Affiliate marketing: how to pay your affiliates?
You regularly hear that affiliation is a hyper-efficient marketing channel. Based on a win-win concept, this marketing technique allows advertisers to offer powerful messages to specific targets and sorted according to their center of interest (by choosing the site on which to appear).
That being said, before starting an affiliate program, it is quite normal to be interested in payment.
Wondering how to pay your affiliates ? Here are some answers that will help you see more clearly in order to accurately calculate your ROI.
Different methods of remuneration to know
First of all, you should know that affiliate marketing is known to offer pay-for-performance . This means, in other words, that an advertiser (affiliator) pays its partner (affiliate) only if a specific action has been performed.
There are therefore different methods of remuneration adapted to different objectives .
The best known is undoubtedly the Cost Per Click (CPC). In a simple way, each click on an ad must be remunerated. Increasingly, the CPC tends to be replaced by double click payment which requires, to validate the payment, an additional click. This prevents fraud and improves the bounce rate of your ads by eliminating unqualified clicks.
Another popular payment method is Cost Per Action (CPA). Widely used by affiliators operating in e-commerce, each sale generates a commission. Obviously, this can vary depending on the products and the sector.
Finally, the Cost Per Lead (CPL) is an interesting method of remuneration for professionals who wish to improve their visibility. As a general rule, we use this type of payment if we want to increase our number of appointments, have our customers fill out a contact form or obtain new email addresses.
Pay attention to your competitors
You have understood it: depending on the products and services you want to promote, your sector, but also the method of remuneration, the payment can greatly evolve . If you go through a platform, normally, the latter will give you the average remuneration. This will allow you to position yourself in relation to your competitors.
You should know that affiliates have many ads available to them. From this, you have understood that they will choose the most profitable for them. So, if you are offering an affiliate program with a below average pay grade, don’t expect to get a lot of placement offers.
Rest assured: if you operate in the home and fashion sector and are looking for a performance marketing expert , you can trust us to help you define the right level of compensation.
Do not hesitate to bring your programs to life
Did you know that membership fees are not fixed? Many affiliators do not hesitate to bring their programs to life in order to ensure that they meet their objectives.
Thus, it is common to combine the different types of remuneration to boost your campaigns :
- CPA + CPC to get more traffic;
- Compensation boost over several months to encourage affiliates to take an interest in it;
- Increase in remuneration on a specific product or category of products;
- Increase in compensation for bringing in a new client;
In short, everything is possible depending on your needs and your budget. And this, even if you are a small e-merchant or a VSE .
Stay profitable
Obviously, since affiliate marketing is based on a win-win model, it’s hard not to be profitable. That being said, if you sell products, you must also take into account all the additional costs (the purchase price, the cost of delivery, etc.). The affiliation intervening in addition, it is important to clearly define in advance your break-even point .
The whole being, as such, to define a remuneration neither too high nor too low . Too high and you will lose money. Too low and no one will be interested in your ad.
Need help setting up your affiliate program? Trust Arkheus, the digital performance agency for E-commerce and Retail and its affiliate platform Casaneo , specializing in the fields of home and fashion.
