What Does an Affiliate Marketing Agency Do, and Should You Hire One?

Most companies who have ever started an affiliate marketing program know that it takes a lot of care and attention in order to be able to bring in the desired outcomes. That is why most leading brands choose to partner with an affiliate marketing agency, which takes over the management and daily operations behind the affiliate program.

The role that the affiliate marketing agency plays depends largely on a few factors, including

• The size of the company.
• Whether the company has had an affiliate program for a while or is just starting out.
• What additional resources are needed to facilitate a high-performing affiliate program.

For example, an established business may have a full-on in-house affiliate team, so adding an affiliate marketing agency to the mix may be unnecessary. On the other hand, a smaller company that has a direct-to-consumer business model may need the help of an affiliate marketing agency, as the internal marketing team is already too busy running all other advertisement initiatives.

Regardless of the situation, an affiliate marketing agency should be able to serve as an extension of the company while ensuring that the affiliate program is running optimally and delivering the desired results.

How Does an Affiliate Marketing Agency Add Value?

The effective management of a high-performing affiliate marketing program is a very complex task. Usually, an affiliate marketing agency helps a company by developing and executing strategies that are made to achieve the business’s goals. Depending on the situation, there are four ways in which an affiliate marketing program can add value: build, grow, refine, and expand.

Building a New Program

Building a new program is a daunting task that can’t be done by someone who has no previous experience in the field. Working with an affiliate marketing agency ensures that the internal marketing team will support specialists who can guarantee that the program is set up for success. Their help includes:

• Setting up the initial strategy based on competitive insights and industry analysis.
• Finding the best tracking program or affiliate network that will fit in with the goals of the affiliate program.
• Key affiliate partnerships and campaign tactics that will help drive results.
• Determining the KPIs (key performance indicators) that will be used to measure the success of the program.

It’s vital for a brand to keep the affiliate marketing agency informed on all its business news. That includes newsletters regarding new products and services so that they can be integrated into the affiliate program.

Driving Growth

Once a program has survived past the launch state, the affiliate marketing agency has the task to manage it on a daily basis so that it keeps on delivering results. This includes running activities that ensure continuous new partner recruitment and optimization of the work getting done.

Refining and Optimizing

Typically, after the first few weeks, your affiliate marketing program will start maturing, so the agency that was hired needs to remain focused on growing it and adjusting to the business goals. However, once that time comes, you may find that the number of new partners joining is starting to go down, which means that the agency should start getting more creative. Their efforts may include:

• Optimizing existing top-tier and mid-tier partners.
• Finding new and unique partnerships.
• Trying to make the channel even more profitable and efficient. This could be done by reevaluating the commission structure.

Expanding the Program

As the company matures and grows, it’s possible that you start considering additional ways in which the affiliate marketing channel can help bring in new customers. One example is using your affiliate program to grow your email acquisition list. Alternatively, you may want to use your program to attract customers from new regions or countries, which would require your affiliate marketing agency to partner with a global one in order to make the expansion efforts more effective.

With that said, global affiliate programs have been slowly increasing over the past few years. Most companies are focused on growing their international activities and trying to attract customers from all over the world. This is why partnering with a global affiliate marketing agency can make the task easier, as they will already know the market you want to step into and its key players, making the process a lot simpler.

Should You Hire an Affiliate Marketing Agency?

The short answer is absolute yes. If you’re a small or middle-sized business that wants to run an affiliate program, but your marketing team is already stretched too thin, hiring an additional affiliate marketing agency is the way to go. Not only will those professionals ensure that your program is well-executed and designed to achieve the desired business goals, but they will also make the entire process smoother. If the agency you hired already has experience in your particular industry, that is guaranteed to drive even better, faster results. That’s because affiliate marketing agencies already work with a ton of partners and know what kind of marketing works. Additionally, they have the resources needed to monitor a campaign once it has already started.

With that said, if you’re still on the fence about hiring an affiliate marketing agency and you want to learn more about this advertising method, then head over to the Camberlion website. You will find a ton of helpful blog posts on affiliate marketing so that you know what you’re getting into from the start.