Affiliate marketing is one of the fastest-growing areas in the American economy. According to research firm Statista, businesses in the U.S. are expected to spend $8.2 billion on affiliate marketing by the year 2022.
The trend is expected to continue and grow in the years to come — and for a good reason. After all, affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to expand businesses and introduce products and services to new customers. It’s a great way to tap into a new market and access customers who are predisposed to like your products.
When you run an affiliate program and partner with established bloggers, word about your business spreads to new customers and opens many doors for your company. Similarly, when you partner with businesses in related fields, they can spread the word about your products and services to their existing customers.
Still, affiliate marketing comes with some built-in challenges. Anyone who’s implemented an affiliate marketing strategy knows that there are bumps in the road to creating an effective system. It’s natural to be discouraged, but it’s also important to realize that you can overcome them with a little planning.
Below, you’ll find a quick rundown of the inevitable challenges of affiliate marketing. There are also discussions on how to overcome affiliate marketing problems. Keep reading to benefit from expert tips and insights.
What Types of Challenges Do Businesses Face in Affiliate Marketing?
Businesses face a range of obstacles when building an affiliate marketing strategy. It’s natural. Whenever you embark on a new strategy, you’re going to face some issues — especially when your strategy involves forming new partnerships. Here are some of the most significant affiliate marketing–related conflicts that businesses can encounter and correct swiftly.
Finding the Right Partners
When exploring how to overcome affiliate marketing problems, your first challenge is always going to be honing your partner-finding process. It’s hard to overstate the importance of this one. After all, your partners will help to represent your brand. They are part of your public face.
You also need to make sure that your affiliates can open up a new market for you. If your partners have the same audience as you do, you won’t gain anything by partnering with them. Your ideal partners should share your basic style and have a target audience that’s similar but not identical to yours.
How can you ensure that you’ll partner with the right bloggers and businesses? Don’t rush into any new partnership. Take the time to evaluate every potential partner that you might consider for your affiliate program. Assess their overall style and learn about their audience. You can ask these questions:
- Would their brand presentation be a good match for your business?
- Do their followers overlap with your existing audience?
- Would partnering with them expand your market?
It’s a good idea to cast a wide net when you’re looking for partners. Get the word out through social media, email lists, and even word of mouth. Make sure everyone knows that you’re open to new partnerships. Then, take the time to sift through all applicants so you can choose the ones that are right for your company.
Figuring Out the Right Rewards
Partnerships run into trouble when there are conflicts over finances. Sadly, it’s common for businesses to have disputes with their affiliates about payments for sales.
Every partnership is going to look a little bit different. Some businesses reward their affiliates with a percentage of the profits from the sales they make. Some prefer to pay a flat fee per sale. Others pay their affiliates not with cash but through discounts or free merchandise.
Whatever system you decide on, it’s a good idea to be very clear and upfront with your partners. You’ll want to clarify your arrangement in writing and manage expectations from the very beginning of your relationship. Being professional can prevent any future misunderstandings.
Maintaining Your Brand and Messaging
The beauty of affiliate marketing is that it allows you to reach out to new markets. But when you work with partners, you risk diluting your brand identity and messaging. You need to be careful with this, as you don’t want your products to be associated with inappropriate language or messages.
A robust initial vetting process could be the right solution here. As you’ve learned earlier, it’s essential to assess your prospective partners before you begin working together. But You can also lay down ground rules when you start your partnership.
Of course, you can’t control everything your partners do in terms of messaging. But you can and should set limits. For example, make sure that your partners use language you’re comfortable with, especially if your product is marketed at families or children. Your partners must always use accurate and appropriate messaging to market your products or services.
Managing Your Affiliates
Businesses and their affiliates can run into trouble when they disagree about accounting matters. And if you’re working with many different partners, it can be especially tough to keep track of which affiliates are responsible for which sales.
In the worst-case scenario, accounting confusion can lead to a lot of conflicts. No company wants to be in endless disputes with affiliates over sales and payments and other financial matters. Ideally, you want an affiliate program that runs like a well-oiled machine.
Consider using an affiliate tracking solution like LeadDyno to monitor exactly how much business each of your affiliates brings in.
How Can Affiliate Tracking Software Help?
Once you have established affiliate partnerships, you mustn’t take these relationships for granted. The best affiliate marketing software will allow you to gauge whether your partners are performing up to expectations — and reward or deal with them accordingly.
When learning how to overcome affiliate marketing problems, many of the lessons you’ll come across may be hard to apply manually. Working with excellent affiliate marketing management software will give you peace of mind and free you to spend more time growing your company.
If you’d like to learn more about working with LeadDyno’s affiliate tracking software, contact us today. Our experienced, friendly staff members are ready and eager to discuss ways to help build your company a strong affiliate marketing program.
