Forgive me if I seem obvious now, but the surge in guilt-free shopping during the pandemic has led to a surge in demand for e-commerce, fueled by rational costs offset by all social costs. Trends have changed during the pandemic, priorities have shifted from thongs to pilates mats and from tableware to furniture, constantly adapting how habits have led to shopping. Now that consumers can shop in stores, an irreplaceable spotlight has been shed on the online marketplace, highlighting the ease of a hassle-free shopping experience that most of us can't deny. This was highlighted by the record number of e-commerce purchases in Australia in December 2022.
As a result of this changing landscape, e-commerce and media savvy working together have increased the demand for low-funnel marketing activities. Not only is the affiliate industry projected to grow 26% in affiliate marketing by 2021, it is now worth an estimated $13 billion worldwide (Influencer Marketplace). Nationally, affiliate and performance partnership budgets, led by the retail and fashion sectors, grew 69% year-over-year (IAB).
So what are the benefits of allocating your media budget to partnerships and what should marketers know? There are 7 foundations to any successful affiliate campaign, mainly benefits, leads and leads;
1. "How do we know someone actually bought it?"
Proclamation
Oh, but we do! In a marketing discipline where reliable tracking is critical to success, the emergence of sophisticated platforms like Impact, Partnerships and AWIN allow you to see the bottom line and connect with specific channels. Since most affiliate activity is measured in terms of final clicks, this is a channel that provides high confidence that a campaign will result in a purchase.
2. Proven and measurable ROI
They are not only beautiful - they are very important. A paid ad purchase based on a predefined action (eg sale, lead, affiliate account) allows you to accurately measure the ROI and ROAS associated with the campaign.
3. Low risk
As we work to achieve results, we evaluate the media partner against the final indicators of success and only pay when these indicators are met. It's as safe as using the stove handle to make hot tea.
4. This is where your customers go anyway…
Placing a brand in an area where there are many consumers in the market with the intention of making a purchase will only increase sales. If your customers want to go there, it makes sense for your brand to be there. Failure to do so may create an opportunity for competitors to target those leads. Therefore, it is important to consider the potential impact of your brand not being present in this area.
5. Brand promotion through celebrities
Partnering with popular sites that have built and nurtured a relationship of trust with their audience to co-sign an offer only reinforces the goal in the consumer's mind. All this is only safe if the buyer keeps selling, right? !
6. Diversity
As the ecosystem grows, more brands enter the partnership space, resulting in different partnerships. In addition to traditional partnerships, alternative partnerships such as results-based influencer collaborations are becoming increasingly popular. Non-competing but related brands come together to create a marketing proposition with a common goal that can be measured effectively. This trend has developed a creative culture with many creative options. His creativity has never been higher.
7. Control
Contrary to the historical narrative about subsidiaries, "doesn't this just eat away at existing productivity"? Partnership discipline helps create campaign-wide hygiene practices that optimize the entire media mix. The control rules provided by the commercial relationship with publishers and lawyers can be applied in areas such as brand auctions, which will reduce the impact on SEM. Alternatively, many of the previously mentioned SaaS platforms have the ability to measure cross-media behaviors and assess the impact of each channel on overall business goals. This helps to understand the cumulative effect of the channel and its interactions with other channels (it wouldn't be a media conversation without an ownership conversation).
It all comes down to performance in conjunction with giving brands the opportunity to achieve incremental growth with limited risk. However, it should be noted that this approach complements rather than replaces existing media channels. It does not consume other channels but has the potential to open up alternative revenue streams and promote scalable growth by reflecting the ongoing shift towards e-commerce demand.
Calum Wingrave is Head of Collaboration at Mindshare.
