SEO

A Complete Guide To B2B Multitouch Attribution Models

Published

2 years ago

June 2, 2022

A Complete Guide To B2B Multitouch Attribution Models

Executives have always desired a “single source of truth” to measure marketing effectiveness and avoid wasted ad spending.

John Wanamaker famously said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

While today’s data-driven marketers have untold access to data and metrics, the question is still as valid today as it was in John’s day

Which marketing activities contribute to the bottom line – and which ones do not?

Each online platform – be it Instagram, Facebook ads, Google Ads, LinkedIn, or YouTube – wants you to spend more money with it.

But it is not always possible to gain the full picture of accurate marketing performance.

Thankfully for us marketers, multi-touch (or multi-funnel) attribution may be the solution.

A multi-touch attribution model (MTA) enables you to understand each touchpoint’s role in creating a new customer.

This shows you what to leverage to boost performance and hit growth targets.

That’s why it is so important to gain a complete picture since every touchpoint a customer has with your brand can influence their decision to convert.

Once you understand which touchpoints result in conversions, you can better allocate your budgets to similar touchpoints in the future and reduce funds from less effective ones.

First, How Does Multi-Touch Attribution Work?

Multi funnel attribution – also known as multi-touch attribution – is a way to measure conversions.

It considers every touchpoint in the customer marketing journey and gives tribute to each channel to show the value of each touchpoint.

The challenge most marketers face is which channel or touchpoint to credit and how much to credit each touchpoint for the conversion.

In the graph showing a customer journey above, should the Facebook ad (first touchpoint) get all the credit, the Google paid-search ad (last), or all of them?

We’ll take you through all the attribution models to better understand how you could shape your measurements.

What Is Multi-touch Attribution?

Multi-touch attribution models refer to those that evaluate and weigh the impact of several touchpoints, not all attribution models.

As a result, they only consider the first or last touchpoint encountered before a conversion rather than every touchpoint encountered throughout the sales cycle.

What Multi Funnel Attribution Is Not

An easy way to understand multi-touch attribution is to compare it with other attribution models.

It Is Not First-Touch Attribution

Under the first-touch attribution model, the initial marketing touchpoint of a campaign before a closed sale is given full credit for the sale. This is where awareness marketing campaigns get credit for triggering a sale at the top of the funnel.

This may be useful for niche situations, but it gives no attention to the middle or bottom of the funnel activities.

However, this can be useful as companies prepare themselves for when there are no 3rd party cookies in the future, and other metrics – such as the first point of contact – need to be tracked.

It Is Not Last-Touch Attribution

In this model, the final touchpoint that has been interacted with before a closed lead is given full sales credit.

Last-touch attribution seems to be used more frequently than first-touch.

This attribution method is primarily concerned with the end stage of the customer journey and doesn’t focus on top or mid-funnel activities.

Why Adopt A Multi-touch Attribution Approach For B2B Marketing

Since you sell to companies, not individuals, you need more of an account-based attribution model rather than focused purely on the individual.

While some B2B transactions are conducted as B2C transactions, most B2B attributions need you to consider the many stakeholders in your buying journey to the account level.

These stakeholders are responsible for determining whether the company will buy from you.

Companies, Not Individuals

It is easy to lose sight that B2B means that you sell products or services to companies, not individuals.

The buying process includes users, decision-makers, stakeholders, and other advisers, but ultimately a company has to decide whether to pay another company for its solutions.

However, account-level or not, their journey will mirror the consumer’s.

Your brand and product are still going to be researched and engaged across all your different channels, including:

Website.
Live chat.
Email.
Phone calls.
Review sites.
Your product’s free trial.
Social media.

Organized Data, Better Strategies

All of this data is difficult to organize, understand, and build a useful attribution model without structured thinking.

That is why a multi-touch attribution model, which provides a more granular, human-centric view of a campaign than traditional methods such as media mix modeling, is becoming more important for marketers.

In addition to providing visibility into the success of touchpoints across the customer journey, multi-touch attribution offers many other benefits.

It is crucial to utilize data-driven marketing to use the right channel to meet consumers at the right time, as consumers are becoming increasingly adept at avoiding marketing messages.

