As the e-Commerce industry increasingly becomes competitive, businesses and marketers alike are faced with the challenge of standing out from the rest to attract customers. Be it catchy brand identity, commendable service, or efficient operations, today’s market demands versatility from entrepreneurs.
With so much to do in so little time, automation has become the best friend of many enterprises. Automated workflows take the burden of dealing with menial tasks while you attend to more important business matters.
In short, automation improves overall efficiency and productivity. Not to mention, automation software nowadays can also streamline campaign performance.
Automation in affiliate marketing is rising in popularity. While infamous as one of the best ways to earn a passive income, a lot of work goes into running an affiliate marketing program. With automation, your affiliate marketing strategy may just experience a boost in performance and conversions.
What is Affiliate Marketing Automation?
Affiliate marketing is an advertising model where businesses launch an affiliate program for affiliate marketers (i.e. influencers, bloggers, affiliate networks) to promote to their audiences. The affiliate program pays marketers a commission for every sale they secure.
Running an affiliate program is an excellent method for businesses to advertise their products and/or services to their target audience. A well-oiled affiliate marketing program keeps track of your campaigns’ progress, runs fraud protection, and follows a payout schedule. All these tasks can be accomplished with ease by integrating automation.
Affiliate marketing automation allows you to strategize campaigns and affiliate performance with robust analytics. In addition, automation tools run mundane processes for you, leaving you more time to focus on other important tasks. Automation in affiliate marketing also supports affiliates in managing their performance with just a few clicks.
What Good is Automation in Affiliate Marketing?
A lot of work goes into running affiliate programs. Monitoring multiple campaigns may be overwhelming. Because time is of the essence in affiliate marketing, it’s crucial to streamline affiliate marketing processes with automation.
Automation tools within an affiliate marketing software platform allow you to accomplish several objectives with your affiliate marketing strategy:
- To perform daily technical tasks such as campaign overview, data analysis, and reporting;
- To optimize campaign strategy and affiliate performance;
- To serve as a communication and resource channel for your affiliates;
- To run data-backed advertising campaigns; and
- To save time and money for other business objectives or marketing tasks.
Advantages of Using Affiliate Marketing Automation Software
Automation in your affiliate marketing strategy introduces a range of advantages for you and your affiliates. Besides the overall operational efficiency it grants, affiliate marketing automation software delivers:
- Quick and reliable performance of technical tasks such as performance analysis weekly overview
- Campaign optimization (targeted advertising, SEO, content marketing, and more)
- Integrations with current tech stack such as customer relationship management (CRM) and brand tracking tools
- Reduced operational costs as more staff can work on more important tasks for the day
- Flexible commission models, payout processes, and incentives
Affiliate marketing automation software streamlines processes and protects sales from fraudulent activity. It provides you actionable insights on the performance of your current campaigns, helping you make better-informed decisions for your future campaigns.
How is Automation Implemented in Affiliate Marketing?
Every affiliate program runs a unique blend of processes to improve brand awareness, drive traffic, and boost sales. As the competition tightens, it is highly recommended to equip your affiliate marketing strategy with the appropriate automation software.
1. Chatbots
Chatbots are one of the most used forms of artificial intelligence in the enterprise industry. In fact, 40% of consumers say they prefer interacting with chatbots due to their quick response and round-the-clock availability. These handy tools interact closely and build trust between the brand and visitors. Chatbots are always ready to answer any queries a visitor may have, leading to an engaging discussion on the visitor’s needs and how your services can be of help.
Chatbots are also excellent endorsers of affiliate links. Upon recognizing a string of relevant keywords, chatbots can invite visitors to check out links to address their needs.
Additionally, chatbots can collect information on the interests and buying behavior of customers. A brief survey at the end of every visitor inquiry provides chatbots with insightful information on the needs and preferences of your audience. You can then tailor future marketing campaigns to better suit your audience’s buying habits.
2. Email marketing and communications
An open communication channel between you and your affiliates ensures they are in the loop on the latest news and updates for the affiliate program. With an automated email marketing tool by your side, you can send out emails regarding recruitment, onboarding, account credentials, and performance reports regularly.
Automated email marketing also nurtures the trust developed between potential leads. A step-by-step procedure of warming up the customer to your products and/or services calls for carefully measured email sequences. These email campaigns invite prospects to sign up for the newsletter or download an e-book before eventually leading them to seal the deal by clicking on affiliate links.
3. SmartLinks
Smartlinks are an efficient solution to distribute affiliate links among your affiliate marketers. This AI-powered tool generates one link that shall redirect customers to the most suitable offer, according to their needs and preferences.
