AFFILIATE MARKETING

6 ways inflation has impacted the affiliate marketing industry | Awin | Open Mic

Published

1 year ago

March 16, 2023

6 ways inflation has impacted the affiliate marketing industry | Awin | Open Mic

It’s nigh on impossible to ignore the word “inflation” as the world closes the chapter on Q1 2023, and for good reason. Rising inflation started its upwards trajectory in early 2021 and, at the time of writing, the UK CPIH stands at 8.8%. Whilst extraneous factors such as the Ukraine-Russia conflict have undoubtedly contributed to this monumental rise, affiliate marketing is in the unique position of having a first-hand grasp of consumer habits and trends over these two years. So what have we learned?

1. Consumers are conscious of spending

Over the course of 2022 Awin data shows consumers spent more time shopping and less time converting. Direct comparisons of the UK’s CPIH and conversion rates illustrate a clear and definitive trend. As CPIH increased, retail conversion rates slumped, most notably in October 2022, CIPH peaked at 9.6%, resulting in a sharp decline in the number of conversions. Traffic indicates consumers were still searching for products, but felt far less inclined to convert. This trend was somewhat expected, as consumers mitigated reductions in disposable income and considered product value versus price.

2. Content is king

With consumer confidence hitting an all-time low, influencers and content creators accrued great responsibility to remain authentic and relatable to their audiences. Whilst 2022/23 year-on-year performance growth can be attributed to a limited 2021 performance (as result of the pandemic), nano and micro influencers now play a greater role than ever before. The uniqueness of the influencer publisher category not only boasts a diverse creator portfolio but consists of smaller, niche influencers who have an audience base of highly engaged, highly trusting and highly influenced followers. As a result, the influencer content share on Awin’s platform between 2021 and 2022 increased from 15.5% to 17% and has not slowed in 2023.

3. Sustainability has taken a back seat

A sector that has borne the brunt of reduced consumer spending perhaps more than others is sustainability. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, performance from green-eco brands has seen a downward decline in light of increased inflation. Whilst there is evidence to support that consumers are intent on returning to their sustainable ways once the cost-of-living crisis is over, 48% of UK consumers now state that they simply cannot afford the increased associated costs that come with a sustainable lifestyle, resulting in a temporary slowdown for the up and coming industry.

4. Brands are less likely to offer discounts

Content creators and editorial affiliates are eating up the publisher vertical share, bringing into question the value and importance of discounting in 2023. With increased supplier and production costs, general trends suggest that brands are far less likely to discount overall. In fact, Awin data revealed Cyber Week retail sales in 2022 saw a 20% reduction in the number of discount code or vouchers redeemed versus 2021. Whilst retailer discounts are seemingly less prolific – especially around key periods – as margins return, discounting and promotions will undoubtedly remain an important staple in any marketer’s repertoire.

5. Affiliate remains robust in an unstable market

The cost-of-living crisis has undoubtedly introduced new challenges for marketers, however, affiliate marketing remains a growth driver. A recent UK survey that consisted of all major affiliate networks revealed how the channel is used and valued. It comes as little surprise that brands expect affiliate ad spend to grow well into 2023, given the incredibly strong ROI the channel achieves in comparison to other forms of digital marketing. The transparency of the channel and the low-risk, pay-on-performance model allows marketers to make clear and decisive decisions around spend, especially at a time of increased scrutiny of everyone’s marketing budgets.

6. Tech transforming the affiliate space

The channel has witnessed the proliferation of technology partners; an innovative, pioneering vertical driving growth throughout the cost-of-living crisis. In 2022 alone, Intent.ly, Envolve, Uniqodo, Upsellit and Revlifter generated nearly 1.5m sales across the Awin platform and saw +60% increase in sales year-on-year. To a certain extent, the current economic crisis is the perfect storm to utilize these partners; enhancing the online consumer experience by delivering personalised experiences, driving on-site interaction, increasing conversions and keeping ROI high on a low-risk performance model. With these factors considered it is unsurprising to see that technology is transforming the affiliate space.