Multi-touch attribution makes this possible, which provides marketers with granular data to identify audiences across channels and determine their specific marketing goals.

Return On Investment

Multi-touch attribution models can help marketers improve the consumer experience and help them increase the return on their marketing expenditures by revealing where their money is being spent most and least effectively.

This supports a shorter, more effective sales cycle by presenting consumers with more impactful marketing messages.

Quick Overview Of The Types Of Multi-Touch Attribution Models

In multi-touch attribution, each touchpoint engages with the customer before conversion – the difference is the amount of credit attributed to each touchpoint. These models can either be adopted as is or modified to create custom models.

Linear Multi-touch Attribution Model

When you use a linear attribution model, each touchpoint in the buyer’s journey receives the same amount of credit for driving the sale. While this type of attribution considers all touchpoints in the buyer journey, it weighs each equally.

Although linear attribution improves first or last touch attribution, it still leaves a lot to be desired as all touchpoints don’t equally impact consumers.

U-shaped Multi-Touch Attribution Model

Based on the U-shaped multi-touch attribution strategy, 40% of value is attributed to the initial and last contact, and 20% goes to the subsequent touchpoints.

It provides your team with a clear picture of where the customer’s journey has begun, and where the journey ends.

Because this attribution model considers that not all touchpoints are equal, it is more reflective of how marketers value touchpoints intrinsically.

This is because it gives gravitas to the starting and ending campaigns.

Even so, it doesn’t meet all of the customer’s journey requirements due to its simplistic viewpoint.

Time Decay Multi-touch Attribution

This model gives a larger share of credit to customer touchpoints closer to conversion.

Although it gives some credit to touchpoints in the top and middle of the funnel, this article focuses primarily on touchpoints at the end of the marketing funnel.

The time decay model emphasizes touchpoints that directly lead to conversions and ignores awareness-based touchpoints.

While conversions are critical to ensuring your business is profitable, downplaying the first touchpoint is not perfect for all marketing teams.

The W-Shaped Multi-Touch Attribution Model

The W-shaped model is responsible for assigning credit of 30% at the first touch, mid-way (lead creation), and final (conversion) touchpoints.

The remaining 10% is equally split between additional engagements.

This model is ideal when there is a clearly defined “opportunity creation” stage in the journey.

And, while this is a massive improvement on the “one or none” approach, it is not always the best model for marketing teams to accurately attribute conversions.

Full Path Multi-Touch Attribution Model

This model – commonly used in B2B spaces – is quite detailed and complex.

Similar to the W-shaped multi-touch attribution, it has the addition of the lead creation touchpoint.

This notes the moment that a marketing lead becomes a qualified lead.

Here, 22.5% of the credit is attributed to the first touchpoint and lead generation, opportunity creation, and sale touchpoint, with the remaining 10% spread among the leftover touchpoints.

It is useful because it gives a granular view of the customer’s journey from start to finish.

So granular, in fact, that it may not be the best choice for B2C companies or those with low-involvement purchases.

Tailored Multi-Touch Attribution Model

The company itself designs this model.

It allows marketers to base value per touchpoint against their own parameters.

This is ideal for those who want to get the most from multiple models.

It can be difficult to put all the benefits of bespoke attribution together.

You may need to invest in software and attribution modeling experts to tailor your attribution strategy properly.

How To Deploy Multi-funnel Attribution For B2B

This can be a daunting task, but here are the steps we use to roll out a multi-touch attribution model.

Identify The Models And KPIs

Choose the attribution models that suit your organization best. Consider the length of the sales cycle, the types of campaigns, and the level of detail required. Then, identify the key metrics to measure success or failure.

Bring The Team Onboard

Your in-house team may need to bring on some external marketing analysts and strategists to get this job done. Internal finance and creative teams will also need to understand how data will drive campaigns going forward.

