Affiliate Content Publishers Can Win Big by Aligning with Target KPI’s 

As Loyalty publishers face scrutiny from Google about browser extensions providing value to customers, brands and retailers are keen to explore paid campaigns from affiliate content publishers as a way to introduce new customers in endemic communities.  Content marketing engages with customers at the top of the funnel and is known to produce a higher percentage of new customers. 

This is welcome news for large content publications who traditionally focus on advertising dollars as a main source of revenue.   With the publicity around browser extensions, affiliate advertisers are more willing to invest in paid content that also compensates the publication for sales referred.  We call this a hybrid model, as it combines a flat fee and commissions. 

Campaign strategies for affiliate content publishers

Affiliate marketing on larger content publications is nothing new, as almost every major publication now monetizes their content with affiliate links.   Content can be monetized organically, or through paid placements from the affiliate advertiser.   As an agency, we receive media kits from content publications that highlight placement opportunities along with metrics and demographics.  We vet these media kits and in-turn share the best opportunities with our clients.

While this seems like a match made in heaven, it could end in an ugly breakup because there are fundamental differences in the KPI’s of advertising and affiliate marketing.  Since the dawn of time, large content publications have relied on advertising dollars as the main source of revenue and are therefore fluent in creating brand awareness, as this is the main KPI for advertising clients.  In affiliate marketing the success of a campaign is measured in sales and how many new customers were acquired.  If the spend is $10,000 with a 4x ROAS target, the affiliate advertiser needs $40,000 in sales for this to be a successful campaign.  

Media kits we review often miss the mark because they’re not aligned with the goals of affiliate marketing.  Here are tips for affiliate content publishers that will increase the likelihood of getting signed I/O’s:

1. Know the goals of affiliate marketing and how you can achieve them using a variety of online marketing strategies (listicles, guides, product reviews, newsletters, social, etc.) 
2. Set impression data aside and instead concentrate on key affiliate marketing metrics such as clicks, conversion rate, new-to-file rate, open rate, average order value, and subscription size. These metrics provide valuable insights that help us refine our sales projections.
3. Display banners can be great for reinforcing content, but they are less effective at converting sales (the main KPI of affiliate marketing.)    
4. Keep the deliverables to a minimum and streamline processes.  Paying clients shouldn’t be expected to do all the legwork for the campaign.
5. Avoid deep linking strategies in paid content (negatively affects conversion rates) and ensure affiliate links are placed within the first paragraph.
6. Provide high level success stories that show us that your campaigns work to deliver sales and new customers. 
7. Offer “make-good placements” if your first campaign doesn’t deliver the affiliate advertiser’s target ROAS.  Keep offering them until the target ROAS is achieved. 
8. Be open to optimizing your campaign strategies if they are not delivering sales and new customers.
9. If utilizing a Sub Affiliate Network to generate links, ensure they pass SharedID or Referring URL data to the network for reporting.
10. Develop a plan to drive traffic to the paid content. Paid search is an effective method for attracting qualified traffic, whereas social amplification is less effective.    

As the digital landscape changes and browser extensions continue to be under the microscope, content publishers have a unique opportunity to thrive.  By aligning their online marketing strategies with the goals of affiliate advertisers (driving sales and acquiring new customers), affiliate content publishers can unlock a sustainable revenue stream.  Those who adapt will not only secure more signed I/Os but also build long-term partnerships that drive mutual growth.