Affiliate Marketing 101: A Forrester Report

As marketers search for ways to exponentially grow their audience reach, and convert said audience into new and repeat customers, affiliate marketing continues to be an effective channel to add into the overall marketing strategy.

You may be thinking, that’s all well and good but how do you know if it’s right for you? And if it is, how do you go about getting started?

CJ Affiliate recently participated in an in-depth Q&A session with esteemed research group Forrester for their new report, ”Q&A: Affiliate Marketing 101”. As Forrester astutely points out in the report, affiliate marketing is a mutually beneficial relationship, and when approached properly can produce winning results.

So, who is involved in these mutually beneficial relationships? The parties include an advertiser or brand that is selling a product; a publisher of a website that promotes products; and the end consumer. Businesses are free to venture out on their own and manage their affiliate programs themselves, but networks such as CJ Affiliate, offer tools and technology in order to connect advertisers and publishers, as well as expertise on reporting and strategy.

In an example featured in the report, “a specialty retailer leveraged CJ Affiliate’s Customer Insights tool to track and analyze customer behavior and identify which publishers were the most effective at driving engagement. Focusing on publishers that drove a larger percentage of new-to-file customers, the retailer increased overall revenue by 12%.”

As you can see, data and measurement is an important aspect of any affiliate program as it helps you to determine how to most effectively spend your marketing dollar. The affiliate channel has proven to be an effective marketing avenue when done right. As CJ told Forrester in the report, “in 2016 affiliate marketing had a 21% higher average order value and 31% more orders per customer than other marketing channels. Consumers acquired through this channel also placed more orders and at a higher price point.”

Are you sold yet? Just make sure you get going on the right foot. This report provides a wealth of information for someone looking to get started with affiliate, providing answers to questions such as:

• When should I use affiliate marketing?
• What is the difference between affiliate and influencer marketing?
• How do I measure success?

In addition, the report outlines how to build a goal-oriented and data-driven affiliate program:

• Identify and communicate your goals with your network.
• Be data driven.
• Measure, measure, measure!
• Test new technology within your program.

If you’d like to find out more about how to be included in this win-win-win scenario, and get additional details on the information above, check out the complete report by Forrester, Q&A: Affiliate Marketing 101. Please note that you must have a Forrester subscription to access the full report.  It is also available for purchase.