How Affiliate Marketing has Changed in 2020?

• A change in retailers market positioning

One of the earliest trends of 2020 came when business-to-business (B2B) advertisers started to see direct consumer traffic converting on their sites during lockdown. . The new remote worker wants to become fully equipped to continue business as usual in a world of remote working. With traffic and sales on an upward trend and AOV for B2B retailers down, this demonstrates there is a new mass market made up of the individual home office workers ordering equipment for themselves. Business retailers therefore need to review their purchase process and ensure it is optimised accordingly.

As retail moved online, many businesses such as supermarkets, pharmacies and other one-stop shops struggled under the strain of consumers moving online. Direct-to-consumer ecommerce has offered a new option. Heritage brands Heinz and Lindt set up DTC ecommerce sites where their customers could order straight from them bypassing the middle men. At Awin our Access product has been utilised by many DTC brands during the pandemic, with over 100 launches since March in the UK. Consumers within the affiliate channel are clearly responding well to these new brands; 20% are seeing their first sale in less than a day and the average time from launch to sale activity is under 12 days for these programmes.

• The changing role of in-store advertisers

Whilst retail is no longer in lockdown, the role of physical spaces has changed. We’ve seen reduction in stores by some brands, and Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media have abandoned physical retail altogether. Coronavirus has meant everyone had to move online. Awin saw retail sales rise significantly during lockdown, and even since the reopening of physical shops retail sales on Awin are up 50% YoY.

• The movement of ambassadors into the affiliate channel

It’s no secret that social engagement soared during lockdown. Influencers allowed the continuation of consumer-to-consumer referrals during a time of no real-life social interactions. They also offered consumers brand experiences through a different medium during months without a high street. Many brands moved larger ambassadors into the affiliate channel to cement the fundamentals of performance marketing into these campaigns; allowing for transparency, measurement and fair reward. 

•  A shift in shopping times

Historically, throughout the day the key hours for online sales were 5pm-9pm, with an 8pm peak when people had finished work and finally had time to browse. But with more flexible, remote working adopted during the pandemic this evening surge has disappeared; instead 9am-5pm are now the biggest growth areas. Consumer perceptions and restrictions around when they can shop has been altered, and businesses that are unaware of these changes or who ignore this when planning exposure do so at their peril.

• The surge in new affiliate traffic source

With ongoing ad spending cuts announced for out-of-home due to the impact of lockdown and print media in further decline, digital channels continue to soar. Largely for affiliate marketers the benefits of the channel, including strong ROI numbers of around 16:1 on average versus the wider digital marketing mix, makes for a great case study to grow advertiser online ad spend and return. On the network we saw a 103% rise in the volume of new publisher sign-ups for the period of 26th March when lockdown started until 4th July when restrictions in the UK were lifted. In addition to new publishers, there have been a surge in new ways of working and a sense of flexibility as we see brands moving into affinity partnerships. This is a fantastic way for mature affiliate programs to diversify their strategy to reach a new pool of relevant and interested customers.

Words by Jessica Brown from Awin.

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