Beyond Traditional Affiliates : Exploring New Frontiers for Mature Programs

When traditional affiliate partnerships no longer drive significant growth, exploring new frontiers is crucial for continued growth. This pivot typically becomes necessary once you've onboarded the top partners relevant to your brand, fully optimized existing relationships, and observed performance plateaus across the affiliate channel. At this critical juncture, affiliate teams are uniquely equipped to pioneer new partnership avenues that may not fall under other marketing teams' purview.

• Mature affiliate programs must explore unconventional partnerships once traditional channels have plateaued and top publishers are fully optimized.
• Affiliate teams are uniquely positioned to own "unclaimed" marketing channels due to their experience with performance-based partnerships and external relationship management.
• Implementing new frontier opportunities requires structured pilot testing, clear success metrics, and solutions for attribution challenges that differ from traditional affiliate tracking.

Why Affiliate Teams Can Lead the Charge

Affiliate managers possess distinctive advantages that position them perfectly to explore emerging channels:

• Deep understanding of performance-based marketing models
• Extensive experience managing external partnerships
• Familiarity with diverse tracking and attribution systems
• Ability to apply the affiliate payment-for-performance model to new contexts

While traditional marketing teams typically own major advertising platforms like Google and Facebook, affiliate teams can often pilot and own "unclaimed" performance channels that offer new growth opportunities.

"Affiliate teams are experts at leveraging partnerships to meet performance-based marketing goals. This experience provides them with the tools needed to pioneer new growth opportunities and channels crucial to long-term success in a firm’s overall marketing mix, which more traditional marketing teams may overlook."

Key New Frontier Opportunities

Native Advertising Networks

Platforms like Outbrain and Taboola facilitate content promotion across publisher networks, placing sponsored content recommendations at the bottom of articles on major publishing sites.

Key considerations when exploring native advertising:

• Minimum spend commitments typically start at $25-30K
• Performance excels for content-driven acquisition strategies
• Success is reliant on consistent creative optimization
• Pricing models usually operate on a cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-lead (CPL) basis

Brands like MasterClass and Xero can benefit from native advertising's content-centric approach, while e-commerce companies like Shopify might showcase product collections through this channel. Large, reputable content publishers like BuzzFeed and Forbes often host these native placements within their articles.

Third-Party Email Acquisition

This approach involves partnering with vendors who maintain large opt-in email lists to promote offers directly to consumers' inboxes through dedicated brand emails or inclusion in curated listicles.

Companies like Madrivo and 3 West Media specialize in this space. Working with these partners often involves:

• Strongest performance for high lifetime value products/services (insurance, telecom, etc.)
• Strict compliance requirements with email regulations (CAN-SPAM)
• Higher cost-per-acquisition rates reflecting delivery costs
• Access to segmented audiences based on interests and demographics

Financial service providers like BILL and American Express might leverage these email channels to reach targeted business professionals. Publishers with strong email lists like The Penny Hoarder and Refinery29 are valuable partners that could be considered for this approach.

Card-Linked Offers (CLO)

Platforms like Cardlytics enable offers to appear within banking portals, providing unique access to validated financial consumers.

Important CLO considerations include:

• Access to verified banking customers with purchasing power
• Longer sales cycles for implementation and optimization
• Specialized reporting and tracking requirements
• Operation outside traditional partner platforms like Impact

This opportunity requires alignment with clients on measurement approaches. Specifically, CLO platforms can provide partial payment information (like the last four digits of a consumer's card), which brands can use to determine incrementality. However, without client alignment on this measurement approach, CLO may be nonviable if the partner is not integrated with tracking networks like Impact Radius.

Brands with physical locations like Target or restaurants like McDonald's can particularly benefit from card-linked offers that drive in-person purchases. Loyalty programs like Rakuten incorporate card-linked functionality to expand their offerings beyond traditional online cashback.

Reddit Advertising

While technically a social platform, Reddit often falls outside the core paid social team's focus, creating an opportunity for affiliate teams to own this channel.

Key Reddit considerations:

• Unique creative requirements for the Reddit audience
• Community-appropriate messaging is essential for success
• Various targeting options require extensive testing
• Strong performance potential in specific verticals

Reddit has historically limited intrusive advertising, but since 2023, traffic spikes from Google algorithm changes have elevated its importance. The platform continues evolving into a stronger direct response channel, particularly effective for skincare, supplements, B2B, and traditional e-commerce brands.

