The affiliate channel typically focuses on discount shoppers and therefore operates at the bottom of the marketing funnel. As a result, its budget allocation is often smaller than other channels.

Lately, a broader set of publishers have monetized the channel through improved tracking and payment technology. Commerce content, reviews, influencers, and legacy publishers now drive significant revenue from affiliate partnerships with brands. The result is a larger, more diverse audience for affiliate marketers to access. Successfully accessing these audiences requires improved audience segmentation and messaging. If done correctly, this broader audience can be an introducer, a new customer aggregator or brand enhancer, allowing the channel to compete for more budget.

Why are brands missing opportunities for deeper partnership? Lack of competition is hiding the opportunity. As marketers, we’ve all seen it. A company rolls out a sleek new brand but it turns out the underlying product is exactly the same.