Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing channel wherein online partners

receive a commission on sales they refer. This channel can be an incredibly cost-effective
option for brands looking to capitalize on existing brand loyal users and reach new media
partners who may be interested in promoting your brand. Affiliate, at its core, is a
relationship-based marketing medium; good relationships with your affiliate partners and a
keen understanding of their goals will sustain program success.

This channel is a long-standing component of brands’ conversion initiatives and has seen vast
change over the years as a result. Specifically, changes like the ITP 2.0 release and CCPA
have forced affiliate marketers to be agile and adapt with industry updates. With that, the
industry has seen constant shifts in top performing strategies and a hunger to test new
initiatives for success.

So what are the key components of affiliate strategy based on the current landscape? We’ll
outline a few below:

Affiliate Communication
 Providing frequent brand updates, promotional planning, and support to your affiliates
is crucial to program success. Many affiliates rely heavily on these communications to
plan their promotions month-to-month and gain refreshed ideas for brand content.
Offer additional support and promotional assets when needed.
 Develop program-wide newsletters that communicate general updates and provide
tracking resources. If possible, do not use your affiliate program-branded newsletters;
try to develop a custom template that fits your branding.
 Use the newsletter scheduler available in your affiliate platform to improve
efficiencies. Avoid over-communication: affiliates are inundated with emails from
multiple programs. Be brief and to the point, focusing mainly on promotional details
that may be of interest.
 In addition to sending program-wide newsletters and having a defined cadence on that
front, send direct emails to key partners on the program with additional details and
clearly outlined next steps. As some of the bigger players in the space will not sign up
for these newsletters and may not receive important information, it’s important to
ensure they are aware of updates.
 Send quarterly emails to your top performing partners providing them with brand
updates and requesting any optimization opportunities they recommend. Allow the
affiliate to lead the strategy here as they know their audience best, but provide
suggestions and guidance along the way. Make sure affiliates are clear on the best
point of contact for inquiries and the additional assets available for their promotions.

Incentivizing Via Your Commission Structure

 Your commission structure is the main method of driving affiliates to promote your
brand. Conduct industry and competitor research to identify an attractive baseline
commission that will foster inbound program application and give prospects a reason
to promote your brand over competitor brands.
 Segment your commission rates by partner category in order to protect margins with
the volume-driving partners and further incentivize upper funnel partners with a
 higher commission rate. Implement a mid-range commission with cashback and
loyalty partners to capture high kickback rates for users.
 Leverage affiliate bonuses to drive partners to complete certain milestones that are
meaningful to your brand. Allow affiliates who complete stated goals to be considered
for increased rates or program benefits like product sends.
 Ensure that your affiliate program is always funded sufficiently – on-time payments
are a huge component of a strong relationship. Conversely, late payments (both for
paid placements and commissions) can negatively impact your relationships and even
drive affiliates to leave your program or spread reviews.

Leverage Promos
 In a recent survey taken by Shane Barker Marketing, it’s reported that 97% of users
look for a deal when they shop. As deal-seeking behavior is such a prominent part of
the consumer journey, embrace it! Use promo seeking to your advantage and be
strategic about which offers you will promote through the affiliate channel. If you
don’t participate in this stage of the consumer journey, you risk forfeiting those users
to competitor brands.
 Make data-driven decisions about the types of promotions and sales you will run
through the affiliate channel. As offers are a key component of a high performing
program, be intentional about sales and messaging.
 Review your top performing historical offers and identify the potential causes of
success. Tailor your ad messaging around a clear call to action and make sure
affiliates are aware of the expectations for their promotions.
 Consider promotions based on your goals. For example, if your brand is focused on
new customer acquisition, create an affiliate sale available to new customers only and
offer an increased commission on new user sales.
 Ensure that affiliates are notified of the promotions well in advance of the live dates.
Some affiliates plan their content weeks ahead – you want to secure those promotions
with plenty of time to spare. Additionally, providing proactive notice allows you more
time in the event that there are questions around the promos or additional assets
needed on the brand side.

Execute On A Full-Funnel Strategy

 The world of affiliate marketing has been commonly boiled down to one partner type:
coupon sites. While lower funnel partners are undoubtedly important to program
performance, it’s also smart to engage partners at other areas of the marketing funnel.
Enter:  consideration and awareness affiliates.  
 Once you’ve onboarded key lower-funnel affiliates and provided them with the
necessary assets for promotion, begin to develop a list of target upper funnel and
consideration based partners.
 Try to envision what potential customers may search for in your industry and work to
partner with top ranking sites for those queries. Provide those sites with relevant
product information and identify ways to make your brand stand out.
 When working with review sites or being shown alongside competitors, make sure
unique selling points are clearly communicated and provide an additional incentive
for users to convert. Work with your affiliate contacts closely to identify things that
are meaningful to their respective audiences and focus on those points in reviews.
 Analyze audience data and existing content on upper-funnel sites to find affiliates that
would be a good fit for your brand. While many of these marquee publishers will
require a flat fee for partnership, you may be able to incentivize their promotions by
working through subnetwork sites.