The past few years, a big shift in performance marketing has been focused around content publishers. There are many sub-categories and verticals when you dive into the content category, but today we’ll focus on influencers. Have you been in a meeting this past month, this week, even today where the term Influencer hasn’t come up in some way? Brands & advertisers are on an ongoing quest to figure out how best to capitalise on an influencer strategy while the Influencers themselves are figuring out how to maintain authenticity, build a following, and strike a balance with monetization.

Influencer marketing is a “thing” and has reached a state of maturity, and hence, the commercialisation has not only begun, but it’s evolving. For advertisers and consumers alike it can be challenging to tell the good from the bad, the real from the fake, the small from the big, and a very fragmented market has evolved.  Yet, the real challenge that has surfaced for all parties involved – the advertisers, consumers, and the influencers themselves is authenticity. 

According to eMarketer, inauthentic engagement and the rising costs associated with influencers is one of the key challenges the industry faces. Striking the right balance is a concern for advertisers and the amounts they should pay out can start to weigh heavy when thinking about budget allocation and the returns from it.

A balanced approach

This is important as having this as part of an affiliate program, we need to maintain and build authenticity while harnessing the power of the distribution and also making sure the budget doesn’t go out the window. Influencers are doing good work and they deserve to be compensated for it, but advertisers will need to walk a delicate line and start to create the right mix to ensure broad reach but also get that authenticity they are looking for.

The more “mass market” influencers have created a foothold for themselves with brands and followers, and even micro-influencers have a place in an advertisers strategy, what we need to be on the lookout for next to fully balance out the portfolio, from an Advertiser perspective, is the very long tail, what I would say are just individual consumers and brand advocates like you and I.

Another eMarketer report shows how this segment of smaller influencers, is not only more cost-effective but speaks directly to the right audience and starts to address the challenge of authenticity. When you start to look at your customers as publishers in your affiliate program, you are able to start looking at small, trusted audiences and creating advocacy amongst them.  And what better way to do that than in the affiliate channel? This can simply be an extension of your current program and starts to create further diversification of distribution.

A different type of partner

There are actually a bunch of differences when you think about the more mature Influencers currently working in the space vs working with an individual or customer. You could say there are a lot of individuals who are influencers today, and you’d be right. But this distribution strategy is based on niche content, the size and reach of the audience, and the intent of the publisher. When thinking about how to create a long tail with your loyal customers and brand advocates – you need to remember, they’re not businesses, they often times don’t know affiliate, and this isn’t their primary form of income. Yet, the authentic voice they bring can provide a big opportunity and halo effect for a brand. 

These trusted friends provide useful information – and the opportunity exists to treat this as an affiliate engagement. We typically think of Influencer as Instagram – but if I were to text my friend for a recommendation on a TV to buy and they sent me back a link – this could be a great long-tail partner for an affiliate program. 

Now in terms of measuring the success of these individuals, if you lump them within your affiliate program and make them compete for last click they’re not always going to get the chance to grow and show off their true value. Yet it can still be an affiliate but should be carved out and measured separately or by a lot of the new multi-touch attribution commissioning logic the various networks and platforms have started to offer.

Keys for success

Social media has empowered Individuals to become huge producers of content and these are people who have immediate trust with their followers. They have smaller cohesive networks (friends and family), and they don’t even need to work within the normal economics of your program.  Some might value a per cent of sale, but others could just be looking for an exclusive offer, a product sample, or if it was me – just send me a t-shirt with your company name on it.

To be successful, this segment will require different tools, features, and functionality. It’s still hard today to explain the construct of an affiliate program to someone who isn’t in this space. Although there are tools out there that have started us down the path of simplification – we’re not there yet.  But the idea is – with the right tools, everyone can potentially have an affiliate relationship with a brand or retailer.  Things like white label platforms, simple linking tools, and most important – educational tools will be necessary for success.

Conclusion

An influencer is a key category of distribution that everyone needs a strategy around. But individuals can be your best advocates and there’s no reason the infrastructure by which we track can’t happen via an affiliate. These individuals can be trusted salespeople finding a unique audience or being found by a unique audience that perhaps as an advertiser you wouldn’t have been able to access yourself.  Now is the time to take advantage, make sure you have the right tools, and leverage this as a key part of your affiliate program.

The post The Next Phase of Influencer Strategy Through Affiliate appeared first on PerformanceIN.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen some major shifts in the Affiliate channel.  Platforms have emerged, tracking has become more sophisticated, and in turn, so have the economics that drives our industry.  With that, the ecosystem of publishers has matured & expanded to truly evolve our industry into a partnership channel.  

