Econsultancy's recently released annaul affiliate marketing report has revealed that in the current economic climate many companies are increasingly turning to online marketing activity - typically seen as an extremely cost effective way of generating sales. A move that is seen as especially attractive as marketing budgets come under close scrutiny. As a performance based channel, these findings show that affiliate marketing is proving to be an area where companies are currently investing in more heavily than ever.
As well as reporting on the estimated value of the market, a number of key trends were also revealed by the research from Econsultancy. Interestingly, one of the key trends uncovered was the fact that customers are increasingly turning to voucher code websites, such as www.vouchercodes.co.uk and cashback websites such as Quidco, which recently hit the headlines as former friends reunited CEO Michael Murphy took the helm. These findings highlight the importance of working with these two types of affiliates, as customers are increasingly searching for offers and deals online through voucher code sites, whilst at the same time looking to save money by purchasing through cashback sites.
Some merchants have questioned the value being added by such affiliates, as there have been examples of certain affiliates with voucher code sites misusing said codes on their websites. In response to this, The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) introduced a code of best practice at the beginning of the year to tighten up the way that affiliates are to display codes. Now, full details of the voucher code must be displayed along with the voucher code end date. The terms and conditions also restrict the use of 'click to reveal' practices, a move welcomed by merchants and affiliate alike.
An area of concern among affiliates also addressed in the Econsultancy report is the fact that communication between merchants and affiliates could stand to improve. After all, a key part of managing an affiliate marketing program is communicating with affiliates - whether this is in terms of communicating new offers or launching a new affiliate incentive.
Overall, the study indicates that the future for affiliate marketing is on course for being extremely bright, with the Econsultancy report predicting that in terms of online sales generated by the affiliate marketing channel, it is well on course to hitting the £4bn mark by the end of 2009.
