June 4, 2019 5 min read
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Getting a Big Return on a Marketing Investment: Lots of people stay up at night. How is the money spent on this PR firm converted into sales dollars? How is this huge million dollar ad campaign affecting your brand? For most marketing initiatives, determining ROI is an unpredictable waiting game with no guaranteed outcome.
However, there is a marketing model that plays by a different set of rules – rules based on paying for performance after the results are achieved. Affiliate marketing, which used to be seen as a shot in the dark, is now powered by sophisticated technology, transparency between partners, and compensation tied to specific, measurable results.
Related Topics: How This Affiliate Marketer Learned Enough About Their Crafts To Start His Own Business
However, a successful affiliate program requires the right experience and partners. Whether you’re starting an affiliate program or looking to take an existing program to the next level, you need a strong team behind you. Here are the five players you need to make sure you’re getting the ROI you want for partners:
1. An agency
Unless your company has the resources and bandwidth to build a team of several people with extensive knowledge and experience in affiliate marketing, hiring an agency is your best option. Agency marketers are experienced in handling the multiple complexities involved in building and developing a high performing program.
Make sure you take a close look at the agency’s setup and make sure it’s based on performance. I once saw a speech by Robert Glazer, CEO of Acceleration Partners, a global affiliate marketing company. He wrote a book called Performance Partnerships, which was about making each affiliate program work. It’s easy to fall into the trap of working with a company that says they are making you revenue, but make sure they are putting their money where it is. If it doesn’t deliver in the short term, chances are high it may fail to meet long-term expectations.
2. A scalable network or platform
Whether it’s an affiliate network or a SaaS platform, all affiliate marketing programs need a technology platform to run on. Your platform should be able to support your growth plans and provide you with the right features and geographic coverage, especially if your brand is a global brand.
Awin is an example of this type of platform. The company offers technologies to help meet industry challenges such as: B. Third-party tracking, data light tracking, attribution and advanced commissioning. These types of data weren’t available years ago, but with new advances in technology, you can see what works when and why. It is valuable not only for the affiliate program but also for learning what works so that you can apply that knowledge to different sales channels.
3. Loyalty partner
If you want to scale your program quickly, you need to work with players who are focused on getting loyal customers. Ebates is one of the larger players in the loyalty sector that operates on a merit. The brand is actively expanding its markets and categories beyond retail to include travel, restaurants and ridesharing for cashback rewards.
It is important to determine if these types of partners are really creating loyalty or if they are attracting the wrong types of customers. Choosing the right loyalty partner can result in a strong, loyal customer base that is key to the long-term survival of the brand.
Related topics: How loyalty programs emerge as effective marketing tools
4. Mobile partner
Customers are increasingly spending time with mobile devices and apps. Hence, it is imperative to have partners in your affiliate program who dominate the mobile ecosystem.
Ibotta is an example of one of those apps in the US that connects consumers with grocery, retail and lifestyle brands and rewards them with cash for buying things they need. I used the app pretty easily when I was in touch with customer service after purchasing it. I just took a photo of the receipt and the app transferred the money back to my account. With the rapid growth of mobile users, it’s good to look at partners who have developed a mobile user experience that makes it easy and accessible for the customer.
5. Tech-Driven Publishers
The affiliate area has grown far beyond coupon and deal partners. To generate incremental performance-based revenue within your program, partner with publishers who are advanced in e-commerce technology, including extensive website integration and artificial intelligence.
RevLifter is an example: It helps brands drive more conversions, incremental sales, and customers by personalizing offers to advertisers across marketing channels. Available worldwide as a pay-per-performance model, it uses AI to understand real-time signals from on-site user behavior and deliver the right offer to the right customer at the right time.
Related Topics: Affiliate Programs Turn Competitors Into Collaborators
Whether you are new to affiliate marketing or just need to improve your game, checking these boxes will help you build a strong affiliate marketing program. ROI is hard to manage when running a wide variety of marketing programs, but the right team can help you take the reins – and get the result you want.
