There’s an old English proverb that sums up the current advertising dilemmas many brands face, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Meaning it’s better to hold onto something you have than to risk losing it by going after something bigger. With ad costs spiralling across many of the biggest platforms right now, it’s a predicament many advertisers find themselves mired in, having to spend more acquiring customers at a time when that feels like an enormous gamble.
Gartner’s survey of CEOs last year was indicative of this sentiment. Only half of them were planning to increase marketing budgets, compared to the nearly 90% that were instead focusing spend on enhancing their own digital capabilities. Improving what you have rather than speculating on the unknown seemed to be the underlying feeling.
Of course, investing in your own digital capabilities is also a gamble. Spending time and resources building new products can be a risk. As is any acquisition of a new technology that then needs to be integrated into your stack.
There is a third approach though when it comes to improving your own ecommerce capabilities that offers a less risky strategy: technology partnerships. The affiliate and partnerships channel has long been perceived as one that exclusively focuses on driving inbound traffic to a brand’s website where it then (hopefully) converts and a commission is paid to that partner.
More recently, the industry has been transformed by a slew of new technology partners that provide access to cutting-edge ecommerce solutions for improving the capabilities of a retailer’s own website. And because of the performance model that partner marketing is premised on, these solutions are accessible to brands on a CPA – you only pay for those sales they help convert.
The variety of options available is dizzying. AI chatbots that can resolve customer queries. Personalised prompts to reduce basket abandonment rates. Automated product bundling that intelligently cross and upsells to users. Dynamic discounts tailored to individuals that protect margins while still providing compelling offers.
And thanks to a simple integration process through partner marketing platforms like Awin’s, these technologies can be enabled on-site in a matter of hours, rather than having to be queued into a lengthy backlog with your own dev teams.
It’s a win-win situation, particularly in the current climate. But more than just these immediate benefits, by improving their CX advertisers also reduce their reliance on future ad spend. Because delighted and happy customers are more likely to stay loyal in the future, and are less likely to have to be acquired all over again the next time they search for your product.
Key Takeaways:
- Companies that embrace ‘outsourcing innovation’ through affiliate partnerships can rapidly test new technologies, assess which ones work best and thereby enhance the customer experience to drive better revenue outcomes.
- No costly upfront investment which provides a risk-free solution to improve your ROAS.
- Simple implementation process to get up and running in a matter of weeks (or even hours in some cases!
“Working collaboratively with tech partners enabled us to deliver an engaging and unique campaign over a highly-competitive period. The work carried out with multiple marketing teams at Samsung allowed us to create a custom journey, not only driving an increase in sales but ensuring new customers experienced our very best.” - Nick White, Online Director at Samsung
