Do you know how to implement a campaign affiliate marketing to use your impact?
A frequent question brands ask me when it comes to a digital marketing campaign with influencers is “How do I know that I am paying for results?” Until not long ago the answer might not be exact, there were different variables to take into account and although we knew that influencer marketing is effective or very effective for brands, giving a specific number regarding the return was not always easy.
But as I always say, the only constant in social networks is evolution. With them, social commerce and digital marketing with influencers also evolve.
Until the evolution of the industry itself has led us to what is now called affiliate marketing with influencers (affiliate marketing) which, to define it in a simple way, consists of paying influencers based on the sales generated by their recommendations.
Influencer affiliate marketing is a great opportunity to further capitalize on the work of content creators who already have a community that trusts them.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is all about paying influencers based on sales generated. When a brand works with affiliates, in this case influencers, who promote the brand’s products and a sale is reached from this association, the brand pays for that recommendation.
This type of strategy is a win-win, since brands ensure results, and influencers get a commission. In fact, affiliate marketing with influencers grew considerably during the pandemic, as it happened with electronic commerce. Currently, the global affiliate marketing industry is estimated to be worth over $17 billion.
What is very favorable about working with influencers is that with a good e-commerce team, brands can follow the purchase funnel and extract data that is very valuable for the brand when it comes to knowing if their campaigns are working or not with their audience. aim. This way you can know how many people used an influencer’s code, if they were new to the brand’s page or if they were repeat offenders, for example.
How does it work?
Unlike the methods of payment for impressions (CPM) or pay per click (PPC), with the affiliation system (CPV) you do not pay until the user performs a certain action, such as making an actual purchase or filling out a form .
The brand allocates a commission per sale, then an affiliate link and a URL tracker or promotional code are generated that allow tracking the sales generated by the influencer.
Campaigns can be built based on sales goals, reach, conversions, leads, clicks, or other metrics.
Affiliation represents an advantage in an influencer marketing campaign and makes it easier to evaluate performance. It can be done in the context of a short or long-term collaboration or with content generators or brand ambassadors.
In the case of a campaign with several influencers, the ideal is to create different codes or links to be able to follow the performance of each one. Brands can choose different affiliate options.
Which has benefits?
Affiliate marketing offers many benefits to both influencers and brands, regardless of the sector they belong to. Currently, there are many brands that are beginning to implement this strategy to ensure better results.
In addition, with the affiliation system, a brand assumes less risk because all or part of the influencer’s remuneration will depend on the results obtained, which makes it easier for brands to manage their budget, always ensuring a positive return on investment.
Affiliate marketing is a complement to a marketing strategy that has influencers as one of its pillars. Its success is based on the influencer’s engagement and reputation.
A brand that wants to work with influencers should consider affiliation as a way to push their content and reach a broader audience. But you have to remember that you have to have the resources or resort to a platform that manages the campaigns because it takes time to analyze which influencers to work with, create the campaigns, track sales and commissions.
Ishmael El-Qudsi CEO and co-founder of Internet República, one of the main digital marketing agencies in Spain, since November 2011. He is also co-founder and CEO of the influencer marketing platform SocialPubli, founded in 2015, which currently operates in 9 countries.