A number of events in 2018 impacted the affiliate industry, from business mergers to legislation changes. The big question is, will things slow down in 2019? We’ve compiled a few thoughts on some of the key considerations for the year ahead.
Breaking Down Channel Silos
To generate efficient growth for a brand, businesses need to look outside of channel silos. The year ahead will see more businesses focus on the overall performance and use different channels as levers to influence positive ROI or support those channels with better returning customers. This will mean media budgets are no longer confined to channel boundaries, but tied to over-arching KPIs. This is good news for affiliate marketing, as the channel can be used to better support other channels. The benefit being, affiliate marketing traditionally produces strong ROI and reconciliation due to post-transaction validation.
Transparency in Tracking
GDPR dominated our lives for the first five months of 2018, with businesses and consumers alike preparing themselves for ‘G-Day’. GDPR is now a way of life and we’ve learned to adapt. However, another concern in 2018 was the introduction of ITP 2.0, which ushered in intelligent tracking prevention. Following this update Mozilla also made a number of changes to its browser, additionally browsers such as Brave are also offering an alternative way of secure and private internet use. As a result, 2019 will be focused on getting tracking right, it needs to transparent, obvious and accurate. No doubt we’ll be seeing more and more updates from networks and SaaS providers in the coming months.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Affiliate marketing is undoubtedly a powerful channel for customer acquisition, by capturing data clients are able draw reasonable conclusions about new and returning customers. This insight is where CLV becomes a key pillar for some businesses and often plays a big part in its strategy and success. Business should be engaging with customers who make a number of purchases over a long period, this will help to grow the business (positive ROI) and maintain a positive relationship. For the year ahead, look out for the affiliate networks that put your business in front of high-value customers.
2019 is shaping up to be an exciting year for affiliate marketing, with more developments and innovations to come. Ensure your business stays ahead of the curve.
