Affiliate Marketing or Influencer Marketing | Which Is Better for You?

In today's very competitive market, brands that want to succeed, generate revenue, and expand their consumer base must incorporate influencer or affiliate marketing into their overall marketing plan.

67% of firms intend to raise their influencer marketing expenses, per a poll conducted by Influencer Marketing Hub.

However, not every brand is the same, and neither are the marketing techniques that they decide to employ. Even while the two marketing tactics work similarly, there are some significant distinctions between affiliate and influencer marketing that, depending on the objectives of the brand, may make one a better fit.

Today, we'll go over the essentials and discuss the significance, parallels, and discrepancies between these two marketing approaches as well as how they might support brands.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the process by which an affiliate joins an affiliate program that a company offers to promote its goods or services in exchange for a reward. These programs are typically found on affiliate marketing networks or platforms like Refersion.

The affiliate then uses a special affiliate link that the brand provides to promote the goods or services, increasing traffic to the business's website. The affiliate gets a portion of the sale (commission) if the traffic includes leads who buy the good or service.

From a commercial standpoint, it's an extremely profitable marketing tactic. The hiring of affiliates through third-party organizations that only receive fees after successful transactions effectively grows the brand's marketing staff.

What Are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for Brands?

By utilizing affiliate marketing, brands can reach new loyal customers in new audience markets they previously had no access to. According to a recent report by Awin, 37% of online shoppers made their first purchase from a brand using an affiliate link.

Additionally, the initial investments are minimal for brands looking to start an affiliate marketing program. Brands only pay their affiliates after successful purchases. This means that brands can effectively partner with multiple affiliates to promote their products and services at no added costs.

The customizable commission structures for affiliates are another benefit for brands that need flexibility. There are various commission structures in affiliate marketing programs, such as pay-per-purchase, pay-per-lead, or even per-click. Brands only spend money on guaranteed results by paying per-purchase.

Additionally, if brands want to incentivize affiliates even further, they can set up bonuses or tier-structured commissions based on performance. On the other hand, brands looking to simply drive brand awareness and exposure can pay affiliates commissions per-click to their website.

What Are the Disadvantages of Affiliate Marketing for Brands?

Although the benefits of running an affiliate marketing program are plentiful, there are things that brands should be mindful of.

For starters, brands can experience inconsistent results if they partner with multiple affiliates while not utilizing all the features and data that reputable affiliate networks offer. Additionally, if brands aren’t running their affiliate marketing programs on robust and respected affiliate networks, they run the risk of encountering fraudulent affiliate practices.

For example, this can be in the form of fraudulent bot traffic that imitates user clicks on affiliate links or purchases made using stolen credit card information that are then refunded or canceled at a later date.

What Is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is when brands work with creators (influencers) to endorse or promote their products in exchange for payment. Influencers have a dedicated social media following and are often seen as industry experts in a given niche. Promotions and endorsements often come in the form of branded content and sponsored posts on the influencers’ social media accounts.

Influencer marketing works because today’s consumers trust influencers much more than faceless brands. Influencers have taken the time and effort to build up trust with their followers, so their product endorsements hold much more value to today’s consumers.

What Are the Advantages of Influencer Marketing for Brands?

According to a report by Shopify, an 61% of consumers have purchased something recommended by an influencer. By partnering with the right influencers, brands can reach new and relevant audiences.

Brands can also save time as they don’t need to provide any content, as influencers know what resonates with their followers. Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for building trust and credibility that brands can use to raise brand awareness, reach new customers, and drive sales.

Brands on a budget can also benefit by working with micro-influencers that generally charge less than your average Facebook or Instagram sponsored post.

What Are the Disadvantages of Influencer Marketing for Brands?

Brands that partner with the wrong influencers can do more harm than good to both their sales and brand image. For example, if brands partner with influencers running too many promotions with too many brands, their efforts can come off as inauthentic. Also, though partnering with micro-influencers can be affordable, collaborating with respected influencers can be quite costly.

For brands, affiliate and influencer marketing present countless opportunities and advantages. Choosing the one that works best for you as a company will be made easier if you are aware of your aims.

Whichever option you select, Refersion simplifies and streamlines the management and tracking of your affiliate and/or influencer marketing campaigns. Our objective is to increase your sales and brand recognition while offering you all the assistance you require along the journey.

Speak with a Refersion professional right now to learn why Refersion powers affiliate networks for more than 19,000 merchants and Fortune 500 corporations.