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I’ve always believed that it’s vital to see what’s come before if you hope to innovate. The same goes for affiliate marketing. If you want to build a campaign that truly makes a splash, then you need to know what’s working and why!
Let’s deep dive into some of the most successful affiliate programs that are operating today and see what can be learned from them.
Fiverr
Fiverr is the place to be if you’re a freelancer, and their affiliate program really highlights how unique each and every affiliate and seller they work with is. They reward their affiliates for promoting everything from online courses and workspace plans to individual services offered by their freelancers.
One of the most potent inclusions is how affiliates can choose exactly how they get rewarded. Either a fixed payout for each new customer or on commission. This puts their team in control of their own experience.
With a target audience as broad as freelancers, Fiverr has mastered the art of versatility.
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Terms - With a separate payment plan for nearly every service, affiliates can earn anywhere from $15 - $150 per new customer. They also offer a 10% revenue share over 12 months
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - If someone makes a purchase up to 30 days after clicking your link, you earn a commission
- Marketing Materials - There’s a plethora of creative materials for affiliates, including banners, GIFs, videos, emails, and more.
Conclusion and Recommendation
This kind of flexibility is a must if your offerings are as diverse as Fiverr’s. However, if your business is more straightforward, this might move into overkill territory.
Complexity for its own sake is never helpful, but make sure you give your affiliates a little bit of control over their experience.
Spocket
As a drop-shipping platform for entrepreneurs, Spocket knows that their user base has a lot on their plate. That’s why they focus on making their affiliate program as easy and fun as possible.
With an easy 3-step process for getting started, monthly gamified “challenges”, and lifetime commissions, their affiliates know they are getting a lot of bang for their time.
They also offer priority customer support and early updates to their team, so it’s almost easier to be an affiliate than not!
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Terms - Commissions continue for a lifetime and are tiered. Affiliates start by making 20% commissions, raising to 25% and 30% at 100 conversions and 1000 conversions respectively
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - If someone makes a purchase up to 90 days after clicking your link, you earn a commission
- Marketing Materials - Spocket offers a variety of marketing materials. Again, the goal is ease of use.
Conclusion and Recommendation
If your company sells big-ticket items or services to a highly motivated user base, this kind of ease and high payout would be a great way to mobilize them.
With time and resources to make it as simple as possible for people with quick sign-up, marketing materials, and long-lasting commissions, you’ll be able to attract a powerful group of affiliates.
However, if your user base is less entrepreneurial, or your company isn’t rooted in a “rise and grind” mentality, this might not be for you.
Amazon
As one of the biggest affiliate program examples in the biz, Amazon wrote the book on a smooth and successful campaign. I want to focus in on their Amazon Influencer program, as it provides a great example of how to work with content creators.
By creating a unique URL for each affiliate, they allow team members to customize their recommendations and tailor them to the people they attract. This allows creators to have a little pocket of influence, causing a higher conversion rate.
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Terms - Amazon has a tired commission scale, with affiliates earning anywhere from 1% to 20% on sales.
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - Because of the nature of their business, Amazon’s cookies only last for 24 hours
- Marketing Materials - Influencers already have a built-in audience, and they know how to engage with them to get results. This means that Amazon doesn’t provide them with significant marketing materials
Conclusion and Recommendation
Influencers know their audience better than anyone, and giving them control over what they promote and how can let your company tap into that power.
However, if your business has a very defined niche or rapport with your customers, giving this kind of freedom to your affiliates might lead to confusion and more trouble than it’s worth.
Skillshare
Skillshare’s core user base is focused on learning as much as they can. They cover a huge variety of topics from photography to writing to accounting. They have very specific requirements for their affiliates, partially because one of the perks of being an affiliate is free access to their entire course library.
To become an affiliate with Skillshare, you must have a dedicated following related to the brand, such as a blog, YouTube channel, or Facebook group. Once you can prove that you have this, you can access the library to find what will appeal to your followers.
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Turns - Skillshare uses a simple commission system where affiliates earn 40% of the revenue for each new customer that signs up, up to $67.
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - If someone makes a purchase up to 30 days after clicking your link, you earn a commission
- Marketing Materials - Skillshare doesn’t have a whole lot of promotional materials, but they do allow their affiliates full access to their library to find courses that would appeal to their base.
Conclusion and Recommendation
When your business is information-based like Skillshare’s, handing out your entire library for free to anyone who wants to become an affiliate can be scary.
However, if you take the time to vet your potential affiliates, this method can not only attract high-quality partners but also make sure they are effective at selling the service to their followers.
Leadpages
As a company that focuses on generating leads, Leadpages understands how powerful affiliate marketing can be. That’s why they are so focused on keeping affiliates excited and engaged.
With a wildly generous commission (up to 50%), contestants running for affiliates all the time, and exclusive deals and packages for top performers to promote, there’s a lot of incentive for their team to stay on top of their game.
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Terms - Commissions are on a sliding scale from 10% when bringing in $0-49 to 40% and 50% when bringing in $50 - 2999 and $3000+ respectively
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - Leadpages cookies last for 30 days
- Marketing Materials - Each Affiliate has a dashboard that includes content and webinars that they can share
Conclusion and Recommendation
Leadpages focuses wholly on supporting and rewarding their affiliates. By providing gamified contests and rewards that make gaining commissions easier the more you do it, they encourage their affiliates to keep coming back for more.
