Affiliate Partner Tracking - FAQs
1. What is affiliate and partner marketing?
With its payment on performance model, the affiliate and partner channel allows brands to connect with thousands of blogs, influencers, price comparison sites, coupon and cashback and reward programs, who generate millions of new customers for retailers of all shapes and sizes.
The IAB’s latest AdSpend study shows affiliate and partner marketing is outperforming other digital marketing channels, growing by 10% in 2020, with one in five surveyed brands and agencies spending more than £250k per month on their affiliate campaigns.
2. Why is affiliate and partner marketing a good investment for brands?
The robustness of the business model - payment on performance - a strong ROI of around £16 for every £1 invested, (according to the latest available IAB numbers), and its ability to track sales even as third-party cookies become obsolete, means it offers a safe bet for brands.
Because the channel doesn’t rely heavily on personalised identifiers to track sales, with the tracking information used primarily to apportion sales and commissions to affiliates rather than target personalised ads, it’s also a privacy conscious option.
3. How does affiliate and partner marketing track?
Affiliate marketing tracking allows brands to record the clicks, impressions, and sales delivered by their affiliates, publishers and partners. These interactions can take place on all consumer devices and can also occur offline.
Brands can integrate affiliate and partner tracking that stores first party cookie data which captures the details of affiliate interactions, including the publisher whose site the user clicked through from, details of the product clicked and time of the click, as well as the sale that is then paid out on.
4. What about third-party cookies?
Affiliate and partner marketing doesn’t need third-party cookies to track. Every major technology provider will have their own tracking methodology and typically they will have a variety of tracking options, including first party cookies, all designed to ensure they capture the maximum amount of impressions, clicks and sales.
5. Why is this important?
Google has announced Chrome will no longer support third-party cookies from 2023 with Apple’s Safari already blocking them. Therefore, if brands want to continue tracking the performance of their online activity, it’s vital they look at how the marketing chann
els they’re using, such as affiliate and partner marketing, can support this.
6. What else can affiliate and partner marketing track?
Affiliate technology providers have created tracking solutions that can track across devices, including in-app and cross-device. They can also offer brands the ability to track both online and in-store sales. This means brands can see the full contribution of affiliate and partner marketing across the entire consumer journey.