The Evolution of Affiliate Into a Full Funnel Performance Driver

Affiliate as an industry has been thought of strictly as a performance driver for a long time. Marketers have long used affiliates as a last-click strategy to deliver sales—serving as a lever that they pull to drive traffic during peak shopping seasons, new product launches, etc.

But as affiliate has become increasingly data-driven and measurement and attribution technologies continue to evolve, that old perception is no longer relevant. Instead, marketers need to be thinking of affiliate as a loyalty strategy that they use throughout the entire funnel—from discovery to purchase, and beyond.

Rakuten Advertising has seen significant growth of affiliate adoption in Canada. We’ve seen a 29% increase in order and click-active advertisers, as well as a 26% increase in order-active publishers. This surge in adoption is being seen at the consumer level as well, with an 11% increase in average order value.

With affiliate continuing to grow in the region, Canadian marketers need to begin thinking about their larger affiliate strategies more strategically.

Life beyond (and before) the last click

Attribution technologies are helping marketers understand how their affiliate investments are delivering outside of strict sales. We can understand more about the customer journey and uncover more information about how each touchpoint eventually leads to a sale.

Think of a consumer who clicks on an affiliate link in a blog post about “the 10 hottest holiday gifts” and clicks through to a product page for a new gaming headset. They don’t make a purchase at that point, but a few days later they come across a display ad for the same headset which then leads to a purchase. The affiliate publisher still played an important role in the overall customer journey and should be rewarded for that influence.

As attribution and tracking capabilities continue to mature, we’re going to see more publishers seek acknowledgment and reward for the role they play in influencing consumers throughout the entire funnel. Marketers who invest in this compensation early on will build stronger relationships with publishers and will thrive in the long run.

Dynamic Commissioning is Key

Marketers might wonder, “how can I build stronger relationships with publishers to make sure I’m getting the most out of my affiliate investments?”

There are many ways to incentivize publishers, but commissioning practices are often the most effective at bridging the advertiser/publisher gap. Publishers want transparency. They want to understand the objectives and goals of their advertiser partners so that they can help deliver meaningful results.

Dynamic Commissioning allows marketers to set different commission rates with varying situational variables so that publishers know exactly where an advertiser’s priorities are. Marketers can set different commission rates for certain products—whether they have a new product launch or are looking to offload excess inventory.

They can even set commission rates based on the type of shopper that a publisher can deliver. They can commission higher for delivering repeat customers, or even set commission rates to reward publishers who deliver “higher-quality” shoppers. For example, a credit card company can set higher commission rates for publishers who can deliver to consumers with higher credit scores.

Dynamic Commissioning is the key to helping a publisher understand how they can be the best partner possible. While there is still a lot of work to do on the attribution front, Dynamic Commissioning delivers a level of transparency that helps affiliate thrive as a full-funnel strategy in the short term.

Loyalty is everything

Like many parts of the world, economic volatility is impacting how and where consumers shop. In a difficult economic time, consumers have become more conscious of their spending habits and as a result brand loyalty hangs in the balance.

There’s a real opportunity for marketers to leverage affiliate as a tool to either maintain existing loyalty or build new loyal consumer relationships that have lasting potential. Affiliate publishers are expanding beyond the traditional content platforms and are inclusive of publishers that offer unique deals and sales. Marketers should tap into affiliate to offer deals and rewards that will attract the eyes of price-conscious shoppers. Once a consumer leaps your shopping ecosystem, different publisher types can help foster and grow that loyalty by partnering with influencers, bloggers, content sites, and more.

Full-funnel strategies are critical for a successful loyalty program, and the affiliate can deliver on that need in both the short and long term—regardless of how the impending deprecation of cookies plays out. Marketers who uplevel their affiliate strategies today will ultimately win out tomorrow.

Written by Anthony Capano, Managing Director at Rakuten Advertising