Setup Tracking

Start here:

Collect the data. Who is visiting your site, how did they get there, and did they convert?
JavaScript, where you add code to your website’s pages to understand who is interacting with your site and how. This includes call tracking such as page views, user activity, user identity, and traffic source.
UTMs are custom URLs that allow you to track campaign-specific clicks and actions. UTMs can be integrated with the JavaScript calls to get a clearer, more accurate image of your user. In addition to maximizing insights, it enables B2B performance marketers to optimize spending, campaigns, and ROAS by stamping UTM attributes at the account level for website visitors. When used in conjunction with account-based retargeting ads, this has the potential to leverage massive growth.
APIs can be integrated with your CRM system, external advertising vendors, and third-party software that have unique ways of identifying your users.
Combine the data. To turn this raw data into useful insights, you need a place to store it, such as a central, secure data warehouse.
Visualize the data. It is important to transform this data into graphs and charts that non-analytic stakeholders will find easier to understand. There are many vendors available who can do this for you.
Invest in analytics software. If your attribution models are complex, it is best to implement analytics software that is advanced enough to work with your models. This will standardize and correlate the spans of raw data into reports that offer insights. Ideally, it will highlight consumer motivation, such as strong brand equity, compelling campaign creatives, etc.
Apply insights and remodeling. Once you have collected and cleaned the data, use it to try and predict what might come based on past observations. Those insights can be translated into campaign improvements right away.
Optimize and test. Tracking and testing are never done. Embrace a culture of continually evaluating your MTA data and testing campaigns to improve results.
A/B testing: Tools like Google Optimize, Optimizely, or your strategic marketing partner make it easy to change campaigns to see what audiences prefer.
Server-side testing: Growing in popularity for channels like SEO if other methods aren’t working.
Geo experiments: For channels that cannot be A/B tested (such as TV), splitting campaigns by geographical region is useful to see the impact of the marketing on sales.
Deprivation testing: Quite simply, switching the ad off and then on again to see its impact on sales and conversions.

Is MTA The Same As Multi-Channel Attribution?

Quite simply – no. Multi-channel attribution allocates credit according to channel (social advertising, paid search, organic SEO, etc.). It does not take into account specific touchpoints, messaging, or sequences.

While multi-touch attribution does factor in the channel, it is more granular in that it zooms in on each of the ads, their creatives, messaging, sequencing of interaction, and so on.

How Do We Know If We Need Multi-Touch Attribution?

It is best to apply MTA to campaigns that pivot on digital spending and that need to link an individual to a specific marketing event.

This could be email or online paid advertising that spans multiple channels and devices.

If your campaigns require this level of insight, then MTA is a good fit for you.

Conclusion

Multi-touch attribution allows B2B marketers to respond more rapidly to changes in their target audience and greater market.

The granular understanding they are given at an account level of which elements of their campaigns are working – and those that are not – means they can be flexible, agile, and competitive.

They have clarity into every touchpoint on the B2B customer journey, empowering marketing teams to make better data-backed decisions going forward.

Remember, B2B marketing attribution isn’t so much about budget as what marketing teams are doing.

Finding the right attribution model is imperative to success.

If yours is not supplementing your strategy with useful data, it will negatively impact your performance.

Every dot of data, every graph, and report should give you more insights into your ideal customer and their typical behavior.

As modern B2B marketers, we must have multiple weapons in our digital arsenal.

This will bring clarity to data chaos and give the organization an edge that will help them forge ahead with confidence.

More resources:

Featured Image: MaximP/Shutterstock

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SEO

Google’s Guidance About The Recent Ranking Update

Published

14 hours ago

September 8, 2024

Max

Google issues a statement about their recent algorithm update

Google’s Danny Sullivan explained the recent update, addressing site recoveries and cautioning against making radical changes to improve rankings. He also offered advice for publishes whose rankings didn’t improve after the last update.

Google’s Still Improving The Algorithm

Danny said that Google is still working on their ranking algorithm, indicating that more changes (for the positive) are likely on the way. The main idea he was getting across is that they’re still trying to fill the gaps in surfacing high quality content from independent sites. Which is good because big brand sites don’t necessarily have the best answers.

He wrote:

“…the work to connect people with “a range of high quality sites, including small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content” is not done with this latest update. We’re continuing to look at this area and how to improve further with future updates.”