Once upon a time, all the publishers in the affiliate channel were lumped together and managed with a general strategy and often times limited budgets.  But as new entrants have come on to the scene and existing partners have grown & matured, we have an opportunity to put a new strategic set of eyes upon publisher partners in order to support growth for an advertiser and to revisit how they’re managed within the channel & beyond.  

What I mean by this is that to truly become a partnership channel – we need to make sure that we are taking the right approach when looking at the value exchange & development of relationships between publishers and advertisers.  We need to get back to basics & establish some core principles for how we think about & manage this channel.

In the past year, as I’ve built my own consulting practice, focused on helping publishers & Technology partners with their strategy in the Affiliate ecosystem, it’s become clear to me that although we’ve evolved – there’s still some work to do.  We’re flush with opportunities, which is a great thing!  Yet, it’s important to make sure that we’re taking the time to understand each other’s needs and digging in to articulate our mutual value which is what makes this channel so great.    

So how can we get back to the basics?

1. Dig in

This might be the simplest of all.  Yet, we need to be deliberate and understand each other and how we can mutually benefit each other when thinking about a partnership.  It’s not just what’s in it for one side (a new partner, a better offer, a coupon), it’s about how both sides can be successful.  

The way to start is simply – pick up the phone.  There is a lot of overhead when you’re managing a partnership, especially multiple partnerships – but taking the time to explain what you’re doing as a publisher and taking the time to understand the value prop as an advertiser is the foundation of everything we do.  It seems like too often we get caught in the busy trap and we aren’t able to take the time to prioritise this part of our jobs.  It’s important we’re clear on a few things – like what are the goals for the advertiser, both for affiliate and their overall business goals?   What keeps them up at night?  A few simple questions around their business and then drilling down into their Affiliate program can open up a ton of doors for publishers of all sizes.  

Each publisher has a unique value proposition and by first seeking to understand the challenges a potential partner is facing, as a publisher, you’re now putting yourself in a position to help.  I’ve found that there are always opportunities to be uncovered.  When an advertiser responds with just a generic “join my program” or the publisher is simply looking for an advertiser to “send me an offer” – we’re not really treating this as a partnership channel but more of a basic transactional endeavour that we hope will be successful.  It’s the old adage – throw it against the wall & see what sticks – and that doesn’t always work.

I encourage everyone to talk to at least one new partner a day, and I’m sure you’ll find an opportunity that wasn’t there before.  And even if you don’t, I’m pretty sure you’ll either learn something new, get a nugget of insight, or at least build a relationship you didn’t have before.  And remember, it might not solve an immediate problem or be the answer you’re looking for today – but it could be one for tomorrow, your next job, or even be someone you eventually hire or work for.

2. Create a diversified portfolio

One of the most important things you can do when thinking about your program is to make sure you have a diversified group of publishers.  And as a publisher – the question for you is, where do you fit in that mix?  Are you a loyalty publisher, or do you drive top of funnel traffic, can you target a certain region, or do you produce a certain type of content?  And for the advertisers, by working with a broad group of publishers, and understanding the value, the opportunity to create a solid mix will allow you to mitigate risk but also to see what works, what doesn’t, who can create a steady stream of customers, and where you might have more bespoke opportunities either seasonally or otherwise.  

In doing this, you’ll find you have a solid base of core foundational publishers, a mid-tier oftentimes made up of up & coming publishers or one’s with specific capabilities, and then a group that I would consider growth opportunities – those publishers where you can find that diamond in the rough.  

3. Test & learn

Once you’ve taken the call & dig in & understand where this potential partner fits in your overall portfolio mix, it’s time to try some new things.  The beauty of affiliate is it’s transparent, strategic in nature, and the economics are (as we all know) performance-driven.  

For an advertiser, identify a group of growth partners.  These are the folks who are new to market or at least new to the affiliate market.  I think of all the partners I’ve seen come & go over the years and without taking a chance on some, you’ll never be able to capitalise on those that move throughout the ranks of your portfolio from long tail to foundational. And the reason it’s a portfolio is because partners move – some grow, pivot or even fail, but for advertisers, this helps you mitigate risk – and most importantly test and learn.  And for publishers, this is what allows you to prove your value.

In conclusion…

We work in a great industry & ecosystem that allows us the opportunity to see and test new things on a daily basis: be it new potential partnerships or optimising existing ones.  A common line you’ll hear about our channel is “it’s a relationship business”.  It’s true.  But to make it work, we need to put in the leg work, get back to basics, and make sure we’re taking the time to understand each other and how, as true partners, we can support each other.

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