Read Time: Approx. 3 Minutes 25 Seconds
Author: Joe Weatherill
Customer First Digital have been carrying out the free Appraise Audit for over 3 years and have seen it all when it comes to Affiliate Marketing. From discovering untapped potential to transforming the overall running of brand's Affiliate Programmes. As a result of the audits, we have seen improved performance and efficiency of how a brand's Affiliate Programme is managed. Achieving ROI increases of over 50%, with some programmes reaching an ROI of 20:1.
We have carried this out for a wide-range of brands in many different industries. However the same common mistakes are continiung to be made, covering the following topics:
Account Setup: Focusing on creative & asset management, business as usual and account hygiene mistakes, and the impacts of not being proactive on your affiliate programme.
Programme Management: Focusing on optimisation, recruitment and measurement and how those factors can prevent an affiliate programme from reaching it's full potential.
Account Setup
Creative & Asset Management
One of the most common issues we see within affiliate programmes is poor creative and asset management. While it’s often viewed as a simple and less-valued task, outdated or incomplete creative can have a direct impact on publisher engagement and ultimately sales performance.
We have seen that many brands have old evergreen banners and expired promotional messaging / product feeds that are either inaccurate or unavailable altogether. This creates friction for publishers who depend on accurate assets to effectively promote products and offers. If creatives are not refreshed publishers are far less likely to prioritise the programme.
We also regularly see brands operating without dedicated affiliate landing pages or with text links and promotional messaging that no longer align with live offers. This not only reduces conversion opportunities, but can also damage trust with publishers and customers.
Business As Usual & Account Hygiene
From the audits carried out by ourselves, we know that strong publisher relationships are built on responsiveness and effective programme management, yet these are areas that are often overlooked. Two common challenges we encounter are unresolved transaction enquiries and slow communication with publishers applying to join a programme.
Transaction enquiries, particularly from cashback partners, can quickly build up if they are not managed consistently. Unresolved enquiries can create frustration for publishers and customers. If these are left unchecked, they can often discourage publishers from giving a brand priority exposure, again damaging revenue growth.
Delays in reviewing publisher applications and not fully engaging with potential new publishers can limit programme growth. Publishers expect timely communication and slow responses can result in missed opportunities to secure valuable partnerships for your brand.
Programme Management
Optimisation
Many affiliate programmes fail to reach their full potential due to a lack of ongoing optimisation. Common issues include commission strategies that are either too generous or too restrictive, which as a result erodes the ROI. Also another ongoing issue is failing to implement dynamic commissioning to reward publishers based on the value they deliver.
We frequently see CSS partners being underutilised and there being an over-reliance on Skimlinks without sufficient control over sub-publisher quality. Influencer activity has been found to be either minimal or not properly integrated into the affiliate channel. Cashback and loyalty publishers are often not differentiated by customer type, which we have seen can hinder the brand's affiliate programme. Whilst some brand's voucher code partners promote generic, non-exclusive offers that provide little incentive for customers, for extensive periods of time, damaging the affiliate programme.
In some cases, commission baselines are set too low, discouraging quality publishers from joining and promoting the programme. In others, rates are too high, resulting in budget being spent on poor-quality activity, regular optimisation ensures the brand is partnered with the most optimal publishers for them.
Recruitment
Dependant on the age of the programme, our audits generally uncover one of three common scenarios:
Too many publishers onboarded that are irrelevant or closed accounts
A very low amount of publishers recruited (also tend to be lower funnel types)
A mixture of both of the above as they have far too many publishers, however still missing the mid/upper funnel publishers
It is important to select the right combination of publishers for sustainable program growth. However in many instances we have reviewed, brands partner with publishers who should not be there, which results in a large number of low quality sub-publishers on the programme without offering any value.
We've found that, in some affiliate programmes, more than 50% of publishers are irrelevant to the brand and contribute very little or not at all to the programme
There are also cases when some of the key publishers such as cashback and vouchers are not present in the programme or are not onboarded/optimised properly, limiting performance growth. The publisher types we see that are missing tend to be mid to upper funnel publishers which often include editorial type publishers.
Measurement
We have noted that many affiliate programmes do not have their GA4 tracking set up correctly. As a result, affiliate-driven traffic and conversions are not being accurately captured, preventing clear insight into publisher performance and making it difficult to take informed optimisation decisions.
We have often found that affiliate channels are significantly underperforming against their industry benchmarks in terms of revenue contribution. This suggests inefficiencies in the current publisher mix and a lack of optimisation, with the channel not delivering as expected. In all the Appraise findings we have seen, this is down to programme management and optimisation issues rather than a market opportunity issue.
Often, there's a high proportion of inactive publishers, generating little to no measurable traffic or revenue. This indicates weak partner activation and ongoing management challenges, further limiting the overall effectiveness and scalability of the programme.
Proven Growth Through Appraise
As a result of carrying out the audit and addressing the common mistakes we uncover, many brands have gone on to see considerable growth for their affiliate programme. The recommendations from our audit are designed to deliver measurable results, from increased revenue and stronger ROI to a more diverse publisher mix and sustainable long-term growth. We've helped brands transform their affiliate programmes into high-performing revenue channels.
Take a look at some of our client success stories below to see how putting our recommendations in to practice has delivered meaningful growth ...
Chunk of Devon saw a +11.2% increase in revenue against their original forecast
Decree saw a +21% growth in brand demand YoY
Discover more client growth stories: Client Case Studies
Want to know whether you’re in the same boat?
There are many trends we have found from our Appraise Audit, in which we can see the main areas where brands are struggling. From this we know how to best tackle these issues and help transform you affiliate programme.
Unsure where to start? Visit our dedicated Appraise page on site now. You can find all the additional information you need and get in touch with the team to book in your free affiliate marketing audit.
Also for an instant insight into what your results could look like from working with Customer First Digital's team of experts, check out our affiliate growth calculator.
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