Two Keys To Successful Affiliate Marketing For Mobile-First Companies

[Shahriar Tasjid]

Apps are critical these days, but they can also be tricky to handle. Although getting a potential customer to download an app allows for a multitude of other mobile marketing options, such as the use of push notifications and the offering of deals through the app, getting customers to actually commit to devoting space on their devices to your app is one of the biggest challenges.

To demonstrate, Statista shows that, at the Apple App Store, there were 2.2 million apps available in March 2017 and 2.8 million at the Google Play Store. There are many apps that consumers can choose from, making the limited space they do have on their devices even more valuable.

On the other hand, the report also shows that by 2020, mobile apps -- app store purchases and in-app advertising -- are expected to generate $189 billion. Although getting consumers to download and commit to your app may be difficult, there is definitely potential for earning and long-term success with apps and mobile advertising. Because of this, you should be doing everything you can to measure the success of your campaigns so that you know where to spend your marketing dollars -- and where not to.

One way to promote your app is through affiliate marketing. This is when a company partners with a social influencer or other professional entity that has a wide base of influence and the potential to drive traffic to apps and websites based on their following and reach. Many mobile-first companies use affiliates to help push certain actions regarding their app, such as downloads or in-app purchases.

While this marketing method is often used, marketers must go about it strategically in order to be effective, and it's important to realize that not every affiliate will be right for you and your company.


Make Strategic Partnerships

Although most affiliates genuinely want to work with you to help promote valid, authentic traffic to your app or website, there are certainly affiliates that try to use fraudulent traffic to greatly boost their earnings. While there is no specific or perfect solution for preventing this, there are signs you can watch for to identify fraudulent traffic and, therefore, an affiliate that needs to be cut from your network. These signs include:

• The earnings per click (EPC) far exceeds that of average affiliates of a particular offer.

• Daily conversions exceed the expected range.

• Multiple affiliates that have the same offer and a duplicated IP address -- which can lead to a suspiciously high number of conversions.

Although there isn't just one way that is best for getting the right affiliates, it is important to keep the recruitment and management of affiliates a hands-on process by tracking the results of their campaigns as well as being a part of a network where affiliates can easily join.

Just as important as using authentic affiliates is knowing exactly which channels drive the most traffic.

Measure For Success

It's always nice to see that you're acquiring new customers and purchases, but knowing exactly where they are coming from is crucial to long-term success. This knowledge can help you determine the appropriate channels to direct your budget.

For example, my company Oplytic recently worked with Swap.com, an online thrift store that offers more than two million unique items for sale. They were looking to expand their mobile user base, specifically app users and were gaining new customers through app affiliate marketing. However, they didn't have the data on exactly which affiliates and channels were working the best and, therefore, the best channels to put their marketing dollars toward.

We were able to help them track precisely which channels were delivering the most customers and in-app purchases as well as customers with a high lifetime value (LTV). They could easily track and monitor customers from first click to conversion, whether that was an initial app download or another in-app purchase. In addition, high-profile affiliate partners were more willing to promote Swap.com's app because its precise tracking ensured fair attribution.

If you are a mobile-first company or a company that wants to grow its mobile app user base, using authentic app affiliates can be helpful, especially when you are able to get all the data you need to monitor for success. Make sure to pursue all the information you need to make smart, informed decisions about your mobile campaigns, and the high-quality customers with high LTV will pay off in the long run, setting you and your company up for long-term success.

Source: www.forbes.com