With so many different partner types in the affiliate channel, it’s easy to see why it’s often referred to as the channel of channels. Each partner vertical brings value to a brand’s overall program, just in different ways. Regardless of the type, it’s important to focus on the incremental value and what each publisher brings to the table. Diversifying a brand’s partners mix is a tale as old as time, but sometimes one that isn’t fully embraced. Instead of taking a siloed approach to looking at a partner’s data, we should be thinking about how their promotional methods interact with each other to ultimately seal the deal with a customer. Furthermore, it’s not news that recruitment for all programs is essential. Not just to ensure brands are working with the latest and greatest publishers, but also to make sure a program is consistently growing with strong partners and new audiences’ brands want to tap into.

What are the most prominent types of partners in affiliate and how can they help a brand hit goals?

Content & Influencer Partners

Most brands from the get-go want to work with top of funnel partners. Content and Influencers take the crown when it comes to driving brand awareness and discovery. Aside from introducing a brand to a consumer, these publishers shouldn’t be undermined when it comes to their converting capabilities because they do, in fact, convert. They are of course excellent at telling a brand’s story and introducing a brand to an audience, but they are also known to drive sales in round ups, gift guides, listicles, etc. While it doesn’t take much convincing to add content and influencer partners to a brand’s program, it does sometimes take convincing to align on who the right partners are. Not every content partner and influencer are going to be one size fits all – they each have a unique audience with unique behaviors, so it’s important to make sure brands are working with the partners that align best with them.

Loyalty Partners

Loyalty partners are unique in that they are excellent publishers for keeping a consumer loyal to a brand and they also have the ability to capture new to file customers with different tactics such as targeted cash back. New to file customers are important for all programs, but keeping customers loyal to your brand is equally as important. Loyalty partners can help do both. Furthermore, brands who are conscious of being promotional do not need to worry about offering a coupon code with loyalty partners, loyalty partner audiences are more concerned about cash/points back than a promotion. Audiences here make a lot of their decisions based on what cash/points back rates brands are giving, and in many cases, closing a sale can come down to whether the brand is offering cash or points back.

Deal Partners

Deal partners should be utilized by all brands when looking to liquidate excess inventory. Deal partner audiences don’t have loyalty to a specific brand, and they often will purchase products they didn’t know they needed/wanted based on the price. These customers are looking for the best web pricing, and they value our deal partners’ recommendations and strategies. When properly priced, brands can really push inventory out the door using deal publishers. These publishers are excellent for introducing a consumer to a brand’s products and getting transactions locked in.

Coupon Partners

Coupon partners are generally more transactional partners. They assist in closing out a sale. We would be remiss, however, if we didn’t recommend tapping into all of the capabilities these publishers have to capture competitive market share, target specific audiences, drive in-store traffic, and more. Many coupon publishers have robust internal data, allowing brands to target their ideal audience and get them to convert with a compelling offer. Many coupon publishers also have technology to help drive consumers in-store if a brand is looking to increase foot traffic to brick-and-mortar locations. When optimized correctly, these publishers have the ability to drive incredible incremental revenue growth for a program. It is crucial that brands layer in attribution analysis when working with these partners, in particular, to fully understand how they’re contributing to the funnel and ensure there isn’t any cannibalization amongst efforts.

Many of the beforementioned publishers can tap into other promotional methods as well such as TM+ bidding, CRM syncing, and many more. What’s special about affiliate is that this channel also holds a wide range of tech publishers with capabilities from CTV to on-site abandonment to card-linking to BNPL, all of which can work on a performance basis and all of which can help brands hit their goals. These publishers typically all have robust targeting and customizable campaigns that can be tailored to each brand objective.

Best practices of publisher recruitment

Recruitment is a staple when diversifying your publisher mix. It’s about proactively seeking publishers who align with your vision. Brands should never rely on solely waiting for publishers to find them. Recruitment requires time and much conversation. It’s not as simple as looking at a website and adding them to your program. New publishers have new ways to tell your brand’s story, along with new audiences. It’s important that brands understand and are aligned with a new publisher’s audience and promotional methods for both short- and long-term optimization. Once publishers are identified as being a good fit, consistent and exceptional communication is necessary to have healthy, thriving partnerships.

DMinsight – A well-known retail brand came to DMi to help manage their already mature affiliate program. Since the inception of our management, our team strategically recruited and optimized over 100 new partners of all categories to their program.

All partner types should be considered to create a successful, full funnel program. All partner types utilize promotional methods that can help satisfy several business needs. Brands can also tap into affiliate partners to test out low-risk campaigns that complement other marketing channels, giving them a plethora of valuable insight and growth. Consistent recruitment of a program not only helps scale revenue and audience reach, but also gives brands the ability to test new and exciting partners on different opportunities.