A smartlink is not attached specifically to one offer only. Rather, it uses the cost-per-action (CPA) model to determine the best offer for the customer, increasing customer satisfaction and conversion rates. Smartlinks save you time in generating individual affiliate links for every offer. In addition, tracking traffic is more manageable with just one link to monitor.
4. Fraud Protection
The increase in online activity also invites many threats to online businesses, so business owners are responsible for protecting both the brand and the customers from suspicious activity.
As affiliate programs involve interactions from multiple marketing channels, it is crucial to prevent fraudulent activity from interfering with campaign performance and sales. Fraudulent activity ranges from malicious clicks and ad stuffing to domain spoofing. Manual security measures are not enough to prevent fraud from affecting your campaigns, so you must employ AI-powered fraud protection tools.
Integrating fraud protection in your affiliate marketing strategy protects the integrity of your campaign and brand. Data reflected on reports are ensured to be authentic sales and impressions.
Automation in affiliate marketing works in multiple ways to streamline the processes behind your affiliate program. These practices can be integrated with one another to make the most out of your campaigns.
Best Affiliate Marketing Automation Software to Scale Your Marketing Strategy
Services: Affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, and comprehensive automation from influencer recruitment to campaign reporting Features: Robust affiliate marketing automation software devised to streamline affiliate program management, boost outreach, and measure campaign success Industries: Various verticals from B2C to B2B Pricing: Starting at $478 Upfluence represents a new age in automation for affiliate marketing. This comprehensive platform serves as an end-to-end solution for affiliate program management, offering advanced tools and processes for seamless operations. Redefine your outreach with Upfluence’s advanced automation capabilities, making it effortless to scale initial communications, negotiate compensations, and track influencer content. With personalized outreach emails sent at scale, you get an eagle-eye view of who has opened and replied to your messages. Upfluence enables businesses to effortlessly recruit influencer affiliates. It provides affiliate contract templates and influencer outreach email templates, simplifying and expediting the hiring process. Automate product seeding and streamline communication, all under one dashboard. The platform also comes packed with powerful tools for managing your brand’s affiliate program. From sourcing your influencers to analyzing the impact of their content, Upfluence ensures you remain ahead of your affiliate marketing game. Precise sales tracking and ROI calculations are made available for every influencer and affiliate campaign, making sure you always have a clear view of your performance and results. With Upfluence, product seeding to affiliates is just a click away, promoting content generation and sales. Key Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Relationship Management, Campaign Management, Third Party Analytics, Automated Recruiting, Influencer Lifecycle Management, Team Collaboration Tools, Content Review, Campaign Reporting, Audience Analysis, E-commerce Tools, Product/Gifting Tools, Payment Processing, Social Listening, Affiliate Management, Affiliate Campaigns, Channels: Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Twitch, Tiktok, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs Services: affiliate marketing with influencers, publishers, and brand ambassadors Features: all-in-one platform for recruitment, campaign management, payment processes, data insights, and integrations Industries: Fashion and Beauty, Health and Wellness, Food and Beverage, and Home and Furnishings Pricing: Starts at $99 per month for a Professional subscription, with up to 50 monthly order conversions Refersion is a versatile affiliate marketing software trusted by more than 60,000 brands. This platform is packed with the essential tools to automate your affiliate program and drive ROI. It supports the management of campaign progress and partner performance, delivering real-time insights with a built-in reporting feature. Refersion also optimizes payments for a hassle-free transaction on your affiliates’ end. Taxes and other fees are automatically attended to, saving affiliates the trouble of deducting dues. Aside from automating affiliate marketing workflows, Refersion also introduces you to its Affiliate Recruiting Solutions, where you can connect with rockstar affiliate marketers and publishers. Refersion is not only a platform to streamline your campaigns, but it is also a network of businesses and marketers with a shared passion for revenue growth. Services: affiliate marketing, referral marketing, and automated processes from partner recruitment to rewards Features: affiliate marketing automation software tailored to grow revenue, establish partnerships, and enhance partner performance Industries: B2B, SaaS Pricing: Custom quotes for every enterprise PartnerStack simply can’t be forgotten when discussing automation. This affiliate marketing platform does all the hard work for you, leaving you with more time and energy to work on more demanding tasks. Fast-track your campaigns with automated workflows right from the get-go. PartnerStack boasts a community of B2B brands and competent affiliates. You can market your partner program on the marketplace to attract affiliates interested in taking part in your affiliate marketing journey. Automate affiliate onboarding, rewards, and branded content marketing with PartnerStack. Directly send payments from your dashboard, and motivate partners in generating more sales with tier-based rewards and private bonuses. Services: