Ones to watch: Five affiliate marketing trends for 2015

As we approach the end of 2014, attention turns to affiliate planning for the coming year. As part ofthese preparations, invariably marketers want to assess any current or future trends that could havean impact on their affiliate campaigns. With that in mind, let's look at some general themes thatcould be high on the agenda in 2015.

1. Making life easier for affiliates

Affiliate marketing is a simple concept but those of us who work in the industry are guilty of overcomplicating the basic premise: obfuscating with acronyms, building unintuitive interfaces andfailing to adequately disclose programme information in an easily accessible way. Making life easierfor affiliates shouldn't be a difficult concept for anyone to grasp and should be front of mind of anynetwork, agency or third party tracking solution, but as we approach 2015, affiliates still strugglewith performing what should be simple tasks. With automated link builders, enhanced feeds andbetter use of banner inventory we need to ensure affiliate marketing is so simple that there are nobarriers for any affiliates looking to get their foot on the ladder.

2. Networks reassessing their roles

The second half of 2014 has seen a frenzied period ofmergers, acquisitions and consolidations within theindustry. Some traditional affiliate networks appear tobe reinventing themselves as a digital catch-all,something akin to a generalist agency. This has meantthey have broken out of the traditionally quite narrowremit of an affiliate network which invariably meansrisking stepping on the toes of companies they've

previously worked with non-competitively.

Do these moves indicate a lack of confidence in the traditional affiliate model as we move into 2015?It remains robust and Affiliate Window continues to enjoy double digit growth driven by more than50 new daily affiliate applications, indicating CPA remains an attractive proposition for manyemerging businesses.

3. Traffic quality and compliance challenges

Compliance, or network quality, is often overlooked by channel exponents. 2015 should seecompanies look to redouble their efforts in the network quality stakes. Some may also be caught outby not recognising the 'hidden' benefits offered by traditional networks if they choose to switch to in-housing.

There is an inherent risk in not maintaining compliance ideals at a time when affiliate marketing and

its wider value is being scrutinised more than ever before. We simply cannot afford standards to slipor greyer promotional tactics to gain a foothold in the UK market.

4. Data sophistication and future reporting platforms

With the emergence of mobile devices as a significant driver of both interest and revenue, so thechannel will need to understand how affiliates play a part in influencing consumers across differentplatforms. It will form a part of the wider cross-device initiative that all brands will need to grapplewith.

With the resultant growth in additional data, a network's business intelligence tools will have anincreasingly important part to play. In 2015 we will see greater focus on the multichannel, crossdevice piece. This will in turn help us to understand who the sale initiating affiliates on mobiledevices are.

Taking the insight one step further and plugging customer quality data into the mix will provide amore complete understanding of consumer journeys. This will require knowledge sharing across theboard, but will hopefully demonstrate the role of a network is evolving into much more than that of atraditional tracking, reporting and payment provider.

5. More intelligent use of incentivised traffic and the general affiliate mix

Incentivisation is now an established and hugely important part of the affiliate channel, but withvolume comes scrutiny, and advertisers (as well as publishers) will demand more empirical evidenceabout the value it delivers.

Cashback and voucher sites will continue to

thrive, especially in a multi-channel and multi-device world where they offer advertisers theopportunity to align their products and services with consumers at different points in the purchasecycle, but the channel will need to demonstrate value alongside the inevitable volume they deliver.

Similarly there will be additional pressure to engage and optimise the affiliate longtail. This isnothing new but will continue to be a main KPI of many affiliate programmes in 2015.

Kevin Edwards, strategy director, Affiliate Window

Tel: +44 (0) 844 557 9240

Email: strategy@affiliatewindow.com

Web: www.affiliatewindow.com

Twitter: @AffWin