Increasingly, the single-channel approach that has long dominated affiliate marketing is being replaced by a multi-channel approach.
This shift can be attributed in no small measure to the evolution of social media. Facebook , once the pioneering social media, has now been surpassed by others. Consequently, this is also reshaping affiliate marketing already scrambling to keep pace with social media’s newer manifestations.
Affiliate marketing’s main driver, authenticity is becoming ever more crucial. Consumers can detect fakery at fifty paces now — the result of over saturation from advertising. No longer are people prepared to swallow ad slogans passively. Consumers are not only savvier but tech savvy — which means they can bypass main stream media channels (print; audio visual) and go to social media to get their truths. This process also gives users the agency that conventional media deprived them of. If the latter was disempowering, the former is empowering.
Where will the future take us?
The Future’s Here . . . Already
AI and machine learning will enable more automation of tasks for the affiliate marketer — for example, searching for and catering to highly specific audiences — the niches within the niches. What is called the personalisation of advice and the curation of content will become seamlessly connected to affiliate marketing platforms. This will mean affiliate marketing campaigns can be accurately created and launched faster. AI will adjust to the incoming data in real time making targeting even more accurate. Not only will the system be able to engage audiences but also know how to engage them for longer because an engaged audience is a convertible audience.
One technology, blockchain, associated with crypto currency with its enormous ability to authenticate transactions could be applied to affiliate marketing making it safer and reliable for all parties. A technologically enhanced system of trust will make it easier for audiences to make decisions with less anxiety.
We cannot even begin to imagine the transformative potential of technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). The impact of these technologies are yet to be felt on affiliate marketing. But once mainstream, they can enhance the consumer’s experience of the product even before the purchasing decision has been made. In fact, the immersive pre-buying experience could become the purchasing decision. Vicariousness will become the new reality. Affiliate marketing promotions enabled by such technologies can leap frog straight over from the considering-to-buy to the buy-now decisions but now with greater integrity and trust. Let me explain.
One of the biggest hurdles the buyer experiences is the possibility of risk. Once this is removed, the buying decision becomes easier. Where there is uncertainty, there is a perceived risk. The buyer wants to know if they are going to lose money. Historically, money back guarantees have taken care of this problem. Combined with the immersive potential of AR and VR, money-back guarantees can take on a newer depth of meaning. Only those who do not adopt this technology will be left behind. The very notions of transparency and informed decision will take on an entire new significance.
The advantages will not only be for the affiliate marketer but also the consumer. For example, enabled by technology, the personalisation of recommendation — which is still an exotic form of marketing — will become the norm. Consequently, consumers will not search generically as they tend to do now — “shower mats” could be refined into more nuanced categories such as “blue shower mats with Japanese Kanagawa prints made from ethically sourced earth friendly material .”
This is an example of alignment of values — without an understanding of these principles affiliate marketing cannot take advantage of technology.
Rather than having to type into the browser, the potential buyer could recite it out to their virtual assistants. How will this shape affiliate marketing? SEO, key word research will make the transition to voice search optimisation.
Affiliate marketing will need to adapt to these technological development in order to remain relevant.