Affiliate Marketing, at its core, leverages affiliate partners to be a messenger for your brand. As an affiliate marketer, you’re in control of the structure of your affiliate program and the message that publisher partners share with consumers. Choosing the right-fit partnerships for your brand and diversifying your publisher partner base, ensures that you have the right messengers. However, it’s often easy to get caught up in the message itself while the partner type and their respective medium isn’t adequately considered.
Now more than ever, its integral to understand which mediums are shaping consumer behavior – and be able to meet the consumer there. Pigeonholing your affiliate program may leave a lot of meat on the bone—especially as new and emerging ad technologies continue to cultivate the affiliate landscape. Before you run the risk of missing out on the opportunity to have pivotal interactions with the consumer, consider the opportunity cost of not investing in a diverse range of publishers and their respective mediums whether it takes the form of a a social post, category page, blog post, newsletter, etc. While all publisher partner types and mediums won’t align with your current affiliate strategy, it’s always good practice to revisit inactive partners and channels and think about the potential benefits that lie with each.
To get the most out of your affiliate program, here are three mediums to consider:
1. Podcasts
By the end of 2020, it’s projected that the U.S alone will have 105.6 million monthly active podcast listeners. While there are plenty of hungry listeners looking to entertain or educate themselves through their favorite shows, there are just as many content creators looking to fill ad spots on their podcasts. In fact, some projections anticipate that there are currently over 1 million podcasts in existence.
Podcasts are an efficient way to reach a large audience repeatedly, and the podcast space is incredibly diverse, so you won’t have an issue finding a podcast that reaches your exact target demographic. The best part is, tracking performance on podcast advertising is easier than ever. Whether it’s through Pepperjam’s Exclusive Code tool or a vanity URL, you won’t have any issues measuring performance and seeing the ROI that comes with leveraging podcast advertising through affiliate.
2. Social
As an industry, we’ve reached a point where we know that marketing on social media works. Whether it’s through paid ads, influencers, or organic content, introducing your products through social media is a pillar for any present-day marketing strategy. If you still have your doubts, consider this: social ad spend is projected to increase by 20% by the end of 2020, up to a grand total of $43 billion. Let’s face it, social media isn’t just a place to connect digitally with friends or family any longer. Brands live together with consumers in the social space, and the potential to influence purchasing decisions is made possible by just one post. Additionally, for brands looking to introduce themselves to new markets, 52% of all online brand discovery happens in public social feeds.
While most brands have teams dedicated to their social strategy, don’t rule out synergy between affiliate and social. Affiliate partners can really help supplement a brand's social presence by showcasing their products or services on their social page, opening the brand up to new audiences and expanding their reach on social. When combined, both channels can be a powerful tool that increases brand awareness along with measurable performance.
3. Paid Search
If you’re still getting acclimated with affiliate marketing, you may be wondering how paid search marketing can work in conjunction with a performance-based channel. Keyword bidding, white label search, and product display ads are all valuable tools that publisher partners can use to help grow your program’s performance.
Marshall McLuhan said it best: “the medium is the message.” The next time you’re putting together your affiliate strategy, consider which mediums you’re currently leveraging, and think about where there may be some gaps. Have open conversations about every potential avenue, and don’t be afraid to test a new methodology to help you reach the consumer. All this said, a diverse set of mediums in affiliate marketing should not be overlooked but should always be considered.
For more information on ways you can diversify your affiliate reach, contact us today.
