Unpredictable times and Performance Based Marketing

Unpredictable times within the economy can, will and have influenced the way we do business and how we expand, divide or limit (marketing) budgets and business expenditures. However, the lowest risk expenditure, which will always solely be based on the actual performance, is Affiliate Marketing and here is why.

Coronavirus and the change in consumer behaviour

There is no way to avoid it. The Coronavirus is here. The virus is crossing continents and is showing its effects on day to day life as well as the way in which we do business. As economies are being affected, so are the business activities and consumer behaviours across the world. It is important to understand to what extent the spread of the Coronavirus affects your general Marketing activities and, more specifically, your Affiliate Marketing activities.

There is one main factor that increases your sales, the shopper. The same shopper who is increasingly choosing to stay indoors over going out, leading to online shopping being chosen over going out to shop. Furthermore, a noticeable change has taken place, is that consumers are now stocking up on certain supplies due to upcoming fears that come with these unpredictable times. This creates a change in the needs of the consumer and consequently, creates new opportunities for you as a business to respond to.

High or low risk? PPC & Display advertising vs. Performance Based Advertising

Even though some production processes have been paused and international deliveries are being delayed, this should not affect your investment in your Affiliate Program, in contrary to PPC and Display advertising.

PPC and display advertising are based on the interest of consumers. These marketing channels trigger a consumer to click on an ad that is targeted at them, based on demographics, interests and previous browser activities. The current issue with these kinds of marketing channels is that, due to a decrease in inventory, you will be paying for consumer activities without being able to complete the actual sale. This makes PPC and Display advertising a high-risk investment as you are paying to create a need or interest that you cannot fulfil.

In contrary to PPC and display Campaigns, Performance Based Marketing is based on the actual performance that takes place, making it a low-risk way to go. Due to to the No Cure, No Pay policy you only spend on advertising if an actual transaction takes place. If a product is sold out or unavailable, this will not have any financial consequences for you.

An added bonus possibility of Performance Based Marketing in these uncertain times is TradeTracker’s Real Attribution feature. By switching your program to Real Attribution, you further increase and motivate your initiators and, generally, your upper funnel activities.

Further information

If you have any questions about how certain unpredictable times or changes in the economy affect your Affiliate Marketing activities, please contact your local account manager. We are here for you.