A Message To Those Who Were Left Behind

There was a message to those publishers whose work failed to recover with the latest update, to let them know that Google is still working to surface more of the independent content and that there may be relief on the next go.

Danny advised:

“…if you’re feeling confused about what to do in terms of rankings…if you know you’re producing great content for your readers…If you know you’re producing it, keep doing that…it’s to us to keep working on our systems to better reward it.”

Google Cautions Against “Improving” Sites

Something really interesting that he mentioned was a caution against trying to improve rankings of something that’s already on page one in order to rank even higher. Tweaking a site to get from position six or whatever to something higher has always been a risky thing to do for many reasons I won’t elaborate on here. But Danny’s warning increases the pressure to not just think twice before trying to optimize a page for search engines but to think three times and then some more.

Danny cautioned that sites that make it to the top of the SERPs should consider that a win and to let it ride instead of making changes right now in order to improve their rankings. The reason for that caution is that the search results continue to change and the implication is that changing a site now may negatively impact the rankings in a newly updated search index.

He wrote:

“If you’re showing in the top results for queries, that’s generally a sign that we really view your content well. Sometimes people then wonder how to move up a place or two. Rankings can and do change naturally over time. We recommend against making radical changes to try and move up a spot or two”

How Google Handled Feedback

There was also some light shed on what Google did with all the feedback they received from publishers who lost rankings. Danny wrote that the feedback and site examples he received was summarized, with examples, and sent to the search engineers for review. They continue to use that feedback for the next round of improvements.

He explained:

“I went through it all, by hand, to ensure all the sites who submitted were indeed heard. You were, and you continue to be. …I summarized all that feedback, pulling out some of the compelling examples of where our systems could do a better job, especially in terms of rewarding open web creators. Our search engineers have reviewed it and continue to review it, along with other feedback we receive, to see how we can make search better for everyone, including creators.”

Feedback Itself Didn’t Lead To Recovery

Danny also pointed out that sites that recovered their rankings did not do so because of they submitted feedback to Google. Danny wasn’t specific about this point but it conforms with previous statements about Google’s algorithms that they implement fixes at scale. So instead of saying, “Hey let’s fix the rankings of this one site” it’s more about figuring out if the problem is symptomatic of something widescale and how to change things for everybody with the same problem.

Danny wrote:

“No one who submitted, by the way, got some type of recovery in Search because they submitted. Our systems don’t work that way.”

That feedback didn’t lead to recovery but was used as data shouldn’t be surprising. Even as far back as the 2004 Florida Update Matt Cutts collected feedback from people, including myself, and I didn’t see a recovery for a false positive until everyone else also got back their rankings.

Takeaways

Google’s work on their algorithm is ongoing:
Google is continuing to tune its algorithms to improve its ability to rank high quality content, especially from smaller publishers. Danny Sullivan emphasized that this is an ongoing process.

What content creators should focus on:
Danny’s statement encouraged publishers to focus on consistently creating high quality content and not to focus on optimizing for algorithms. Focusing on quality should be the priority.

What should publishers do if their high-quality content isn’t yet rewarded with better rankings?
Publishers who are certain of the quality of their content are encouraged to hold steady and keep it coming because Google’s algorithms are still being refined.

Read the post on LinkedIn.

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SEO

Plot Up To Five Metrics At Once

Published

1 day ago

September 7, 2024

Max

Google has rolled out changes to Analytics, adding features to help you make more sense of your data.

The update brings several key improvements:

You can now compare up to five different metrics side by side.
A new tool automatically spots unusual trends in your data.
A more detailed report on transactions gives a closer look at revenue.
The acquisition reports now separate user and session data more clearly.
It’s easier to understand what each report does with new descriptions.

Here’s an overview of these new features, why they matter, and how they might help improve your data analysis and decision-making.

▶ ️We’ve introduced plot rows in detailed reports. You can now visualize up to 5 rows of data directly within your detailed reports to measure their changes over time.

We’ve also launched these new report features:

🔎: Anomaly detection to flag unusual data fluctuations
📊:… pic.twitter.com/VDPXe2Q9wQ

— Google Analytics (@googleanalytics) September 5, 2024

Plot Rows: Enhanced Data Visualization

The most prominent addition is the “Plot Rows” feature.

