Looking for new sources of relevant traffic for your eshop can be a daunting task. No matter the size, every brand requires a digital marketing strategy to succeed in today’s world.

This trend is expected to continue, with online sales increasing by an additional 50% by 2022. As stores periodically shuttered their doors due to ongoing lockdowns, forcing people to buy online, eCommerce purchases surged, and consumers of all ages and walks of life turned to online shopping.

Does Size Matter?

Established merchants with sophisticated online sites could benefit from this change, but that didn’t imply it was bad news for small brands, as data indicated – people were just as keen to shop locally.

Why Brands Lean To Affiliate Marketing To Find New Customers? -

According to a recent survey, nearly half of people bought from local brands online during the pandemic. According to Barclaycard research, that trend is likely to continue, with more than 90 percent of respondents who have purchased locally stating they will continue to do so once life returns to normal.

That’s a huge relief if you’re a small local brand. 

However, just because people want to buy what you’re selling doesn’t always imply they know where to look online to find it.

How To Find Your Next Customer?

If you’re short on time, the vast array of alternatives available to help you connect with your next customer can be intimidating.

Why Brands Lean To Affiliate Marketing To Find New Customers? -

So, where should you put your time, energy, and marketing dollars to get the most bang for your buck and ride the wave of interest in online shopping? 

The answer is: affiliate and partner marketing.

Simply defined, affiliate (or partner, or referral) marketing allows you – as a brand, to sell anything, to collaborate with individual affiliates who promote what you offer to their loyal audiences.

Getting into Affiliate Marketing

Depending on who the affiliate is, these audiences will be different. There is no such thing as a “regular” affiliate, with channels ranging from Google AdWords, sponsored listings, and display advertising to influencers, bloggers, price comparison charts, and incentive platforms such as coupon codes or cashback sites.

When it comes to affiliate marketing, the more precisely you hit the target – the better. That’s why we keep stressing about the importance of micro niches for affiliates.

Affiliate marketing, often also referred to as “performance-based marketing”, opens up a new world for many brands, assisting them in discovering your next customer while only paying for outcomes (without any risk).

Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for Brands

There are a number of solutions for developing an affiliate marketing program to supplement your existing online marketing activities. Some of these solutions are even free

Affiliate marketing software, such as Scaleo, is available to everyone who has an online store and provides a variety of solutions based on the three principles of:

Scaleo offers brands the perfect affiliate marketing software solution and empowers them to manage all their online partnerships flexibly with one tracking and payment platform. Giving you the tools, confidence, and capabilities to unlock digital marketing at a time when you may need it the most. 

Why Brands Lean To Affiliate Marketing To Find New Customers? -

With a quick and easy setup supported by comprehensive training materials guiding advertisers as they progress through their affiliate journey, Scaleo offers brands the perfect affiliate marketing solution and empowers them to manage all their online partnerships flexibly with one tracking (and payment) platform.

Why Should You Invest In Affiliate Marketing in 2022?

With the onset of COVID-19 in 2020 and beyond, the idea of digital marketing became even more appealing since many store owners faced the likelihood of temporarily closing the doors of their shops. This also took away the possibility to market products “the old way,” where markers and sellers relied on personal communication.

With hundreds of retailers switching to eCommerce solutions and affiliate marketing as a means of effective digital marketing, you too can build a diverse catalog of things to sell. Even goods that were distinct and appealing for consumers who are now missing out on their favorite local shops.

Why Brands Lean To Affiliate Marketing To Find New Customers? -

Despite affiliate marketing being a self-service product, getting the program up and running may take a little effort. You will need to develop the onboarding process for new affiliates, get the word about your program and organize payout methods.

The time and effort devoted to choosing the ideal affiliates to promote your brand is critical to the success of your affiliate program from its inception. We always recommend spending a significant amount of time looking at the recruitment process. Nurture your top-performing affiliates regularly to make sure you expand out when a brand is embarking on its first affiliate program. Even we, at Scaleo, witnessed tremendous growth in recent months as a result of our ongoing search for new collaborations.

However, cultivating partners is not the only element of an affiliate program. Investing in UX as well as the products themselves is crucial. 

Affiliate marketing is now an important part of every eCommerce strategy, and investments in increasing growth rates certainly boost the conversion rate of affiliates, which you can continue and improve on as time goes by.

Conclusion

As a result of all the ongoing investments in an affiliate program and its’ partners, even the most modest brand can reap enormous benefits.

Affiliate marketing partnerships slowly become the most solid source for traffic and sales for big and small advertisers.

Furthermore, on average, high-quality targetted affiliate traffic converts at incredibly high rates, making the program very appealing to partners.

Last Updated on January 17, 2024

Author

Elizabeth is a Senior Content Manager at Scaleo. Currently enjoying the life in Prague and sharing professional affiliate marketing tips. She's been in the online marketing business since 2006 and gladly shares all her insights and ideas on this blog.