Solutions for Top Affiliate Marketing Challenges 

MDS got the opportunity to go to Affiliate Summit West in January and we’re still not over it. ASW hosted thousands of the biggest players in the affiliate marketing industry and we were front and center for it all. We got to sit in on the most relevant conversations taking place in the industry today which has helped us better understand how our technology provides solutions to challenges marketers face managing their affiliate marketing program. One of the many stimulating topics of conversation was held by Awin and ShareASale’s CCO, David Lloyd, and Martech Record publishers, Mike McNerney, who discussed all the intricate ways brands still need guidance when it comes to navigating the world of affiliate marketing and how to make the most out of the channel. This workshop was a preview of the recently published Forrester study, Unlocking The Full Power Of Affiliate Partnerships.

In this article, we will cover the current state of trust in affiliate marketing and address the challenges marketers encounter when faced with management needs. Then, we will get into how the MDS platform is curated to circumvent these challenges using technology. 

Understanding the Role of Affiliate Marketing

Awin commissioned Forrester Research to survey 650 marketing decision-makers to ascertain what role they believe affiliate marketing plays in their overall marketing efforts and how well brands adopt the performance channel’s utility. These senior marketers were asked how they would rate the effectiveness of digital marketing channels including affiliate marketing. A whopping 92% of respondents rate affiliate marketing as effective–with over a third of them rating this channel as highly effective. However, when asked how they rate their budget allocation, affiliate marketing ranked the lowest out of every channel. Disconnect much?

Although a vast majority of these senior marketers deem affiliate marketing as a productive marketing approach, an eerily similar vast majority are not willing to put their money where their mouth is and prioritize this performance channel. The resounding theme of this conversation and the findings of this study reveal how undervalued the affiliate channel is, even in 2024. 

As of this year, the global affiliate marketing value is over $17 billion with forecasts of $27.7 billion by 2027. It is safe to say that affiliate marketing has proven itself as a reliable revenue-generating performance channel, yet there is still some great deal of trepidation amongst brands when trying to. The next section addresses some of the reasons why. 

Challenges of Affiliate Marketing

We’ve established there is a major disconnect between marketers and the trust in affiliate marketing and the implementation of program management. So what’s not clicking? Well, in all fairness, it’s estimated that 81% of e-commerce brands use affiliate marketing to boost their brand awareness. While navigating the intricacies of affiliate program management, they run into substantial roadblocks that minimize the effectiveness of the channel. 

According to Forrester Research, of the surveyed senior marketers: 

• 68% struggle with relationship management 
• 66% are challenged by maintaining brand consistency and the 
• 66% struggle with the threat and practice of fraudulent affiliate activities 
• 46% are bogged down by commission structuring 
• 46% are challenged with a lack of sufficient tracking and sale attribution systems

As much as marketers may understand the merit of affiliate marketing, they have yet to figure out ways to overcome the challenges involved in management. The above-mentioned affiliate marketing challenges are no joke. Between fraudulent practices to lack of tracking mechanisms, brands stand to lose a lot of money and opportunities if they aren’t careful. 

The typical method to mitigate this would be outsourcing program management to an agency which can be pretty steep startup and maintenance costs. So what then? Are brands that can’t quite hack the inevitable challenges of affiliate marketing or are not liquid enough to afford high-premium agency costs just SOL? Enter MDS technology.

MDS Solutions to Affiliate Marketing Challenges

We officially launched last year, but we are by no means new to traversing affiliate marketing challenges. Since 2021, MDS technology moonlighted under our sister company, Advertise Purple. We fed our system with performance data which was then synthesized into game-changing features that address all the many pitfalls and blindspots marketers run into when managing their affiliate program. With Mosaic, classically chronic affiliate marketing challenges don’t stand a chance! 

MDS Partner Pairing™

MDS trademark feature, Partner Pairing™, recommends 100 new affiliates selected based on their historic performance for similar companies, then brands can extend offers to these affiliates with the simple click of a button, in bulk or one by one. On average, with affiliate management systems of old, brands were making partnerships with 7 affiliates each month. After joining Mosaic, they’re now connecting with an average of 112 affiliates, monthly.

This particular feature puts the usual fears of fraud surrounding partnerships to bed because each affiliate is vetted by MDS so you don’t have to.

MDS Campaign Connect™

Aligning with your affiliate network, Campaign Connect™ synchronizes and initiates tailored promotions specifically designed for your program. Whether it involves elevating the commission for a particular affiliate or implementing newsletters to your entire network this feature identifies validated strategies and growth prospects to enhance your brand’s program success.

This tool is easily customizable so brands can integrate their internal promotions with pre-filled campaign language so every communication with your partners will be on brand.

MDS Reports Feature

Mosaic’s reports feature gets into the weeds of program performance. With a report for top performers and under-performers, as well as commission structuring recommendations, this feature helps you keep a pulse on the health of your partnerships. 

Conclusion

While senior marketers worry themselves about how to manage and strengthen their partnerships, control for fraud, keep their brand consistent, and structure their partner commissions, MDS clients rest easy knowing that our system vets and tests every affiliate for optimal performance in their respective verticals and automates recruitment into their performance. After our client onboard their partners, our platform generates optimization suggestions to fly their affiliate performance to the moon! The age-old affiliate marketing challenges are no match for MDS solutions. Book a demo today and your partnership management will never be the same!