Anastasia Kapsha, CMO, Alpha Affiliates
Cannes Lions Festival celebrates the best of the best. It’s an opportunity at the beginning of summer for the marketing, advertising, and creative comms industries to share ideas and network, as well as indulge in the famous provencal rosé.
The week-long event leaves attendees with a clear view of industry challenges and opportunities. Those span all sectors and focuses, from the big thinking topics of how creative industries will implement artificial intelligence (AI) through to continued interest in podcasts reinvigorating excitement in the audio industry.
One takeaway that can’t be overlooked is how impactful out-of-home (OOH) advertising can be. You literally can’t miss it thanks to La Croisette and its yachts, and even villas spanning the coastal hills. The branding seen across apartment fronts and on beachfront takeovers won’t fail to grab your attention and remind you just how powerful a tool OOH can be for a marketing campaign. However, the remainder of the year sees other marketing tactics often take centre stage – from our long-reigning obsession with mobile to the increasingly intriguing connected television (CTV).
Although OOH is a highly memorable format that delivers one of the highest return on investment (ROI), it is often an afterthought in our digital-first world. So, is it time to reconsider other marketing tactics that are also underestimated?
An established and trusted industry
Through the past three decades, affiliate marketing has evolved. It’s moved past concern around the few bad apples that contributed to the creation of misleading domain names, fraudulent activity, a competitive and crowded marketplace, and more. Its reputation is no longer focused on the myths that it is somehow a get-rich-quick or pyramid scheme.
Instead, modern affiliate marketing has developed a legitimate business model which connects people with products or services, resulting in commissions when a successful sale is secured. The introduction of innovative concepts including attribution and targeting, formed it into the strategic and powerful performance marketing function it is today.
Building trust is key to a successful affiliate campaign, meaning this marketing tactic is a highly useful tool for brands to build communities, promote their products, and generate sales. However, growing an audience and gaining influence requires both time and dedication.
Yes, affiliate marketing can quickly generate leads but it’s a long-term strategy. It may take a few years of affiliates consistently creating and publishing content before regular success is seen for brands.
Cutting through the noise
Compelling content that informs, educates, or entertains people is at the core of affiliate marketing. An affiliate needs an in-depth understanding of its target audience to create this. Meaning strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities/challenges must be identified. Then, it is an ongoing process to maintain this, which means getting feedback from their network, keeping up to date with demographic stats, etc.
Identifying how to share that knowledge is also key. It’s important not to jump into a direct and obvious sell. Instead, success will come with affiliates showing their passion, focusing on solving identified problems, demonstrating opportunities, and answering questions. A clear call to action will then drive that all-important conversion for the brand.
Differentiation is challenging in such an active marketplace, but incredibly important for affiliates to secure cut-through. However, a variety of tactics can be used to find what works for each niche – it’s simply a case of patience, persistence, and creativity for the end brand!
Enhancing existing strategies
Affiliate marketing is worth the consideration for brands who may have been inspired by the creativity on display during this year’s event schedule. It generates a significant ROI, as a higher conversion rate is generated for brands by the targeted approach affiliates take. And it’s important to note that a brand will only pay for results, not the campaign.
The hard work is in ensuring well-chosen affiliate partners when setting up an effective affiliate programme. Once that network is in place and all necessary assets shared, a brand can then sit back and wait for the impressive results that take its performance marketing strategy to the next level. Instead, they can continue to focus their efforts on their existing marketing and advertising strategies.
Affiliate marketing is a tactic that works in tandem with broader awareness and trust campaigns spanning other mediums, from TV ads to PR activations. An established affiliate network should then be well-positioned to attract relevant traffic, pushing potential customers through to those all-important sales!