2 billion USD.
Given its growing popularity, it’s worth investigating if affiliate marketing is right for your brand. So, let’s look at what affiliate marketing is and how it benefits both brands and affiliates.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is an advertising model where an affiliate/publisher advertises your product or brand on their website, blog, or social channels. By publishing favorable information about your brand, the affiliate earns a portion of the proceeds of every sale they direct to your website.
The affiliate typically targets their information to a tightly defined, niche audience. When you align with the right affiliate, their close connection to the consumer lends credibility and positively influences their decision to purchase your brand.
The affiliate provides a link to your website on their site or social channels, which the consumer follows to make the purchase on your site. Once completed, the affiliate gets paid a specified amount for leading the consumer to make the purchase.
Key Elements to Consider
While some affiliate associations have nothing to do with the brand recommended, in today’s highly competitive digital world, we recommend only engaging with affiliates that have a direct link to your consumers. It’s equally essential that the affiliate has used and can confidently recommend your product, service, or brand.
When engaging in these “involved” affiliate associations, there are several things to consider from both the brand and the affiliate/publisher’s perspective.
- A shared vision of the brand/product
- Similar target niche
- Reputable, trustworthy online images
- Clear affiliate disclosure of the relationship to the brand/product
Should You Include Affiliate Marketing in Your Marketing Strategy?
An effective marketing strategy includes a well-defined target and an omnichannel approach to reach them. Affiliate marketing is a cost-effective tool because, unlike advertising, you only pay an affiliate that meets your conversion requirement as defined in your marketing funnel. Typically, this is a purchase but can also include a newsletter sign-up, free download, or app install. When affiliate marketing is part of the mix, brands have seen 88% higher revenue per shopper, proving it a powerful tool worth considering for your mix.
How Equivity Can Help
Successful affiliate marketing programs start with extensive research and planning. Every affiliate must align with your business and your brand. Successful affiliate marketing programs require ongoing tracking and pivoting as necessary. Equivity has marketing strategists that can develop strategies and plans for your brand, including affiliating marketing. The strategist can then draw from Equivity’s extensive group of subject matter experts to execute and monitor the results. Want to find out more? Contact us today!