A service like Udacity might find Reddit's communities of knowledge seekers valuable, while technology companies like Dell could engage with Reddit's tech-savvy user base. Content publishers like Future PLC have found success creating Reddit-specific content that drives users back to their owned properties.

Retail Media Networks

These advertising platforms, built by major retailers, allow brands to show ads at the online point of sale when customers make purchases.

Considerations to note when working with retail media networks include:

• Access to retailers' valuable first-party shopping data
• Unique attribution and custom tracking approaches are often required
• Typically limited to brands that sell through that retailer

One general rule is that brands can only use these networks if they sell in those stores – for example, a software platform couldn't use Walmart's media network.

These networks represent retailers' attempts to monetize their distribution channels further, creating pure margin for retail businesses that typically operate on slim product margins. Related examples include platforms like the Yelp Audience Network, where Yelp runs both on-site and display ads using its data on behalf of other brands.

For consumer electronics brands like Philips that sell through major retailers like Target, these networks can offer targeted access to consumers actively shopping in relevant categories. Organizations like Skimlinks and Sovrn Commerce sometimes partner with retail media networks to extend their reach beyond traditional affiliate placements.

Other Emerging Opportunities

While not fully detailed in this overview, other promising frontiers include:

• Influencer Marketing: Beyond traditional affiliate relationships, working with creators like those on RewardStyle (now LTK) and ShopStyle Collective
• Podcast Advertising: Utilizing host-read promotions and direct response offers
• Connected TV: Leveraging streaming platforms for targeted advertising
• Brand Partnerships: Collaborative marketing between complementary brands

Brand partnerships, in particular, require high-level approval, dedicated creative resources, and internal champions. A smart testing approach involves creating shared landing pages with tier-two partners before approaching ideal collaboration candidates. Affiliate teams can often own partnership opportunities that aren't priorities for business development teams.

Implementation Framework

Exploring new frontiers demands a structured, methodical approach:

1. Initial Assessment

• Document channel specifications comprehensively
• Outline all associated costs and technical requirements
• Identify potential limitations and challenges
• Calculate preliminary ROI based on available data
• Assess resource requirements for proper implementation

2. Pilot Planning

• Create a detailed test framework with clear parameters
• Define specific success metrics and reporting requirements
• Ensure client alignment on measurement methodology
• Establish a defined budget and timeframe
• Set evaluation milestones and decision points

3. Execution

• Start with small, controlled tests for close monitoring
• Document all learnings and challenges thoroughly
• Maintain flexibility to adjust based on early results
• Consider incrementality and cross-channel impact

4. Scale Decision

• Evaluate results against predetermined success metrics
• Consider full-scale potential and resource requirements
• Make clear go/no-go decisions supported by data
• Prepare a comprehensive rollout plan if moving forward

"Success in new channel exploration comes from structured testing and meticulous documentation. Even opportunities without scale provide valuable insights that inform future campaigns and help identify what will ultimately work for a specific brand."

Hamster Garage's approach includes creating detailed one-pagers outlining all relevant information, coupled with tailored project management dashboards for effectively managing these complex opportunities.

Common Challenges

Attribution Complexity

• Multiple tracking methodologies requiring reconciliation
• Cross-channel attribution complications
• Measuring true incrementality
• Integration with existing reporting systems

Resource Requirements

• Technical implementation often requiring engineering support
• Pixel deployment or backend system integration
• Creative development needs ongoing attention
• Continuous optimization demands across new channels

Organizational Alignment

• Clear definition of channel ownership
• Management of cross-team dependencies
• Internal teams potentially claiming ownership
• Securing necessary approvals from multiple stakeholders
• Complex budget allocation for unproven channels

"Stakeholder alignment and buy-in are often bigger hurdles than technical requirements and implementation when it comes to effectively launching campaigns in new frontiers. Success requires clear communication about ownership, measurement, and expected outcomes before tests begin."

The Path Forward

While exploring new frontiers requires more effort than traditional affiliate partnerships, it becomes necessary for continued program growth once conventional channels reach maturity. Success depends on careful planning, transparent success metrics, and strong cross-functional collaboration.

Start with well-defined pilots, document everything meticulously, and remain adaptable based on results. Remember that not every new frontier will succeed, but the learning process itself builds valuable institutional knowledge. This learning lays the foundation for more successful future pilots, strengthens your affiliate program, and establishes your team as innovation leaders within the organization.