How affiliate marketing can enhance influencer marketing

Google reports an increase of 325% in searches for 'influencer marketing' over the time period.

According to an article from eConsultancy, only 29% of influencers are using affiliate tracking links. While some inroads have been made into connecting the worlds of influencer and affiliate marketing, it’s clearly not something that has yet taken a real foothold in the influencer consciousness. The question is why?

Firstly, the commercial model for influencers is, on the face of it, much more appealing as it offers a guaranteed sum of money, while the affiliate model is based on performance; a last-click model that requires an influencer to have initiated the final click in a consumer’s journey to purchase. There is an argument however that influencer commercials are also based on performance: if an influencer is unable to deliver the campaign goals, brands will become less willing to agree to fixed fees.

Awareness and education of the affiliate industry for influencers needs to be better, and this should start from within the industry itself.  Below we outline why influencers should use affiliate marketing.

Build stronger advertiser relationships through Return on Investment (ROI)

One of the greatest USPs of the affiliate industry is the strong ROI it can produce. In a world where advertisers are constantly looking at ROI across all online marketing channels, the high ROI of the affiliate channel, £16 for every pound spent according to the latest report on the industry conducted by PWC, is an attractive characteristic for would-be affiliate marketers.

How does this relate to influencers?  Within performance marketing, and more specifically affiliate marketing, success is often measured by revenue generated.  If an influencer is already proving to provide a strong performance when it comes to brand awareness and increasing engagement, the ability to drive sales and therefore revenue for brands demonstrates an extra layer of value to the marketing mix.

Build a new revenue stream

Influencer marketing has grown rapidly and brands are still increasing spends but, the affiliate marketing industry offers an opportunity to incorporate a new revenue stream into your earnings alongside current activities.  Affiliate marketing is simple to use and offers a range of technology that can help maximise your relationships. Tracking links can direct users to specific pages such as a summer promotion for the latest fashion, a back to school deal, a brand you love or simply the latest product you bought. For a guide on how to create and implement tracking links click here

There are a number of ways to promote advertisers using tracking links via an affiliate marketing network:

• Complement an existing campaign: If you’re running a campaign for fashion retailer X posting content and running stories, by including links to buy the products you’re promoting, the user is able to view and purchase the item directly. By ensuring these links are all tracked affiliate links, any subsequent purchases can be attributed back to the website the user came through and a commission rewarded accordingly. The tracking links will also record clicks, adding another layer to reporting on interactions and insights.
  
  
• Link to a product or brand you love: If you’ve just bought something that you love and want to share with your followers, share your post or story and add a shoppable link for those who want to buy it too. Always make sure that any affiliate activity is clearly identified as a shoppable link for which you will receive a commission.

Work with new methods using innovative technology

Affiliate marketing offers a broad range of technology and tracking options which can diversify the way a publisher or influencer works within online marketing.  Awin’s latest feature, voucher attribution, allows publishers or influencers to be allocated an exclusive voucher code and be rewarded for all usages, including those that have been attributed to another publisher or another channel.  The tracking works on cookieless technology and allows influencers to promote an exclusive voucher through any medium, with or without affiliate tracking, and be confident that they will be rewarded for any resulting sales. 

Connect with thousands of advertisers quickly and easily

The affiliate industry has grown substantially since its inception, with an increase in spend across the channel of 15.1% YOY in 2017, and it is now possible to find affiliate programmes across the UK for most household brands, as well as smaller retailers across all sectors.  By joining an affiliate network, or networks, a publisher instantly has access to thousands of advertisers, whom you can contact and discuss opportunities and features with through a range of mediums.  Networks aim to facilitate these relationships, and make communication, optimisation and promotion for affiliates and influencers as simple and easy as possible.

Working with Awin – Added value for you, your audience and advertisers

With over 13,000 advertisers on our network globally and more than 18 years of affiliate experience, Awin is ready to help influencers take that first step into the world of affiliate marketing.

The Awin platform makes it easy for you to create tracking links which can then be added to your influencer channels and performance KPIs such as clicks, conversion rate, number of sales and commissions are all easily accessible in your publisher account. Within your publisher account you’ll also gain access to key promotions from retailers, banners and creative imagery as well as any offer messaging or voucher codes which are available to promote. Read more about getting started with Awin for where to find and how to implement these features.

To get started, simply create an account with Awin. Once you’ve been approved onto the network simply select those advertisers you’d like to work with from our advertiser directory. Each advertiser will have slightly different criteria to join their programmes, therefore we advise to fill in your affiliate profile as much as possible to showcase your platform and offering.  Once you’ve been approved to each advertiser’s programme you can begin to promote using tracking links.