You can now visualize up to five rows of data simultaneously within your reports, allowing for quick comparisons and trend analysis.

This feature is accessible by selecting the desired rows and clicking the “Plot Rows” option.

Anomaly Detection: Spotting Unusual Patterns

Google Analytics has implemented an anomaly detection system to help you identify potential issues or opportunities.

This new tool automatically flags unusual data fluctuations, making it easier to spot unexpected traffic spikes, sudden drops, or other noteworthy trends.

Improved Report Navigation & Understanding

Google Analytics has added hover-over descriptions for report titles.

These brief explanations provide context and include links to more detailed information about each report’s purpose and metrics.

Key Event Marking In Events Report

The Events report allows you to mark significant events for easy reference.

This feature, accessed through a three-dot menu at the end of each event row, helps you prioritize and track important data points.

New Transactions Report For Revenue Insights

For ecommerce businesses, the new Transactions report offers granular insights into revenue streams.

This feature provides information about each transaction, utilizing the transaction_id parameter to give you a comprehensive view of sales data.

Scope Changes In Acquisition Reports

Google has refined its acquisition reports to offer more targeted metrics.

The User Acquisition report now includes user-related metrics such as Total Users, New Users, and Returning Users.

Meanwhile, the Traffic Acquisition report focuses on session-related metrics like Sessions, Engaged Sessions, and Sessions per Event.

What To Do Next

As you explore these new features, keep in mind:

Familiarize yourself with the new Plot Rows function to make the most of comparative data analysis.
Pay attention to the anomaly detection alerts, but always investigate the context behind flagged data points.
Take advantage of the more detailed Transactions report to understand your revenue patterns better.
Experiment with the refined acquisition reports to see which metrics are most valuable for your needs.

As with any new tool, there will likely be a learning curve as you incorporate these features into your workflow.

FAQ

What is the “Plot Rows” feature in Google Analytics?

The “Plot Rows” feature allows you to visualize up to five rows of data at the same time. This makes it easier to compare different metrics side by side within your reports, facilitating quick comparisons and trend analysis. To use this feature, select the desired rows and click the “Plot Rows” option.

How does the new anomaly detection system work in Google Analytics?

Google Analytics’ new anomaly detection system automatically flags unusual data patterns. This tool helps identify potential issues or opportunities by spotting unexpected traffic spikes, sudden drops, or other notable trends, making it easier for users to focus on significant data fluctuations.

What improvements have been made to the Transactions report in Google Analytics?

The enhanced Transactions report provides detailed insights into revenue for ecommerce businesses. It utilizes the transaction_id parameter to offer granular information about each transaction, helping businesses get a better understanding of their revenue streams.

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SEO

Top 10 Affiliate Marketing Platforms To Maximize Sales In 2024

Published

2 days ago

September 6, 2024

Max

Top 10 Affiliate Marketing Platforms To Maximize Sales In 2024

Affiliate marketing has been experiencing explosive growth in recent years, so it’s essential now more than ever for brands to run affiliate programs of their own.

It involves brands hiring affiliates to promote their products and services and rewarding them with a commission from every sale.

As such, affiliate marketing is an excellent low-cost and low-risk way for brands to drive sales and brand awareness without hiring an in-house advertising and marketing team of their own.

Affiliate marketing spending worldwide is estimated at around $14 billion in 2024 – and the industry is predicted to reach a worth of over $38 billion by 2031.

Affiliate Marketing And SEO

Affiliate marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) both share a common goal of attracting relevant and high-quality traffic to a site with the goal of increasing sales.

As such, both of these marketing activities shouldn’t be perceived as two separate, competing entities.

Instead, you should look at them as one and the same that work together in perfect harmony to increase website traffic and generate more revenue.

The most successful publishers in the affiliate marketing space combine the two to get the best of both worlds.

SEO affiliate marketing involves choosing the right products and affiliate programs that attract the most search traffic and offer the best commissions.

