Paid Content in Commerce: Driving Advertising Revenue through Affiliate

Key takeaways: 

• Affiliate opportunities have proliferated to all content types 
• There are key strategic and tactical differences for publishers when considering branded content versus affiliate revenue
• This article provides case studies from Walmart, Mashable and Digital Trends. 

As advertisers began expanding their affiliate strategies beyond the coupon and cashback channels that captured the bulk of marketing budgets in the early days of affiliate, they quickly discovered the long tail value and tactical levers of investing in content. For content publishers, affiliate evolved from a backfill capability to a multi-faceted business that would not only transform their editorial strategies but also diversify their advertising revenue channels.

Affiliate serves as the heatmap of opportunity for both, the publisher and advertiser. The rich purchasing and behavioral data provide the signals that influence ad spend, tactics, and long-term strategy on both sides, and it’s the convergence of these that is uniquely evident in a commerce content campaign.