affiliate tracking, affiliate management, affiliate management, and automation Features: Affiliate software with promotional content, robust analytics, diverse tracking methods, and integrations for any affiliate program or network Pricing: Starts at $129 per month for the Pro subscription plan Post Affiliate Pro has long been supporting merchants, affiliate marketers, and networks since 2004. It boasts of flexible use cases for both affiliate programs and networks, supporting affiliate tracking, lead generation, and milestone-based bonuses. Post Affiliate Pro also features automation for a number of processes. Automate email marketing campaigns, or generate ad campaigns tailored to your audience’s interests. Post Affiliate Pro supports marketing across social media platforms, coordinating posts with ongoing campaigns to attract more leads and expand brand reach. Services: affiliate marketing, performance tracking, and management of branded content and advertising campaigns Features: Affiliate marketing control center for rich and engaging content marketing, tech integration, recurring commissions support, and automated workflows Industries: SaaS, e-Commerce, dropshipping Pricing: Starts at $89 per month with the Essential subscription plan Tapfiliate is a cloud-based platform supporting several marketing approaches, such as affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, and referral marketing. Campaign management and workflow automation are optimized to meet your preferences, from a personalized landing page and dashboard to custom commission payments. Tapfiliate supports automation for easy and stress-free management of your affiliate program. It enables the Zapier app to perform automated email triggers and webhooks. Performance bonuses and lifetime commissions are also supported by the platform, attracting premium affiliates to join your program. Services: affiliate marketing and management with performance tracking and in-depth reporting Features: diverse marketing platform to launch and scale affiliate programs, build lasting relationships, and support networks Industries: e-Commerce and B2B Pricing: Starts at $750 per month with the Core subscription plan, featuring full platform access If you’re managing an affiliate program for a big enterprise, Everflow is your best pick. This affiliate marketing software aims to generate revenue growth from step one of engaging your affiliate marketing strategy. Everflow features several functions for transparent monitoring of campaign progress. You can track potential leads and impressions, down to the individual performance of mobile partners. You can also monitor coupon codes used and reward affiliates for every sale they close. Everflow simplifies repetitive tasks with instant and automated workflows. Keep things in control, from fraud detection and payments to software integration, within minutes. Services: platform migration and automation tools for affiliate marketing programs and networks Features: flexible affiliate marketing platform with affiliate management support, fraud detection, real-time reporting for merchants and affiliate networks Industries: Direct-to-Consumer, Finance, Subscription services Pricing: Custom quotes for every enterprise Enhance your affiliate marketing journey with TUNE, the first-ever marketing software to support optimization for mobile app campaigns. TUNE supports merchants and advertising networks in automating their workflows and scaling operations. TUNE focuses on building lasting relationships with every partner. It automates technical tasks for minimal risk and tracks campaign and partner performance across devices. Affiliate partners and customers need not worry about privacy threats, as TUNE deploys an intelligent system to prevent fraudulent behavior. TUNE is among the few affiliate marketing platforms to showcase transparency In their security system.1. Upfluence
2. Refersion
3. PartnerStack
4. Post Affiliate Pro
5. Tapfiliate
6. EverFlow
7. TUNE
Grow Your Affiliate Program with the Ideal Affiliate Marketing Automation Software
Maximize operations and campaign performance without burdening more of your staff. In integrating automation for your affiliate programs, menial processes are easily taken care of by AI-powered tools. You get more time to prepare for your future campaigns, and your affiliate partners can easily keep track of their progress with an intuitive dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is affiliate marketing automation software?
Affiliate marketing automation software is any solution that streamlines the management of an affiliate marketing program for efficient operations and partner performance. Affiliate marketing automation software is implemented in several practices, such as chatbots, smartlinks, email automation and communications, and fraud protection.
Is affiliate marketing automation software available for free?
For optimal results, most automation tools are offered in tiered subscription plans. However, limited free trials are available to allow you to explore the full functionality of the software before committing to a subscription.
How does automation affect affiliate marketing?
Automation in affiliate marketing reduces workload as AI-powered tools take over tasks. Aside from improving productivity, automated workflows deliver real-time insights on campaign progress, providing you with actual data to back your decisions for the next strategy. Connections with affiliates are also secured, as automated payout schemes and incentives result in motivated partners.
What is the best affiliate marketing automation software?
Refersion provides one of the best automated workflow support in today’s market. It is a versatile platform equipped with the necessary tools to scale your campaigns and boost conversion rates. Refersion comes with an easy-to-understand dashboard for you and your affiliates to track payment, reports, and user activity.