Navigating 2023 as marketers

2023 will continue to present unprecedented challenges, and the cost-of-living crisis is unlikely to diminish anytime soon. Trends that appeared last year are likely to carry into 2024. However, marketing is in a new state of flux, whilst comparisons to the economic recession of 2008 are common and just, the world has changed dramatically. Affiliate marketing continues to diversify and strengthen its partner portfolio, prepared to ride out the inflation wave.

By Alfie Staples, global insights manager

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AFFILIATE MARKETING

Apple Adds AI Writing to iPhone 16 for Texts, Emails

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5 hours ago

September 9, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Apple Adds AI Writing to iPhone 16 for Texts, Emails

AI can write emails. AI can write songs. AI can suggest writing improvements that go beyond spelling and grammar to word choice.

As big tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple roll out their latest AI features, one use case of AI keeps coming up: AI can write. It’s sometimes so good that job seekers have asked it to write their resumes and cover letters, and new technologies have rolled out to detect AI’s presence.

Easier writing is a key selling point of Apple’s AI, Apple Intelligence, featured in the new iPhone 16 released Monday. Apple Intelligence is “built into your iPhone, iPad, and Mac to help you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly” according to its product page.

Apple said the AI can help upcoming iPhone 16 users draft emails and texts.

^{iPhone 16. Credit: Apple}

Apple isn’t the first to focus on writing as an AI use case: Google ran an ad at the Olympics last month about how its AI could write a fan letter from a child to her Olympic hero — sparking conversation about what would happen when the Olympian held a stack of fan letters that sounded the same.

“As more and more people rely on AI to generate their content, it is easy to imagine a future where the richness of human language and culture erode,” Shelly Palmer, professor of advanced media in residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications wrote in a July 28 blog post.

Though Google ended up pulling the ad after public backlash, the future the ad portrayed — of young people turning to ChatGPT instead of puzzling through how to say something themselves — is fast becoming a reality.

ChatGPT has over 200 million weekly users, over 60% of which are under 34 years old. Nearly one in three users are under 24 years old.

Research published earlier this year shows that university students who rely on ChatGPT experience poorer academic performance and memory loss. A separate study found that the top uses of ChatGPT were creating content, responding to emails, writing cover letters and resumes, and coming up with ideas.

AI opponents point out AI’s writing abilities may be based on copyrighted works used by big tech companies without credit or compensation awarded to the people who wrote these works.

“To add insult to injury, the bot is being trained on pirated copies of my books,” author Margaret Atwood wrote in a 2023 article for The Atlantic last year about the issue. “Now, really! How cheap is that? Would it kill these companies to shell out the measly price of 33 books? They intend to make a lot of money off the entities they have reared and fattened on my words, so they could at least buy me a coffee.”

AI supporters say that the anti-AI group is “classist and ableist.” The organization behind National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) defended AI writing last week, for example, by saying that “not all brains have [the] same abilities” and some need “outside help or accommodations” to write. Disabled writers took issue with the remarks, as well as NaNoWriMo sponsors, and the organization has since changed the wording of its stance and apologized.

Then there are more neutral issues with AI, like estimates that AI systems could run out of free training data within the next two years, leaving open the question of what kinds of data to use next.

AI-generated content has steadily risen to the top of Google searches, doubling from about 7% in June 2023 to 14% in June 2024.

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One $40 Payment Can Get You Lifetime Access to Microsoft Office Professional 2021

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1 day ago

September 9, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

One $40 Payment Can Get You Lifetime Access to Microsoft Office Professional 2021

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

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Get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows for just $39.97 (reg. $219) through September 29.

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Invest in Yourself with a Lifetime of StackSkills Courses for $29.97

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2 days ago

September 8, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Invest in Yourself with a Lifetime of StackSkills Courses for $29.97

As a busy professional, finding time to invest in your education can be challenging. But what if you had lifetime access to an online learning platform that lets you learn whenever and wherever you want? That’s exactly what StackSkills offers—and right now, you can get lifetime access for just $29.97 (reg. $600).

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