As a result of the Internet, countless forms of advertising are now used to reach potential consumers. T.V. commercials, billboards and magazine ads are not the only way a business can increase sales. Currently, companies are advertising via social networks, email marketing, blogs, websites, banners, text links, paid search, online video, forums, SEO content marketing, infographics and the list only continues to grow. Due to the expansion of marketing channels, it is becoming more and more difficult to attribute results to the proper source. Affiliate marketing has been able to help address this issue. If you don’t know what affiliate marketing is, watch this quick video: What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliates get a commission from every sale that occurs as a result of a customer clicking a link in which the marketer posted online or distributed via email. This gives companies a way to give credit where credit is due. However, in most cases the last affiliate the customer visits before making a purchase gets the commission for the sale. This is good in theory, but the journey of an online purchase is usually more complex than looking at a blog and then going to a website and making a purchase. More often than not, people visit multiple sites and blogs to conduct product research and price comparisons to finalize their purchasing decision.
AvantMetrics
AvantMetrics can help “identify when customers have been referred by multiple affiliates from different networks and automatically de-duplicates multiple commission payments.” This tool can also figure out when “affiliate referrals are actually being converted by internal marketing efforts like email notifications or paid search.” Lastly it can provide “analytics on the types of referrals affiliates are making and their entry points into the customers path to purchase.” Meaning that the commission can be split up and attributed to the proper source(s). Instead of only one affiliate getting the commission, there can now be multiple affiliates receiving compensation for their influence on a sale.
It’s a Win-Win
AvantMetrics is a win-win situation for both companies and affiliates. It shows companies, which affiliates are really increasing sales so they can budget accordingly. And it allows affiliates that are contributing to sales, not the last to place a cookie in the browser, to receive a commission for their influence on the consumers purchasing decision.
In this day and age, attribution can never fully be distributed evenly due to the various forms of influence marketing plans may have on a customer. But with analytics tools like AvantMetrics, the ambiguity of what really led to a sale is reduced, at least a little bit.