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What’s 2+2? What date is Cinco de Mayo? Does pineapple belong on pizza?
The answers to some questions seem so obvious that they’re barely worth asking.
Like if I were to ask you what the biggest benefit of an affiliate marketing campaign was, of course, you would tell me, it’s the money, cash, dinero, the Benjamins.
And you’d be right….sort of.
Increasing your sales is the correct answer, it’s just not the complete answer.
While it’s true that affiliate marketing campaigns create billions of dollars of sales every year, the benefits to your brand go far beyond convincing customers to smash the buy button.
SEO
The most valuable real estate in the world isn’t on Rodeo Drive, Palm Beach or a Maui shoreline, it’s in the top five spots of any Google search. Research has shown that being a top result in Google can be worth millions of dollars in sales to your product, and a well-designed affiliate marketing campaign can push your website up the page.
One of the key ways that Google determines rankings is through “link-backs”. This is a measure of how many different websites provide a direct link back to yours.
Every affiliate you work with should provide a direct link to your website, and if you’re working with content providers that Google considers to be a “trusted source” then your ranking will go even higher.
Data
We tend to judge our affiliates by how many sales they deliver, but there’s something else they can give you that is just as valuable: information.
The data on who your customers are, how they found your product, what time of year they buy and what deals they respond to is invaluable to building your brand and increasing your sales.
Failing to track, analyze and monetize your data is the same thing as letting money fall out of your pocket.
Brand Awareness
Increased brand awareness is one of the most important ways to grow your customer base. This is especially true if you’re introducing a new product that your customers aren’t familiar with.
Working with content partners is a great way to get your business in front of customers who would have never heard of it before, and it does so in a context that they’re more likely to trust.
We tune out commercials and traditional advertising because we don’t think they’re honest. But receiving external validation from a trusted content site can create the kind of credibility with potential new customers that will be invaluable to your business and drive up your sales.
There’s a reason we’ve had so much success as company over the last decade, and a big part of it is because once brands launch a new campaign with us, they quickly realize just how much value they can gain from the right collection of affiliates.
And for those unsure, of course, pineapple belongs on pizza.