This works great for companies that rely heavily on their affiliates as a source of income and also helps instill loyalty and trust in their partners.
AWeber
AWeber is one of the most trusted names in email marketing, and their affiliate program reflects it. They provide continuous support for their affiliates, including a playbook for them to follow.
Lifetime commissions encourage people to bring in high-quality referrals that will renew subscriptions again and again.
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Terms - Affiliates earn 30% every time someone they referred renews their subscription
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - AWeber offers a crazy 1-year cookie length, allowing time for customers to make the big decisions related to B2B sales
- Marketing Materials - They provide video ads, banners, and continual training to keep their affiliates at the top of their game
Conclusion and Recommendation
AWeber has a unique affiliate program, and their focus on providing support for affiliates makes them stand out from the competition.
They also provide some incentives for affiliates to keep pushing for more referrals, and their lifetime commission rewards encourage high-quality referrals that will keep coming back.
Unbounce
Unbounce helps customers create eye-catching landing pages, and their affiliate program is equally as eye-catching. They use a two-pronged reward system, where the affiliate and the new customer are incentivized to close the deal.
Anyone who joins through a link gets exclusive discounts and offers. Affiliates are paired up with a dedicated coach to answer any questions and keep them on the cutting edge.
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Terms - 20% every time a person renews
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - Cookies last 90 days, and the time re-sets every time someone clicks the link
- Marketing Materials - Affiliates can access both a wealth of marketing materials and training opportunities. They even have a dedicated coach to answer any questions that might come up
Conclusion and Recommendation
Unbounce’s approach to their affiliate program is simple but effective. Incentivizing both the affiliate and the customer makes it easier for affiliates to close sales by giving them an edge with exclusive offers.
The addition of dedicated coaches also ensures that affiliates know exactly what they’re doing and what to expect. This is a great approach for companies who are working with new affiliates, as it offers a dependable source of advice and support.
Urikar
Urikar is a health and fitness brand that was able to grow tremendously through its use of targeted affiliates.
Although they have a lower commission rate, they focus on bringing on affiliates with large followings in the fitness sphere, meaning that their payouts rack up fast.
They also offer a longer-than-average cookie duration, giving affiliates lots of time to earn.
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Terms - Affiliates receive 10% for every single sale made through their link
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - Cookies last for 90 days, meaning potential customers have a full three months to decide to buy
- Marketing Materials - Urikar provides banners, newsletters, coupons, and special deals for their affiliates to show off.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Urikar has seen tremendous success by targeting influencers and offering them incentives to promote their products. By focusing on affiliates with large followings, they can drive more sales and reach more customers.
Businesses with a specific niche like this should look out for partners with a voice that people are already listening to.
Semrush
As a business that specializes in SEO tools, Semrush knows exactly how to get attention. They offer rewards at every step of the customer journey, keeping affiliates invested in their referrals long-term.
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Terms - Affiliates earn $200 for each full subscription, $10 for each free trial, and $0.01 for every new sign-up that happens through their link
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - Semrush’s cookies last 120 days, reflecting the length of time that it might take a person to go through every step of the customer pipeline
- Marketing Materials - Banners, emails, and promotional materials give all of Semrush’s affiliates a unified look
Conclusion and Recommendation
Semrush is a great example of how to incentivize affiliates and keep them engaged.
By offering a generous commission rate and additional rewards for keeping customers around, they ensure that not only will they get a one-time commission, but they keep earning more and more as their customers stay with the company.
This is a great model for businesses that rely on customer retention, like subscription-based services.
Teachable
Teachable is a platform that allows anyone to create and launch their own online courses. Their affiliate dashboard is easy to understand and navigate, giving users everything they need to track their progress and earnings.
Additionally, they offer monthly updates so that their affiliates are always on top of what's new on the platform.
Program Details
- Commission Rates and Payment Terms - Commissions are on a sliding scale, but usually people will receive 30% of lifetime sales from a referral
- Cookie Duration and Attribution - Teachable’s cookies last 30 days, giving customers a full month to decide to make a purchase
- Marketing Materials - Teachable provides marketing language that has worked time and time again for their affiliates as well as monthly updates to share with their following
Conclusion and Recommendation
Teachable is a great example for companies that want to focus on keeping their affiliates engaged and updated. By offering monthly updates and a comprehensive dashboard, they make it easy for their affiliates to stay on top of their progress and earnings.
This encourages loyalty and trust, and it also helps them to keep their affiliate program active and successful.
The Bottom Line
Every business - and therefore every referral program - is going to be unique. However, when it comes to motivating people to bring in new customers, there are a few things that are always the same.
You want to give your affiliates the feeling of control over their own work while still providing a united front. Having an exciting commission doesn’t hurt, but it can also be enticing to offer exclusive deals or access to your team.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure you take into account your niche and the way your customers want to be interacted with. It’s important that you stay organized and personal.
If you’re worried about keeping everything straight, don’t be! ReferralHero has your back to get all the logistics figured out. All you have to do is find the perfect affiliates for you, and figure out how to dive a little deeper with them!
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