Affiliate marketing is and will remain in 2023 the marketing strategy with the most interesting remuneration model. A godsend for brands when you know that results are multiplied tenfold when affiliate marketing is combined with an influencer marketing strategy. Affiliate link, promotional code, Amazon Program… Influencers are waiting for you.
Affiliate marketing in a few words
Affiliate marketing is a lead generation model that has convinced marketers and will continue to do so in 2023, notably because of its impressive return on investment. Indeed, one of the main advantages of affiliate marketing is its pay-for-performance model. While the affiliate promotes the product via an affiliate link (tracked URL) and earns a commission on each sale, the advertiser reaps the financial benefits of the campaign without making any money. The affiliate and the advertiser thus evolve in a win-win relationship where each one receives its financial reward in proportion to the sales made.
Initially used on websites and blogs, affiliation has gradually been extended to all digital communication media such as newsletters and social networks. In order to facilitate the technical and strategic implementation of this type of program, affiliation platforms such as AWIN, Rakuten Advertising or Tradedoubler accompany advertisers. The Amazon Associate program however dominates the affiliate marketing space with 43% of the market share.
Why combine affiliate marketing and influencer marketing?
The benefits for the advertiser
While 80% of global brands now have affiliate programs, 59% of them also use influencers in their programs. This is because using opinion leaders allows them to reach a wider audience. Beyond their high visibility power, influencers are also perfect allies for conversion and brands that take advantage of them within their affiliate program in 2023 will be winners. Indeed, let’s remember that 87% of global consumers have made a purchase following an influencer’s publication. Finally, and as seen before, pay-for-performance allows for a better control of marketing budgets, as well as the return on investment of campaigns thanks to the precise tracking of tracked links.
The advantages for influencers
The economic model in the form of commissions not only motivates these young content creators, but also allows them a sometimes generous remuneration, something that is not yet a given to them. For macro-influencers, however, monetary compensation cannot be limited to commissions, but must be integrated into a hybrid formula with a fixed fee supplemented by commissions. This makes even more sense when the promoted product is the result of a co-creation campaign, a good way to value the influencer’s involvement via the payment of a percentage of the turnover.
As you can see, affiliate marketing and influencer marketing fulfill different complementary objectives, both for brands and for influencers. As influencer involvement in social commerce strategies is inevitable, you’ll need to combine affiliate and influencer marketing efforts in 2023.
The trending affiliate formats
The convergence of affiliate and influencer strategies can be done in different ways.
- The first one is, of course, the affiliate link. Influencers can integrate an affiliate link to their biography, to their Stories, to their posts on social networks or to their blog articles. In the latter case, it can be via a link inserted into the text or via a clickable visual in store mode. This is done a lot on fashion blogs that highlight a selection of clothes and accessories.
- The promotional code is also a very popular affiliation method, because it offers advantageous discounts to consumers, while allowing precise tracking of campaign performance for the brand. And since the promotional code is unique, the advertiser can track its usage and thus redistribute the resulting commissions more easily.
The Vivo phone brand opted for this strategy during its launch in France. A promotional code was distributed to the community of the influencer Squeezie, allowing them to benefit from a 50 euro discount on the Fnac website.
As for the Amazon Influencer Program, it continues to prove itself since its launch in October 2019. Influencers who are part of the program, such as Marion Caméléon or Ramy Kay, can create their own Amazon store and list all the products sponsored by their community, but also generate affiliate links to share that redirect either to their Amazon store or directly to Amazon product pages. A simple way to centralize all collaborations and to enhance the value of partner brands in the long term.
La Redoute is a perfect example of a successful affiliation and influencer marketing strategy. Through its affiliation program with the Awin network, the French leader in fashion and home e-commerce has activated traditional sources such as blogs or affinity sites, but also, thanks to the Stellar platform, influencers on social networks in order to share a maximum of links to its products. This promotional and branding campaign for Black Friday and the holiday season led La Redoute to collaborate with 80 family, fashion and lifestyle influencers, generating 2,500 direct sales.
What our experts say about it
As a mom and a woman, I love to test all kinds of products and share my opinion with my community. I test the product, I analyze if it is qualitative and if the quality/price ratio is interesting, I recommend it to my subscribers. It is important for me to do it in a simple and natural way, without pushing to buy directly because I know that it arouses interest and curiosity. (...) I talk about the products with authenticity and as I am part of the Amazon affiliate program, I insert the affiliate link in my description for those who wish to buy the product. (...) What I love about presenting products to my community is the fact that I can inspire them and help them. (...) It’s important for me to give clear information and help my subscribers to choose the right products by redirecting them to the right page through the affiliate link.
It is important to value and remunerate the creators and to offer the product of the campaign. The benefits of an affiliate campaign are multiple for both influencers and brands. It offers visibility on the traffic, and increases the motivation of the creators as well as the potential business. Nevertheless, these benefits should not become the primary objectives of your influencer marketing campaigns. Using influencer marketing has the advantage of being able to achieve several objectives: image, consideration, awareness, traffic, sales... The strength of this lever is based on the prescription and creativity of content creators. (...)
MARKETER’S TO-DO LIST
Marketer's To-Do List
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Integrate influencer marketing into your affiliate strategy
If your company already has an affiliation strategy in place, integrate influencers into your publisher pool now and compare results between different publishers. If you are not yet affiliated to a program, choose the most appropriate affiliation platform according to different criteria: objectives, commission model, local or international reach, etc. -
Define the commission amount
To attract affiliates, you need to offer an attractive commission. This percentage is generally between 30% and 45%, depending on the profiles and products promoted. Also choose the compensation mechanism (per lead, per CPM or per CPC), as well as the billing systems. -
Selecting the affiliate influencers
The recruitment of affiliates is essential. As seen previously, choosing affiliates with a strong community and a high engagement rate on social networks is an interesting solution. You can also opt for content creators with a profile in the Amazon Influencer Program, if this platform interests you in your affiliate strategy. Finally, in addition to identifying your best affiliates, it is important to keep them loyal. Ask for regular feedbacks, and propose financial compensations that evolve according to the results. -
Choose the right product and the right period
If all brands offering e-commerce services can opt for a combined strategy of affiliate marketing and influencer marketing, the less expensive the product, the more impressive the financial results. Thus, this type of strategy is also possible for more expensive or more complex products, but a pay-per-lead strategy (e.g. booking an appointment in a beauty salon) will seem more appropriate in this case. Moreover, the promotional period is key. Certain seasons, such as the sales period, Black Friday or Christmas, are more stimulating in terms of conversion.
