Nobody Can Agree on Affiliate Marketing
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?? Influencer Marketing Is Embracing Affiliate Marketing Tactics — But Are Creators Feeling the Love?
What people are talking about: Affiliate marketing seems to be the hot topic these days — I’ve had multiple conversations about the practice recently. And it’s something Ad Age’s Gillian Follett captured in this article on brands increasingly incorporating affiliate links into their influencer partnerships.?
But it’s her LinkedIn post that’s really popping off, revealing that there’s a serious disconnect between marketers desire for a performance-based marketing model they can measure and creators reluctance to assume all the risk in creating and posting content that may or may not convert.
“I can definitely understand both perspectives,” Gillian told me when I asked if she was surprised at the range of reactions to her post.?
“Brands, naturally, want to see measurable results from their investment in creators, especially when a creator is charging thousands of dollars for one or two social media posts. But for creators, earning a flat, upfront payment is a more stable, guaranteed source of income – and many creators are already driving sales without affiliate links, even if brands can’t specifically trace those sales back to a specific influencer.?
Ultimately, I think the reason marketers are becoming more interested in adding affiliate links to their influencer marketing payment systems is to more effectively track the impact of their partnerships with creators – not because they don’t understand the value of those partnerships.”
From the creator’s perspective: “You are getting access to the creators audience, you are having content made for your brand at the faction of the price, you are introducing your brand to those discovering you on social, you are aligning your brand with specific communities (LGBTQIA+, etc), you are associating with a person who others already know, like and trust,” Taz Zammit listed in response to Gillian’s post.?
Zammit, who’s a creator and a business owner, advocated for a hybrid model that incorporates a flat fee to acknowledge the work involved plus a performance-based commission. “Sales is something your internal team should focus on, not outsource to an influencer.”
To affiliate or not to affiliate: Influencer marketing is a blend of art and science — it’s not a replacement for the predictability of a Facebook ad campaign. An influencer who hasn’t primed their audience to be receptive to affiliate links through product recommendations, link in bio promotions or merch drops may struggle with being an effective salesperson for a brand. However, should sales even be their primary role??
I’m not going to pretend to have all the answers but would love to hear what you think. Add your thoughts to the Comments section below.
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? There’s a Creator Program For That
What’s happening: Every company imaginable is launching a “Creator Program,” appealing to digital creators to bring their influence, their audiences, and, most importantly, their content to the collective.??
Seriously, at this stage who isn’t launching a Creator Program? In addition to all the platforms and major retailers, now there’s Microsoft Start Creator Program , Flipboard Creator Collective , Fiverr Influencer Program , the soon-to-launch ConvertKit Creator Network , Epic’s Creator Economy 2.0 program and the list goes on.?
Yes, but: I’m in favor of a creator program as much as the next person. Maybe more so. But it’s important to point out that if you’ve replaced your full-time employees with gig workers to essentially open source your content under an optimistic “Creator Residency Program” euphemism… you’re missing the point (ahem, BuzzFeed ).
What you need to know as a creator: "They took away the dried mango," a Google employee recently complained to The Atlantic. And that’s the way it goes: It’s all fun, games and free snacks until the economy shifts and costs need to be cut. Snacks go first, employees second, and then they start looking for what they can cut next.
Take advantage of the paid programs you’re invited to join while simultaneously recognizing that slapping a “Creator Program” label on things doesn’t always make sense and the situation may not be sustainable in the long run.???
The creator economy could approach $480 billion by 2027 according to a Goldman Sachs report released last week. Insider dug into more takeaways from the 30-page report, including:
It’s a week late but let’s take a moment to respect what Sofia Richie’s TikTok wedding has accomplished.?
The rules of celebrity coverage are being rewritten by young celebrity influencers themselves. Richie joined TikTok just in time for her South of France nuptials and narrated the entire thing through real-time GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos.?
It’s very rare to see an It Girl live-posting a major event, noted TikToker Abiola , and stands in sharp contrast to the controlled content release that would be produced by the Kardashian hype machine.
Richie also invited the biggest meme-maker of the moment: @octopusslover8 to her wedding (he’s one of the groom’s best friends ).?“This is actually an inspired PR play,” wrote I <3 Mess ’ Emily Kirkpatrick . As a celebrity, you “get to come off as chill while actually getting tons of free viral promotion for your nuptials and feeding the already burgeoning algorithm hype machine building around the event.”
So when someone in your marketing team pitches a real-time campaign plan, note that it was probably heavily inspired by what we saw last week.
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Storyteller + Content Creator + Writer + PR Consultant + Community Connector ?? Where culinary meets cannabis in unexpected ways
1 年I get so many emails from brands asking me to do free work in exchange for a discount code and affiliate link. When I provide my media kit + rate sheet, the response is that the first post I do will determine performance so they can make a fair offer and dangle the carrot of fixed payments, long-term brand ambassador, and monthly payments. ?? If I don't know you, your brand, or have a personal relationship or reason why I want to promote your brand for free then NO. PAY ME for my time and creative for that post. If you like it then you can continue to hire me to create content for you.
TikTok Creator (945k) ?? Co-Founder of @TeamTANDA App ??+18M views in the last 30 days ??
1 年I love this discussion/debate about influencers being expected to drive sales. Regardless of the number of units sold, at the end of the day, that piece of content still took time, thought, preparation & energy and delivered a result (which is the video itself). Anything above and beyond that (I.e. sales) is a bonus. There is nothing wrong with wanting to measure a campaigns performance and using sales as a measurement. But I encourage brands to look at the long game when working with influencers and accept that there are untrackable metrics (e.g. in store purchase 6 months after the campaign, moving someone from awareness to consideration). Here are some trackable metrics that are a little more difficult to obtain but might help with reporting during an influencer campaign: Email list signups website visits search activity trends comment section sentiment number of organic videos made about your brand attitude towards your brand follows on social accounts DMs received
Executive Producer | Cannabis, Content, Streaming Media
1 年Good read, thanks!
Don't just build FOR creators, build WITH creators ?? | The AI Whisperer for Creators | Follow me for unfiltered advice from a creator with 9M+ followers | Advisor @ Patreon & Many more
1 年I think it's quickly gonna go from "They took away the dried mango" to "they took away my entire department and replaced me with Autonomous agents". -- It's just a matter of time.
Shaping the legal landscape of the creator economy, emerging technologies, and IP, data, & privacy ??
1 年“Influencer marketing is a blend of art and science — it’s not a replacement for the predictability of a Facebook ad campaign.” ?? Exactly! Incredible newsletter, as always, Lia!