Have you ever purchased a product after seeing it pop up on your FYP? Guilty! Enter: influencer affiliate marketing. The demand to explore this form of marketing has increased tremendously in the last few years and the global affiliate marketing platform market is expected to continue to grow by over 90% in the next seven years.
The Quick and Dirty on Influencer Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate partners earn a commission for each sale made (through the use of a uniquely generated link or code) and it allows for brands to increase both their reach and sales, with the added clear unique insight into who and what performs. It also offers influencers who are part of a brand’s affiliate network the opportunity to monetize their communities and thus make more money through their content.
Let’s Talk Pet Peeves
We’ve all been there. An influencer posts about a product that they are OBSESSED with and CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT, but they don’t mention where the product can be purchased. You are intrigued by their content and need to know where you can get it yourself, so you half-watch the video and look at their caption only to be met with a vague algorithm-friendly string of hashtags and words. So you dive into the comments to see if anyone else from the audience has shared where to purchase the product and you see the top comment is from the creator saying you can shop the product at their Amazon storefront. Uhhhh, couldn’t you have said it was from Amazon in the first 3 seconds of the video? Groan! But, you click the link to shop anyway. This is a strategy many influencers and brands who work on influencer affiliate marketing campaigns leverage. The content posted creates an appetite of interest and excitement and the allure of the mystery of where to buy the product sucks you in so that it prompts you to engage with the post further to find out where the product is from (i.e. watching the content until the very end when it might be mentioned or not seeing it mentioned in the video anywhere and having to visit the comment section).
What’s Authenticity Got to Do With It?
The first few times you see this type of content, it might not strike you as off-putting, but there has been an increased level of frustration from audiences now that this type of content is becoming ever-present. “JUST TELL US WHERE TO BUY IT,” “CAN SOMEONE JUST TELL ME WHERE THIS IS FROM”, seem to be ever-present comments on videos where creators are being coy about where to purchase the very products they are promoting. The frequency of this type of content can cause viewers to pause and question how genuine the love for the product featured in the video is or if the influencer is just looking to make a quick buck AND if the brand is taking them for a fool with this sponsored content. Audiences are intelligent and both brands and creators need to be aware of how attuned audiences are to identifying when an influencer or brand is simply trying to trick them to shop a product without there being an authentic, genuine, or intentional desire to share the product with consumers.
The Work-Around
At its core, influencer marketing is a business and the most valuable currency is consumer loyalty. Once that is lost, it’s very challenging to win that trust back. Influencer affiliate marketing plays a very important role in the ecosystem of influencer marketing, but it can’t be the only content pillar employed. Brands and creators have to be careful about how they share information with audiences so that they feel engaged and informed, without a sentiment of trickery. Transparency is crucial:
- Brands should be selecting the right influencer partners (Are they converters? Do they have an engaged audience? Are they already familiar with affiliate platforms?)
- Brands and influencers should be identifying the right platforms for their content (We don’t need to tell you that video content should be living on TikTok!)
- Influencers should be creating engaging, value-add content (No more of the “I’m obsessed with this” only fluff, but how does the product add value, is it a dupe for something else, is it never on sale and only the unique code they are providing will get their audience a deal?)
- Brands and influencers should be working collaboratively! (Brands know their products best and influencers know their content and audiences best. Whether in influencer affiliate marketing or in a traditional influencer marketing campaign, the best results are when both parties work together towards a common goal of quality content!)
- Brands and influencers should make it EASY for the products to be shopped (Let’s drop the shopping barriers! Otherwise you risk losing the sale and the consumer/follower.)
Overall, influencer affiliate marketing is here to stay and when there’s a strong, intentional strategy in place, it offers great benefits to brands, influencers, and consumers alike!
