100 affiliate partnerships changing the game

One of the affiliate industry’s biggest challenges is finding new avenues for growth. Savvy professionals are already working with traditional partnerships and employing common tactics. But where can we learn about the best new approaches defying conventions to achieve the extraordinary?

Last year, Awin released its inaugural Awin Report Power 100 – an industry-first publication profiling 100 of the most exciting affiliate partnerships available on our global platform across every market and sector. And today we’ve released our updated 2023 Power 100, continuing to celebrate the diversity that now exists in performance partnerships by further highlighting 100 unique and innovative partners that should be on your radar. 

So what can you find in the new Awin Report? Five success stories that provide vivid examples of what innovative partnerships, sound strategies and expert execution can bring to your affiliate program. 

Enjoy a taste of those success stories below, and then register for your copy of the Awin Report Power 100 to uncover all insights.  

TopCashback’s Green Cashback creates “positive future” for ethical consumers and our planet

Shoppers increasingly want to minimize environmental impact and help build a more

sustainable world by choosing green products. TopCashback launched its ‘Green Cashback’ initiative to help consumers support ethical brands while also indulging their love of cashback.

Green Cashback is a critical element of TopCashback’s corporate sustainability commitments. It researches each potential brand partner and leverages an independent third-party business database to verify sustainability credentials. Once approved, each participating brand has a profile page on Green Cashback that prominently features its company track record and the critical components of its eco-commitment.

Hundreds of brands use Green Cashback to drive awareness and loyalty with TopCashback’s 5M+ member audience. To give just one example, natural deodorant brand Wild drove 28% sales growth in just one quarter as part of Green Cashback. Learn more about Green Cashback and other partners focused on ethical ecommerce in the Awin Report Power 100.

gen.video and HP employ data-driven influencer marketing tactics to produce 232% return on ad spend

Many brands are actively leveraging influencers for affiliate sales. While creators’ top-of-funnel impact is well documented, some retailers find it challenging to drive substantial direct sales. A few have succeeded, but most are still trying to crack the nut.

gen.video is an innovative influencer platform that connects the dots between creators and direct sales so performance-based revenue agreements work for everyone. Its platform enables retailers to identify and closely collaborate with influencers who create content focused on reasons to buy. Additional tools make it easy for advertisers to download and distribute creator-developed assets in other channels and venues, which expands reach, boosts direct sales and gives influencers more commissions.

HP’s experience offers an excellent example of how gen.video works. The brand connected with authoritative gamer voices through the gen.video platform to promote its premium gaming PC lines. Hand-chosen creators built long-form assets showcasing many advanced features and reasons to buy. From there, the platform enabled broadscale, multi-channel distribution, driving 500%+ month-over-month sales increases. 

Get all the details on gen.video and other performance-focused influencer solutions expanding the definition of ‘affiliate’ in the Awin Report Power 100. 

Soreto and Ann Summers use incentivized brand referrals for 3x revenue growth

Every marketer understands the value in customers recommending their brands to friends. It’s an incredibly powerful and efficient avenue for growth based on social proof. Of course, the challenge is getting enough of those brand believers to take the time to do it.

Soreto is an innovative tech partner that radically scales referral marketing by rewarding customers when they spread the word. With Soreto, buyers receive a pop-up offer just after they purchase on a retailer’s website or app, asking them to share the brand plus a special offer with their friends across social. In exchange, they get a discount for their next purchase. Soreto tools make sharing to multiple social platforms simple and easy. Brands get exposure to new audiences and first-time customers while boosting customer loyalty and LTV.

Soreto’s work with lingerie merchant Ann Summers offers a great snapshot of this tech in action. While some Ann Summers customers were already sharing their purchases and recommendations without help, partnering with Soreto increased the share rate by more than 50%, tripled the average conversion rate and drove a 3x increase in channel sales. Discover more about Soreto and other game-changing tech partners accelerating innovations in the Awin Report Power 100.

Student Price Card and The Body Shop employ online-to-offline promotions to drive $70,000+ sales

Regional partners are an excellent way for advertisers to increase local market share. Student Price Card (SPC) is a powerful example of such a partner. 

