Affiliate marketing is a type of digital marketing in which individuals promote products by sharing a special link to a product page. Whenever a customer purchases a product through that link, the promoter (affiliate) earns a commission.
Affiliate marketing and sales involve driving not just product clicks but actual conversions, where affiliates can earn fixed commissions based on the number of sales or a percentage of value purchased.
This strategy has become a popular way for influencers, bloggers, and content creators to monetize their platforms, offering customers exclusive discounts through their affiliate links while also earning a profit for every successful sale.
However, there are some challenges. Affiliate marketers and sales professionals can face issues like losing track of their commissions, improper tracking, or missing out on their rightful earnings. Let's explore tools that can help.
HTML Encoder
First things first, you need an HTML encoder. Now, what is an encoder? And why do you need it?
HTML encoding is the technique of converting special characters in URLs and links into an encoded form. The encoded form looks different from the actual URL. However, the server or computer that has to deal with it can decode it back into its original form.
But the question remains: why do we need encoding in the first place? Well, the thing is that HTML–the language used to create a website’s front end–has special characters. They perform special functions within the language. These characters include:
- Ampersand (&): %26
- Less than (<): %3C
- Greater than (>): %3E
- Double quotation mark ("): %22
- Apostrophe ('): %27
As you can see, their encoded forms are the percentage sign followed by a combination of numbers and letters. The encoding of these special characters ensures that your affiliate link (URL) is interpreted correctly by the browser and server.
Not encoding the link would result in improper interpretation which means that your affiliate link will not work. Thus, you would lose out on profits. So, use an HTML URL encoder whenever you are providing your affiliate link on any platform.
Affiliate Tracking Software
Affiliate tracking software suites help affiliate marketers learn how successful their campaigns are. They do this by tracking how many people visited the web page with the affiliate link and how many clicked on it.
There are a variety of techniques that can be used to track a person’s activity online. These techniques are used by affiliate tracking software to measure everything we listed.
So, how does the process work? Well, it all starts with the marketer's unique tracking ID. This ID is present in their affiliate link. When a customer clicks on said link, the affiliate tracking software logs the clicker’s IP address and browser info.
It also saves a cookie on the clicker’s browser. This cookie stores the tracking ID, time stamp, and other relevant data related to the affiliate link. If the clicker makes a conversion using the affiliate link, the cookie links the information together and reports it to the software. The tracking software then works out the value of the sale and how much commission is owed to the affiliate marketer.
Without such software, it would be very unwise to do affiliate marketing as it could result in inaccurate tracking and incorrect payouts.
Commission tracking software
Businesses value the hard work of our affiliate marketers and ensure that every sale they drive is accurately tracked and rewarded. To achieve this, you can use commission tracking software that automates commission calculation in real-time.
ElevateHQ, is a leading commission software that can handle complex commission structures, whether it's tiered payouts, recurring sales, or unique deals. By integrating with invoice and payment platforms, we make the process seamless, from sale to payout.
QR Codes
Affiliate marketing can benefit a lot from QR codes. We previously discussed an issue that requires HTML encoding to solve. The problem was that long links can be hard to type and remember.
With QR codes, this problem can be alleviated in a different way. Platforms like Uniqode allow marketers to create dynamic QR codes that can store all kinds of information. Affiliate marketers can use them to store their affiliate links.
Then, they can place those QR codes in conspicuous places accompanied by a CTA. Their customers can scan the QR code to follow the affiliate link.
Not only is this approach more intuitive, it is also easier to track. You can easily track how many times a QR code was scanned, by which device, and from what IP address.
This information can be used in tandem with affiliate tracking software to double-check the data.
SEO Tools
Affiliate marketing is heavily dependent on SEO. That’s because you want a lot of people to find the content where you have posted your affiliate links. If nobody is finding the content, then the link is all but useless.
That’s why SEO is necessary. With optimal SEO, any kind of content can be ranked on the SERPs. The higher the ranking, the better. So, what kind of SEO tools can help with affiliate marketing?
Well, the short answer is that any SEO suite will be beneficial. However, if you want a more specific answer, then it is given below.
- Keyword research tools. These tools help to identify keywords that are most in demand. By making content incorporating these keywords, you can make sure that your content will show up in more searches.
- Content optimization tools. A huge part of SEO is about optimizing your content. This typically means that your content is readable and understandable by a large audience and that it incorporates appropriate keywords. Equally important is managing this content efficiently, and cloud content management makes it easier by providing centralized access and seamless collaboration.
These are the most useful ones. However, other tools, such as competition analyzers which tell you what keywords and content your competition is using to rank, are also good.
Anyway, the point is that to succeed in affiliate marketing, you need to have a solid SEO game.
Link Cloaking Tools
Affiliate links have a tendency to become very long. Long links are more prone to errors. They are also way harder to remember. So, a savvy affiliate marketer needs to employ link-cloaking tools to shorten their affiliate links.
A shortened link is much easier to track, harder to mess up, and easier to remember. The original link is not gone. In fact, the cloaked link sneakily links back to the original one, but the end user does not realize that.
Here’s the down low on how link cloaking works if you are interested.
- Redirection: When a user clicks the cloaked link, they are silently redirected to the original affiliate link using a 301 or 302 redirect, which ensures proper tracking by the affiliate network.
- Masking: The cloaking process hides the affiliate ID and tracking information from the URL visible to users, which can increase trust and click-through rates.
- Branding: Cloaked links typically use the affiliate's domain or custom URL structure, allowing for more consistent branding and less suspicion from users about being redirected to an unknown site.
So, there you have it: how link cloakers help with affiliate marketing.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is a handy way of earning some side income if you are an influencer or content creator. It supplements the somewhat inconsistent income of ad placements in content because if the product is good and people trust you, they will buy it through your link. Just make sure that by using the listed tools, you are making the most out of your affiliate marketing campaign.
