Working in internet advertising will undoubtedly expose you to a plethora of affiliate marketing terms and abbreviations.
To make things easier for you, we’ve chosen and clarified the 28 most significant affiliate marketing terms that appear regularly in this industry.
The terminology used here is based on industry best practices and terms found in our performance marketing solution, Affiliate Software.
So here we go…
28 Affiliate Marketing Terms You Should Know
1 AFFILIATE MARKETING — a type of performance-based marketing.
Affiliates in affiliate marketing are compensated for successfully promoting a product or service.
A fashion person, for example, maybe an affiliate of a clothing brand that wishes to advertise its product on that site. The affiliate is compensated each time a visitor is referred to the company’s landing page, i.e., when a visitor clicks on that company’s ad.
Another example can be found in our post on affiliate links and conversion tracking.
2 ADVERTISER – a person or organization who owns a business and provides clients with services or products.
Advertisers are ready to pay affiliates for each new customer or lead they generate. It aids in the promotion of their brand and the acquisition of new customers.
3 AFFILIATE – a person or organization who promotes deals.
Publishers (owners of websites or mobile applications), media buyers, or ad networks are the most common types of affiliates. Affiliates are also known as partners, publishers, and external marketers.
4 AFFILIATE PROGRAM — a program in which the advertiser pays affiliates commissions.
The commission model is typically based on user behaviors. It usually entails lead creation, subscription to a service, and so on.
The advertiser employs performance tracking software to track users’ behaviors and the affiliates who assisted in that process. Many service providers have their own affiliate program, which means they buy visitors to maximize their profit.
Check out our 6 easy tips for starting an affiliate program if you’re thinking about starting one.
5 AFFILIATE NETWORK – works as a go-between for affiliates and advertisers.
Affiliate networks make it simple for affiliates to locate and engage in appropriate affiliate programs for their inventory. Advertisers who offer affiliate programs collaborate with affiliate networks to reach a bigger audience, which includes all affiliates in the affiliate network.
An affiliate network is a business that profits from the difference between revenue from advertisers and costs paid to affiliates.
6 OFFER – a service or product promotion.
Affiliate managers develop offers, which typically include all necessary information about the payout mechanism and marketing rates. The campaign is another word for offer.
7 OFFER URL – the ultimate URL to which the visitor will be directed after clicking the promotion link or banner.
8 CONVERSION — a user-generated event for which an advertiser is ready to pay.
This is typically defined by the advertiser target action of the end-user. It could be a service subscription, lead generation, the sale of a product, or the installation of a mobile application. The ultimate purpose of advertising is conversion, for which advertisers pay affiliates.
9 CLICK-THROUGH RATE (CTR) – the % of clicks for the number of ad impressions presented to visitors or purchased from other networks.
10 CONVERSION RATE – the % of clicks that converted to leads or sales.
For example, if one out of every hundred visitors to your website makes a purchase, your conversion rate is one percent.
11 TRACKING LINK – sometimes known as a click tracking link it is a unique URL to which a certain affiliate sends clicks for a specific offer. For example, this is the promoted link, the URL beneath the banner. When consumers click on the banner, they are directed to that precise URL.
12 POST-BACK URL — A URL that is used for server-side conversion tracking; it is also known as a server postback URL or a server-to-server URL.
13 THIRD-PARTY TRACKING – the practice of informing affiliates of every conversion in real-time.
Affiliate Software sends a conversion notification to affiliate tracking systems or other third-party systems when a new conversion is received. For instance, if an affiliate program or network collaborates with another affiliate network, each eligible post-back can be transmitted to that affiliate network.
14 CREATIVE – advertising, ad, or (in a broader meaning) banner
There are numerous forms of banner advertisements. The appropriate type is determined by the advertising channel, target audience, and advertising message.
Congratulations, you’ve made it halfway!
15 AD TAG – an HTML element used to dynamically fetch advertising from an ad server and show them. It is also known as an ad snippet.
16 AFFILIATE MANAGER – a person in charge of interacting with affiliates.
Affiliate managers frequently generate offers and optimize the affiliate program’s effectiveness.
17 REFERRAL BONUS PROGRAM – a type of reward given to affiliates who bring in new affiliates to the affiliate program.
They can receive a fixed-price sign-up commission and a percentage of their overall earnings in a certain period for each referred affiliate.
18 CLIENT-BASED TRACKING — a method of tracking in which information is saved on the user’s computer. When a user clicks on an ad, a cookie is recorded in their browser and linked back to the affiliate who brought them there.
When a user completes a conversion on a website, the tracking platform records the conversion for the appropriate affiliate using a piece of tracking code known as a tracking pixel. Depending on which of these two methods is employed, this pixel is referred to as an impression pixel or an iFrame pixel.
Client-based tracking is easier to install on the advertiser’s end, but it is less accurate because it relies on cookies.
19 S2S TRACKING — a tracking mechanism based on sending post-backs from advertiser systems to affiliate tracking software.
Advertisers must enable this type of tracking on their backend. This makes it more technically difficult than client-based tracking, but it is more precise, secure, and flexible.
20 LANDING PAGE – a website or webpage that affiliates direct traffic to.
For example, when consumers click on banners, they are sent to a landing page with further information about the product featured on that banner (usually with purchase options). A landing page’s primary goal is to execute an action. It might be a purchase, a service sign-up, a download, or any other similar action with monetary value for the advertiser.
21 COST PER ACTION (CPA) – A payment strategy in which advertisers only pay their affiliates for conversions.
22 COST PER CLICK (CPC) – A payment mechanism in which advertisers pay their affiliates for every click on their web adverts.
24 NICHE MARKETING is a type of marketing that targets a certain set of customers.
Marketers may design more targeted campaigns with higher results if they have a well-defined specialty.
25 AD BLOCKER — a piece of software that prohibits online advertisements from appearing on a website.
Because ad blocking is on the rise, the IAB has created its LEAN program to improve ads and, as a result, encourage people to abandon ad blocking.
26 ATTRIBUTION – the process of determining which affiliates are responsible for conversions.
27 LEAD – a contact who has the potential to become a customer.
28 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) — the process of improving one’s position on search engine results pages. The goal is to increase visibility and attract more traffic (visits) to a website, which will result in more sales or leads.
But… there’s more!
You might be taking your first steps into the world of affiliate marketing right now. Knowing the applicable language is quite beneficial in all aspects of the business, from networking to pushing offers.
Take a look at our quick overview of Affiliate Software, one of the most user-friendly tracking solutions available. If you understand the fundamental terms, using a tracking tool can be a piece of cake.
However, because affiliate marketing is a rapidly developing industry, you will constantly come across new terms and concepts. Meanwhile, keep up to date with our helpful glossaries covering specific advertising categories such as programmatic, video, and mobile.
Finally, whatever you do, don’t forget to always broaden your knowledge. Good things will happen!
Last Updated on March 11, 2020