SPC is a discount program for Canadian college students. With a membership community of more than 1.3m Canadian students, SPC offers discounts at 450+ participating brick-and-mortar retailers. Students learn about offers in a dedicated mobile app. SPC gives brands a way to deliver offers without exposing those discounts to others. 

What SPC delivered for The Body Shop is a great example of its model in action. The global personal care brand worked with SPC to test a campaign aimed at generating in-store sales through the affiliate channel. Together using an exclusive code that could only be redeemed in store, SPC drove 2,600+ transactions and $70,000+ in brick-and-mortar sales for The Body Shop by leveraging its audience of engaged student shoppers

Find out more about SPC and other regional affiliate marketing experts in the Awin Report Power 100. 

iGraal and Freshly Cosmetics’ use cashback to generate +47% revenue in a new market

Last but not least, today’s well-rounded affiliate marketing ecosystem includes some of the largest and multi-disciplinary publishers – not only within affiliate, but as titans of industry in their own right. With widespread reach and influence internationally, these partners are safe bets for brands looking to expand their businesses into new locales through the channel.

Freshly Cosmetics, a brand committed to delivering top-quality natural cosmetics backed by science, was looking to gain a foothold in the Spanish market. With ambitious targets to meet, Freshly Cosmetics needed a partner that could deliver the volume and the knowhow to rapidly grow and take market share within new regions.

Global Savings Group’s cashback partner iGraal is one such publisher that could make this happen. Working together with Freshly Cosmetics, the two businesses collaborated on a landmark commission structure that would boost growth through cashback and make an immediate impact on Spanish consumers.

To standout in the highly competitive cosmetics and beauty categories, Freshly Cosmetics set an aggressive cashback rate combined with sitewide flash sales to captivate members. This provided a market-leading incentive that boosted the brand’s share within the vertical and generated strong revenue growth as well as higher basket values. iGraal extensively supported the campaign with premium placements on-site and inclusions in their own exposure initiatives such as the influencer-driven iGraal Days. 

Learn more about iGraal and other global partners in the Awin Report Power 100.

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Every affiliate leader faces challenging business goals in 2023. Fortunately, there are now innovative partners and approaches available to address every challenge and expand the scope of your programs to deliver results. These five stories merely scratch the surface of the innovation possible. 

At Awin, we deliver every brand a carefully architected mix of proven partnerships and innovative publishers and technologies to drive the best results. Our advanced technology and diverse partnership platform provides the foundation for expert-led growth to hit your goals. After you download the new Awin Report Power 100, please get in touch. We’d love to discuss accelerating your performance in this critical business year with Awin. 

About the Author

Alexandra Forsch, President Americas

Alexandra Forsch is a seasoned online marketing professional with over 20 years of experience and a proven record of outperforming corporate goals through strategic planning, account acquisition and management, innovation, staff development and project executions. Alex has a strong background in performance marketing, media planning and buying, online marketing solutions, strategic and financial planning, team building and client relations. She started her journey with at Awin in 2011 as head of account management for buy.at and quickly progressed to lead the full North America operation. In 2019, Alex was appointed president of all US operations for Awin and its partner platform ShareASale, with goals to expand upon the strategic solutions offered to clients across North America. And in 2023, Alex was named president of all Awin operations across North and South America to help expand the successes seen across the US into the LATAM market.

About Awin

Awin is a marketing technology platform, providing an open marketplace for businesses to create any type of acquisition partnership. Its 270,000+ active partners operating across a million-plus websites  – including traditional affiliates, global mass media houses, trusted micro-influencers and innovative fintech businesses – enable advertisers to generate more sales, expand customer reach and strengthen their brand. Retailers that migrate to Awin from competitor platforms experience triple-digit affiliate program growth and a 63% uplift in revenue. In addition to leading the way with its reach, Awin’s award-winning technology and tools – including first-party tracking, multi-channel attribution and in-app tracking – ensure a program tracks all sales, making it optimally attractive for partners to want to promote.

Connect with Awin or follow on social for more insights and ideas on how to drive more revenue to your online business.

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