There’s so much that goes into crafting an effective channel strategy.
Assessing past campaign performance, setting KPIs, evaluating industry trends, defining your target audience.
But one of the most important (and most overlooked) parts of this process is analyzing affiliate insights.
Your channel partners are your key connection to local consumers. Without assessing their marketing efforts, you’re missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.
That’s why we analyzed 146,832 data points and surveyed 3,192 local affiliates to uncover the top 3 affiliate marketing stats you need to inform your channel marketing strategy in 2024.
Keep reading to get all the insights, or dive into The State of Local Marketing series for more data-driven takeaways.
1. Emphasize the Value of Marketing
Though your affiliates sell your brand, their priorities are a lot different than yours.
As local business owners, marketing isn’t always the first thing on their minds — and at times, it’s pretty low on their list. As a result, they use their revenue to fund other things, like hiring more employees, buying new equipment, or investing in store maintenance and repairs.
Local affiliates who view marketing as a low-importance task only invest 2.4% of their annual revenue in their marketing efforts. On the other hand, partners who see marketing as the most important factor put a whopping 5.7% toward marketing.
That’s an 81% difference.
To get your affiliates to invest in local marketing, you need to help them understand the value of these efforts. Try creating informative resources like case studies and email campaigns to clue them in on the importance of marketing. Getting your affiliates on board could be the difference between subpar results and a record-breaking year.
2. Increase Partner Marketing Savvy
Investing in your partners’ marketing savvy is another strategy that should be top of mind for you this year.
Why?
Because affiliates with high marketing savvy experience 44% more revenue growth than unsavvy affiliates.
Marketing savvy is one of the many elements that make up a partner’s marketing maturity. It’s a measure of your affiliates’ overall marketing knowledge based on their campaign planning capabilities, marketing efforts, and understanding of marketing channels.
So, how do you increase your partners’ marketing prowess?
You can start by providing them with:
- Educational resources: Share videos, infographics, articles, and more to give your affiliates a better grasp of local marketing.
- Training programs: Set your affiliates up with training courses to give them a hands-on learning experience.
- Marketing guidance: AI-powered recommendation engines and virtual assistants deliver data-driven marketing recommendations to guide your affiliates toward the most effective tactics.
Get your hands on even more data by reading The State of Local Marketing series.
3. Show Affiliates Your Commitment
Affiliate satisfaction matters when it comes to your local marketing.
Because the more satisfied your partners are with their marketing programs, the more revenue they’ll drive.
And perceived corporate commitment is a huge contributor to partner satisfaction.
Of affiliates who perceive corporate as not committed to their marketing programs, only 12% are satisfied with these programs. Of affiliates who feel that corporate is fully committed to their success, 81% are satisfied. That’s a 575% difference!
If your affiliates don’t think you’re committed to their success, why would they commit themselves to you? Local marketing is a two-way street.
That’s why you need to prove yourself to your partners — show them you take their marketing programs seriously and are willing to invest in their success.
Here’s how to do it:
- Invest in user-friendly technologies: Nobody wants to deal with slow, glitchy, or complex technologies — including your affiliates. Ensure your marketing solutions are modern, high-functioning, and easy-to-use.
- Offer marketing funds: You can encourage your affiliates to promote your brand by providing them with marketing dollars. That way, they don’t have to use money out of their own pockets.
- Minimize complex processes: The more involved your marketing processes are, the more frustrated your affiliates will be. Make sure to pare down processes that require too much time or effort on your affiliates’ part, like lengthy co-op submissions or asset creation.
- Incentivize marketing activities: SPIFFs and incentives are a great way to gain favor with affiliates while motivating them to market. These programs push partners to sell specific products in exchange for rewards like gift cards and merchandise.
Elevate Your Marketing Channel Strategy
Now, you have the stats (and insights) you need to take you to the finish line.
As you perfect your channel marketing strategy, remember to emphasize the value of marketing to your partners, help them boost their marketing savvy, and show your commitment.
Dig into the full State of Local Marketing series for even more data-driven insights to drive your local marketing success.
And don’t forget to subscribe to The State of Local Marketing newsletter to get fresh, new data every month.
