What Is Affiliation Marketing?

Affiliate marketing, while often referred to as a “channel,” is a model or framework that allows brands to work with individuals or companies (known as “affiliates,” “partners,” and “publishers”) to keep up. And measure its performance in an efficient, scalable and also economical way.

For example, let’s say you’re a direct-to-consumer company that sells wedding rings and bands. Through your affiliate program, you can partner with …

• Websites focused on cheap weddings
• Engagement Rings / Wedding Rings Site Reviews
• Publishers can promote listings for their “Free Ring Size Kit” and generate high-quality leads for you.

Who Are The Actors Of The Affiliation Marketing Model?

Companies that sell a product or service. Sectors include retail, direct sales, subscription services, financial services, travel, telecommunications, broadband, gaming, e-commerce, marketplaces, B2B, etc.

 Affiliates (Publishers, Partners)

Brand Marketing Partner. These can be bloggers, active social media posters, specialized content sites, personal website owners, product review websites, shopping sites, mobile apps, app-to-app marketing platforms, mass media websites, loyalty sites, coupons and bonuses and even other brands. .

For a more detailed breakdown of these different types of affiliate partners, download our definitive guide to the affiliate marketing model or check out the list on our publisher development page.

 Affiliate Networks

Affiliate networks typically do all affiliate tracking, reporting, and payment in an affiliate program. Some affiliate systems also offer complete service management or self-service program management to provide tracking technology. Affiliate networks also give access to a network of affiliates who request to join their network, giving those affiliates access to hundreds, if not thousands, of affiliate programs.

 Software As A Service (Saas) Platforms

SaaS platforms also provide firms with performance tracking, reports, and payments in an affiliate program, but they do not manage affiliate programs or allow companies to access an affiliate network. His focus is only on the technological aspects of an affiliate program.

Brands choose an affiliate network or a SaaS platform as their technology partner, not both. For a better overview of SaaS platforms. And also, networks and the types of businesses under each type, download our free quick guide to affiliate networks and SaaS platforms.

 Affiliate Agencies (See Affiliate Program Management Below)

Monitor and also manage the day-to-day strategy and operations on behalf of brands, including partner relationships, partner referral, activation, and optimization. You will work directly with affiliates and with the affiliate network or SaaS platform that meets the program’s technical requirements.

How Do Membership Programs Work?

To an outsider, the insides of affiliate marketing programs can be mysterious and also confusing. Some marketers even think of it as a channel that you can toggle on and off, as with paid search or paid social media (spoiler: not so).

• Although affiliate associations are diverse, they are based on transparency and genuine relationships, not on one-off transactions.
• The overall goal of an affiliate program remains to create a win-win environment for both brands and their affiliate partners, a structure that. If properly configured and strategically managed, can be an essential part of a brand’s online sales, with a high ROAS. And a low CPA.
• The affiliate partner advertises a brand’s products or services on its website.
• The consumer clicks on the brand ad on the partner’s site. A cookie is saved in the consumer’s browser (see the following section below for more information on cookies); This allows the affiliate network or the SaaS platform to track the consumer’s progress.

Affiliation Marketing Performance Monitoring

Affiliate Advertising uses tracking cookies and also a pixel placed on the brand’s website to track and measure the marketing activities of its partners. The metrics generated from this tracking structure are usually more tangible than other forms of marketing and can lead to a very reliable ROI calculation for the brand, including:

• Registrations, email subscriptions, raffle tickets
• Sales, orders, subscriptions
• Exchange rate
• New customer vs. regular customer
• Average order value
• Cost per Action (CPA)
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Administration Of The Connection Program

On average, companies run their affiliate programs in-house or in partnership with an affiliate management agency (sometimes referred to as an OPM) to meet the day-to-day needs of an efficiently managed program. There are also brands, especially corporate brands, that take a “hybrid” approach to manage their schedule, where they control elements of the program in-house and work with an agency to manage the day-to-day aspects.