Affiliate marketing is nothing new; brands and influencers have been using it for years but – propelled by 18 months indoors – a surcharge in online shopping has meant affiliate marketing has opened a wealth of opportunity for publications (and brands).
Shopping pages have always been part of magazines’ and newspapers’ DNA; affiliates simply allow them to essentially monetise this process and thereby create a new revenue stream.
PR agencies, in general, are becoming more intrinsically involved in helping clients to deliver traffic, click-throughs – and even sales – as opposed to just brand awareness. So, how is Little Red Rooster using affiliates to help its clients?
Affiliates are playing a huge role in what press and media write about. In this post, we explore the need-to-know questions when it comes to affiliates and digital PR.
Why are online publications using affiliates more?
It goes without saying – the potential revenue from affiliates is huge. Depending on the product or service, the commission rate can be anything between 3% to 20%.
One of the huge benefits of using affiliates is it allows a brand to understand and see, in black and white, what people are buying, what they’re searching for and, as a result, steer its own future editorial content.
Using an affiliates programme, such as Skimlinks, also allows editors to see which products are the most popular with readers, what purchases are being made and what trends people are engaging with. In turn, this means editors can use their time much smarter by writing articles and shopping pieces that people really want to read and engage with.
Are products and brands with affiliate links preferred by journalists?
Not necessarily – products and brands can still be driven by editor’s organic choices and personal preferences. However, if that publishing house has a good affiliates programme in place with big retailers (which is highly likely) such as John Lewis, Amazon or AO.com, they will use a link to one of these – or whichever earns the best commission – than perhaps a client’s own website. However, the latter depends on the relationship with the journalist.
Due to the opportunities affiliates presents and the focus on building out a publication’s own commerce team, we envisage editors coming under increasing pressure to favour products or brands with an affiliate programme, so it’s definitely something for all brands to consider when looking to implement a digital PR strategy.
How do we implement affiliates into our PR outreach?
We don’t tend to shout about a brand’s affiliate programme in our press releases – it doesn’t strike the right note – but instead we use our good relationships with journalists to highlight those in place, as well as any promotions or free delivery. The latter is particularly important; when pitching press, always bear in mind how you shop, and do you love free delivery? Yes! So, will other people? Of course!
What if you can’t afford an affiliates programme?
Of course, many small businesses might not have the resources for an affiliates programme. This is recognised by most writers and editors, who will always try and support independent businesses where they can. In fact, Red just announced its Christmas gift guide would only feature small businesses – a very impressive move on their part.
If we are working with small businesses without such tools in place – as with any brand – it’s a case of needing a really great brand story to tell; meeting with press and journalists to build relationships, and having clear USPs defined for that brand or product.
How much is this steering digital PR?
In short, quite considerably. Shopping content has become more and more popular in the last year – and will only continue to rise – something which commerce teams will of course be looking to capitalise on.
Publications are using affiliates to help steer the content they put out based on the trends they can pull from their data. In the same vein, we try and use any data our clients can provide us with to indicate trends and, in turn, sell this into press. For example, if a client tells us they’ve seen a 40% increase in sales of garden furniture and parasols, we will use this information in any media pitches to encourage shopping galleries or round-ups on that topic. If you have a good relationship with a particular journalist, you could even offer this as an exclusive.
If it’s a new product you’re launching, perhaps offer a one-time higher commission on that product for a certain period to incentivise publications to write a dedicated article, review, or news story on the product.
As PRs, it’s vital that we have our fingers on the pulse and have a thorough understanding of the pop-culture moments, latest and upcoming trends, as well as which events people are interested in, and that we use this to tailor how we pitch.
