Does Affiliate Marketing Still Work In 2020?
Does affiliate marketing still work in 2020? Is there still a need for voucher codes or cashback offers to be out there for customer to buy from a brand? Can influencers influence enough to turn a browser into a buyer? These are all questions we hear on a near-daily basis, so we thought we’d put some time aside to address them.
Firstly, the short answer. At Fuel Communications, we see that affiliate marketing very much still works in 2020. This is the answer you would undoubtedly expect to hear from an agency that provides clients with affiliate marketing services, but give us the chance to explain why we’re as confident about affiliate marketing now as we were when we began offering it in 2017.
From Google tracking updates to changing customer behaviours, certain issues are ever-present and there are always new ones popping up to keep us on our toes. That said, these challenges are inherent to all areas of digital marketing and act as regular reminders that affiliate marketing is both dynamic and thriving.
As a retailer, it is safe to say that having an affiliate marketing program as part of your digital marketing strategy is a sound approach. After all, the affiliate space is one where everyone wins. Customers get their offer – be it a voucher saving, free delivery, cashback, lowest price, etc. – the affiliate gets their commission for driving traffic, and the retailers get their revenue. Everyone’s happy.
It also makes sense that driving incentivised traffic to your website, in the traditional affiliate sense, will always deliver revenue for your business. Bringing visitors who are armed with a cashback rate or a voucher code works in a similar vein to bringing shoppers to your store with a gift card to spend. In most instances, they’ve made their decision to purchase from you, and now it is a case of what or how much they buy, not whether they buy.
At Fuel Affiliate we certainly see affiliate marketing programmes running with conversions rates that are much higher than the website standard. In fact, it is not unusual to see conversions rates that are double the website standard, and this adds real value for the client. When you look at things from this angle, there is no doubt at all that affiliate marketing still works but if it is such a no-brainer, why do we get asked “does affiliate marketing still work?” so often?
One thing that has often been the case, especially for smaller online retailers who would like to access this online channel, is that fees involved for getting an affiliate marketing programme started can be prohibitive. For this reason, when online retailers with revenue that doesn’t amount to hundreds of thousands a year have previously asked “does affiliate marketing work?” the answer they’ve reached may well have been no.
Needless to say, this is totally understandable. After all, why plough thousands into setup costs then commit to long term contracts and fixed monthly costs when you could just start a Google Ads campaign or Facebook Ads campaign? These options are not only quicker and cheaper to get going, but they can also be turned on and off when it suits. This is obviously a huge barrier and something that affiliate marketing as a whole is up against as we move into 2020.
Setup fees and ongoing costs are a problem that all affiliate marketers need to act upon if our trade is to remain a relevant, respected, and reliable aspect of digital marketing. Fortunately, while the barrier it erects is undeniably significant, it’s not insurmountable and our preferred affiliate network partner, Adtraction, has explored this challenge in quite a bit of depth.
At Fuel, we’ve also taken steps to address this challenge and have brought what we think is an incredibly attractive affiliate marketing solution to the market. This solution is a service that, as far as we know, is uniquely ours as we’re able to provide routes into the affiliate marketing space that is inherently low-cost and no-risk. While other affiliate programmes have no choice but to charge fixed fees and tie users into lengthy initial commitments, clients of Fuel Affiliate enjoy 100% performance-based campaigns with a contractual commitment of only 3 months.
To find out how Fuel Affiliate can provide you with risk-free entry to the Affiliate Channel, avoiding set up costs and fixed monthly payments, reach out to seve@fuel-growth.com.
