The marketing industry is transforming. So much so that most marketers say the business has adapted to more change over the last few years than in the last five decades. Much of the change is driven by new technologies and a proliferation of data.
Affiliate marketing, in particular, is undergoing such fundamental changes that it’s high time we retire the term. Because of the intimate, unique, and nuanced relationship between brands and the growing field of specialty publishers, we should ditch affiliate and refer to it as partnership marketing.
Over the last several years, there has been a changing of the guard. Advertisers are less interested than they used to be in courting shopping aggregate sites. Instead, they are increasingly focusing on their connections with online influencers and content-heavy publications like BuzzFeed, which have been proliferating.
At the same time, automation and AI are staking out their place in marketing as they are in other industries. Affiliate strategy has always been an anomaly in the advertising landscape, mainly because of the enormous amount of data that needs to be analyzed to establish a successful path.
Although large agencies and networks have widely used data analysis and suggestion tools, they have been available only to brands with the largest budgets.
But this is something else that is rapidly changing. New CRM platforms enable small businesses to target their campaigns with a precision that was impossible in the past and give microbrands sophisticated tools that were once only accessible to top agencies and highly profitable, large organizations.
This precise targeting by smaller businesses is bringing about a sea change, and it’s one more reason why the term affiliate marketing is becoming outdated.
Small Publishers and Micro-influencers
The number of so-called affiliates—specialized sites and influencers—number in the hundreds of thousands, which will continue to rise. Each has its unique platform and strategies for connecting with its readers or followers, all potential customers.
Most smaller, lesser-known publishers get overlooked by marketers in favor of big-name publishers like Forbes or BuzzFeed. But for small and mid-size businesses, passing them by means leaving money on the table. It also means missing out on the chance to partner in a genuine, authentic way.
Niche publishers and micro-influencers provide a cost-effective marketing solution while enabling pinpoint targeting and resonating with specific niche audiences.
Brands have ROI in mind when they seek out affiliates or partners, and traditionally, the big sites and more popular influencers have been the key to maximizing ROI.
But today, local and micro-influencers are gaining more influence and attracting more eyeballs. Unlike their macro-influencer counterparts, these affiliates often have smaller follower counts but boast higher engagement rates. This kind of engagement is making these influencers a far more compelling investment.
Brands that collaborate with local and micro-influencers not only tap into their authenticity and genuine connection with their followers but also enjoy the advantage of negotiating more favorable compensation terms. This budget-friendly approach allows brands to allocate resources strategically, channeling funds toward other critical aspects of their marketing campaigns.
These influencers often cater to specific niches and communities, possessing a deep understanding of their audience’s preferences, behaviors, and pain points. By leveraging this intricate knowledge, brands can craft tailored messages that seamlessly resonate with their target consumers.
Now that small businesses and microbands have the necessary CRMs to connect with these influencers, they can take major marketing initiatives into their own hands. And what they will find is that they are achieving real engagement and with the audiences they most need to reach.
The Partnership Marketing Era
The term affiliate makes most digital marketers squirm in their seats. It conjures up Amazon-style promotion, heavy on coupon use and spammy taglines. Nightmares of the acai MLM marketing days still bubble up and threaten to distort the exciting new reality of today’s marketing ecosystem.
This is why we should begin referring to it as Partnership Marketing. It will help us recover from the Amazon-era hangover and embrace the possibilities that exist today for the first time.
Smaller businesses have the sophisticated tools that were once the sole domain of the country’s most profitable and well-established companies.
At the same time, there are more sites, influencers, and other avenues to get the message out than ever before. The precise targeting now allows true partnerships with influencers and customers.
We’ve gone far beyond the affiliate concept, so how we refer to the industry should change with the times. Welcome to the era of partnership marketing.
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Originally Published on Martech Zone: Why It’s Time to Retire the Term “Affiliate Marketing”