Retailers are looking to increase sales without sacrificing profits in a “race to the bottom” price war with their competitors. Brands don’t want to appear too promotional or rely solely on discounts to drive customers to their site. So how can you grow your affiliate program and drive higher ROI for online retailers?
JEBCommerce worked with a retail client to help them do just that, our goal was simple, maintain a strong ROI to justify the spend for the affiliate channel.
Here are 3 of the strategies used to meet company goals.
Competitive Analysis
Start with a competitive analysis to quickly learn the competitor’s promotional strategy.
An example may include steep holiday discounts. 70% off deals look hard to beat at first glance, but upon further research, you may learn these discounts are actually only applied to big ticket items. There may also be frequency and duration limitations tied to these promotions.
Arm yourself with plenty of competitive intelligence, to be able to deploy the competitive strategies that drive ROI.
Media Placement
Media placement fees are higher during peak seasonal periods, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These premium placements often sell out quickly, so act fast and get a head start on competitors.
Secure spend prior to peak campaign periods enables your team to negotiate discounted pricing with affiliates stretching marketing dollars ever further.
Maximize spend by negotiating placements with top performing partners three to five months prior to campaign launch.
This approach can lead to significant savings, up to 50% off. JEBCommerce has secured a $18,000 discount for a homepage placement during peak seasonal periods.
Evaluating the effectiveness of each publisher’s contribution to the channel, by traffic driven, CR, AOV and ROI allowed us to know where to focus our marketing budget.
Review Performance
Set up a reporting dashboard to record and analyze performance of paid placement campaigns throughout the day. In doing so, you will be able to identify which placements are performing well and which ones need to be adjusted to increase conversions.
Try split testing the performance of a percent offer vs a dollar off.
Writing this article, JEBCommerce had a specific fashion retail client in mind. Read the case study on roi focused affiliate marketing here.
Following the above strategies resulted in $1.5M in revenue during just the first month the campaign was deployed. After 3 years, this national retail client achieved a 46% sales lift, without compromising their brand value.
When a data-driven approach is executed by an experienced affiliate program management team, the results speak for themselves.
If you are looking to drive higher ROI for your e-commerce business, start by benchmarking your return-on-investment.
