How Partners Can Improve Earnings Per Click (EPC) in Affiliate Marketing

Just as marketers need to understand which KPIs best indicate the success of a campaign, affiliate partners also require KPIs to ensure their traffic is driving successful conversions. One of the most valuable KPIs that an affiliate partner can track is Earnings Per Click (EPC), as this metric measures the amount of money earned per each click on a campaign or affiliate link. This may seem straightforward, but in actuality, there are more facets to, and strategies for, high EPCs than one might realize. No need to worry – the Perform^[cb] team is here to help clarify what EPC is, why it’s important, and what affiliate partners can do to improve their EPCs.

What is EPC and why is it important?

As mentioned above, EPC stands for Earnings Per Click. To calculate EPC, affiliates must simply divide their total earnings by total clicks, as seen below. An affiliate’s EPC rate can help predict a campaign’s earning potential, in addition to insights from the CPA rate. That being said, affiliate partners should not base their decision of whether or not to run a campaign solely on the campaign’s EPC or CPA rate. Just because a campaign has a high EPC rate and low CPA rate, or vise versa, does not mean the campaign is an easy win or a lost cause. Several factors can affect a campaign’s success, such as vertical, traffic source permissions, landing pages, creative, and target country or demographic. For example, if an affiliate picks up a campaign in the finance vertical, but is only experienced in the lifestyle vertical, they may not be successful as their audience may not show interest in finance or savings. In this case, a lowered EPC is not reflective of a bad offer, but rather an indication of the wrong audience for that offer.

For those affiliate partners who are stuck deciding between two offers or similar campaigns, it’s always helpful to reach out to your Network or Agency account executive for additional insights. Account or affiliate managers oftentimes have additional information and may be able to recommend campaigns or offers that best fit your traffic types.

How can I improve my EPC?

There are several ways for affiliates to improve their EPC with simple optimizations to their existing assets and campaign methods. 

Content & Email Strategy

A great place for affiliate partners to start is by evaluating their current content strategy. What seems to be working, and where is there room for improvement? Additionally, are there sections of existing content where a relevant affiliate link could be added? Such content could include blogs, vlogs, product reviews or roundups, and resource pages with favorite products. By adding links to existing, popular content, affiliates have a higher chance of seeing conversions from their regular audience, in addition to new organic consumers and those coming from search engines or referral links. With content marketing costing 62% less than traditional marketing and generating three times as many leads, this can be an easy way to drive down advertising costs while increasing conversion and EPC rates.

Affiliate partners may also consider adding affiliate links to their email campaigns to increase consumer touchpoints and ultimately conversions. Should partners choose to add affiliate links in their emails, it should be done sparingly to avoid spamming subscribers; as a general rule of thumb, affiliates should be including one to two affiliate links for every three to five emails sent. It’s important to note that not all major email platforms allow users to include affiliate links in their messages (such as MailChimp). Affiliate partners who are not already utilizing affiliate links in their email cadences should review their email provider’s platform guidelines prior to employing this practice.

A/B Testing

For those affiliates who are looking to or who have already optimized their content strategy, it can be helpful to implement A/B testing to better understand what type of messaging or content best resonates with their audience. Those who take the time to A/B test typically reap significant benefits, with 58 percent of companies believing that A/B testing for conversion rate optimization is highly valuable. By testing campaign methods and analyzing the results, affiliate partners can sync more closely with their audience or traffic sources, further increasing efficiency and relevancy – and in this case, increasing earnings.

Affiliate partners who utilize Perform^[cb]’s proprietary platform PerformLEAP should know A/B testing just got a whole lot easier with our Weighted Distribution feature. Read more about how you can A/B test multiple offers with a single campaign link here!

Campaign Analytics & Tracking

Affiliate partners can create new content, perform A/B tests, and optimize their strategy, but it’s all for null if the proper tracking isn’t in place. By tracking specific metrics such as CPA and EPC, affiliates can understand whether or not the optimizations they’re making are successful. If CPA or CPC costs are decreasing while EPC conversely increases, partners now will know they have successfully started to drive costs down while bringing in higher profit.

Web Optimizations

Just as a marketer’s website needs to be user-friendly, affiliate partners should ensure their websites and landing pages are easily navigable, clean, and optimized for search. The fewer clicks required, the higher the chances of a consumer converting – this also goes for mobile. Those partners who do not optimize their sites for mobile web traffic will almost certainly lose that traffic to competitors whose sites are designed for mobile with 86% of the best landing pages being mobile-friendly. In addition to optimizing seamlessly for both mobile web and desktop traffic, partners need to ensure their sites are designed for enticing ad placements. Consumers are less likely to click on ads or even stay on a page if it looks cluttered and disorganized, so it is crucial that ad placements fit within the overall design of the site or landing page.

By following these best practices, in addition to working with a trusted affiliate Network or Agency, partners are more likely to improve their EPC, drive higher profits, and achieve more success within the CPA affiliate marketing space.

Whether you’re a new affiliate looking to grow your business, or a seasoned affiliate seeking the top-performing offers in the industry, Perform^[cb] has got you covered. Apply to be a Perform[cb] partner now!