Is Affiliate Marketing Still Profitable?

Is your affiliate marketing strategy profitable as it currently stands? We know, you’re probably wondering, what kind of question is that? This question is healthy to ask often – the marketing strategies that fail most often are those that aren’t questioned, optimized, or monitored regularly. Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of what you could do to increase your affiliate strategy’s success, let’s take a few steps back to look at the big picture.

The affiliate marketing industry has more than tripled in the past 10 years, with affiliate marketing spend forecasted to reach $8.2 billion by the end of 2022. If there was ever a time to jump into the affiliate marketing channel, it’s now. As the channel continues to grow noisier, it’s important that marketers stay agile and open to testing new marketing strategies. By investing in affiliate marketing, brands have a wealth of opportunity at their fingertips. With e-commerce booming now more than ever before, affiliate marketing may be the solution to capturing your target consumers’ attention and nurturing your existing customer base to increase overall customer lifetime value (CLV). 

That’s where we come in – let’s discuss just a few ways that you can ensure your affiliate strategy is optimized for long-term profitability. 

Diversify Your Affiliate Partnerships

Oh how the times have changed since one well-placed affiliate link could convert a total stranger into a paying customer. While this may still be the case for some lucky marketers, it is not a recipe for sustained success. Without a diversified partner portfolio, reaching your ROI goals will be next to impossible. 

Building brand awareness with upper-funnel placements, such as content publishers, is a critical component of the overall customer journey – but, you may only be reaching consumers who are not yet ready to commit to a purchase. The average consumer engages with at least three to five pieces of content when considering a new product or service. Marketers must incorporate mid-funnel content such as case studies, customer testimonials, and whitepapers in an effort to drive engagement with potential customers. Lower-funnel partnerships, including deal, coupon, and loyalty sites, are an equally important part of the equation. A study found that 83% of consumers changed their buying habits when presented with a discount code. By recruiting and onboarding a wide mix of publishers, marketers will have the opportunity to reach shoppers throughout each stage of the buyer’s funnel. As a result of nurturing prospects and existing customers from awareness and consideration, all the way through conversion and post-purchase, marketers will be able to expand their customer base and increase revenue overall. 

Whether you’re looking to increase brand recognition with upper-funnel placements, inform prospects using review sites and case studies, test with deal and loyalty publishers, or all of the above, our team of full-funnel marketing experts is ready to help you every step of the way – let’s discuss your ROI goals today!  

Increase Productivity and Take Calculated Risks

Managing and scaling an affiliate program is no simple task. From monthly and quarterly campaign planning, publisher recruitment and onboarding, media planning, and more, it can be difficult to make time to review campaign performance and implement ongoing optimizations. Is your affiliate program currently managed in-house but lacks the bandwidth to become profitable? It may be time to enlist an experienced agency partner who can ensure your program’s growth and ROI. Working with an affiliate agency grants marketers access to industry experience, extensive publisher relationships, secure tracking technology, and countless opportunities to scale throughout the funnel. 

Dedicated account managers will be by your side to guide you through testing into new channels, optimizing your ad spend throughout the buyer’s journey, and providing you with regular campaign reporting and insights. With a dedicated team at your disposal, you’ll have the opportunity to test new partnerships, pricing models, and traffic types, that may have seemed impossible in-house. Based on historical campaign data and targeting goals, an external strategic partner can advise you on how to take calculated risks. Just because a new partnership may not immediately seem exciting to your brand doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a try. Remember, the beauty of affiliate marketing is that you won’t pay a dime until your desired conversion takes place. So why not test and make the impossible possible – and profitable? 

From securing the best possible placements and negotiating commission structures, to all the campaign tracking and optimizations in between, the right affiliate marketing agency is able to strategically stretch your marketing dollars and, best of all, maximize your ROI.

Active Campaign Monitoring

Don’t let ad fraud compromise your campaign viability or ROAS. All digital marketers should be employing ongoing compliance monitoring and anti-fraud practices to ensure long-term campaign security and profitability.

Brands that utilize compliance technology have saved an average of $1.45M in compliance costs – just another reason to partner with an affiliate agency that prioritizes brand safety and affiliate compliance. Monitoring your campaigns manually 24/7 is not sustainable, especially as your affiliate program grows. Partnering with an agency means that they will automate your compliance monitoring to enforce your partners’ compliance and prevent fraudulent activity. At Perform^[cb] marketers are set up for success with in-house compliance monitoring, extensive partner vetting, and anti-fraud software. 

Guaranteed ROI

Affiliate marketing is hands down the most cost-effective way to achieve your ROAS goals because you’re only paying for results. Don’t just take our word for it – over 90% of marketers have expressed that their affiliate program is essential to their overall marketing success.  

Maybe you’re new to the affiliate marketing industry and interested in shifting ad budget to the channel? Or perhaps your affiliate program has felt a bit sedentary and you’re looking for new ways to scale engagement? Reach out to Perform^[cb]’s team of affiliate management experts today to develop a custom affiliate strategy aimed at achieving your marketing goals.