Publishers often make the most of affiliate marketing by creating content that adds real value for their readers and prioritizes their experience.

Publishers often do this by creating “Best of” or “Top X” oriented posts that address their audience’s needs and pain points, while, at the same time, allowing them to monetize their content by using affiliate links throughout the posts.

By adding relevant and contextual affiliate links in such posts, publishers foster an authentic user experience that puts their readers first.

This is one of the most significant advantages of affiliate marketing compared to alternative marketing methods such as sponsored posts.

Today’s consumers are increasingly distancing themselves from heavily business-oriented content, as it’s often perceived as inauthentic and disingenuous.

By focusing on high-quality content that adds value to readers and combining it with relevant and contextual affiliate links, everyone wins!

Additionally, Google rewards publishers who create original content and add real value for their readers.

They reward such publishers by placing them higher in search results and driving more traffic to them.

But, in today’s highly competitive and increasingly dynamic market, how can brands find the time to manage and grow their affiliate marketing program?

The answer is with the help of the right affiliate marketing software that streamlines the entire process.

Once upon a time, running a successful affiliate marketing program meant manually managing every aspect – a time-consuming and inefficient process.

Thankfully, these days, affiliate marketing software and solutions have evolved to offer all the necessary tools in a single place, which simplifies the whole process and enables brands to optimize their programs and focus on growth.

Therefore, brands need to utilize the right affiliate marketing software to stay competitive and maximize ROI in today’s highly competitive affiliate marketing space.

This article will go over what affiliate marketing software is and what makes a great affiliate software platform.

We’ll also review the top 10 affiliate marketing software platforms that brands can use to take their affiliate program to the next level.

What Is An Affiliate Marketing Software?

In a nutshell, affiliate marketing software is a comprehensive tool that facilitates all aspects of affiliate marketing program management.

It allows brands to track, manage, and grow their affiliate marketing campaigns.

Most affiliate marketing software platforms share standard features such as affiliate onboarding, collaboration with affiliate partners, affiliate tracking and reporting, and referral, cost, and commission payment management.

What Makes A Good Affiliate Marketing Software Platform?

Though most affiliate marketing software platforms share many of the same features, what sets apart the good platforms from the bad is what’s important.

For starters, the actual platform must have an intuitive and user-friendly interface.

An affiliate marketing platform can boast all of the best affiliate tools and features available.

Still, it’s a moot effort if the dashboard is complicated for most people.

Additionally, since brands usually utilize a variety of Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms for ecommerce and affiliate marketing, affiliate marketing software platforms need to offer tons of third-party SaaS integrations.

The best affiliate marketing software platforms offer robust tracking and reporting capabilities.

Brands need to be able to precisely track their affiliate sales and access real-time granular data to measure the ROI of their affiliate campaigns effectively.

Additionally, a good affiliate marketing platform will provide brands with all the affiliate tools they need to launch, manage, promote, and scale their affiliate programs, such as flexible commission management and customizable real-time affiliate tracking and reporting capabilities.

At the same time, they should offer their clients peace of mind by providing the highest level of fraud detection and other security features.

Lastly, the best affiliate marketing software platforms mean nothing if there isn’t quality customer service available 24/7 to back it up. Readily available customer assistance is equally important for brands as it is for affiliates.

Top 10 Affiliate Marketing Software

1. Refersion

Screenshot from refersion.com, August 2024

With over 60,000+ registered merchants, 6.6 million affiliates managed, and $2 billion in affiliate revenue tracked, Refersion is one of the leading affiliate marketing software platforms on the market.

Its robust and highly personalized dashboard allows brands to manage all aspects of their affiliate program, such as monitoring all aspects of their affiliate activity with extensive real-time reporting capability.

Refersion offers brands all the tools they need to scale and promote their affiliate programs, such as managing commissions, payouts, and providing simplified tax automation. It also offers easy integration with popular tools like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce.

While Refersion does come with a higher price point than some competitors – starting at $99 per month – it’s hard to find a solution that offers the same level of top-notch affiliate tools, marketplace, and customer service.

Pricing:

The professional tier starts at $99/month (if paid annually) for up to 50 monthly order conversions.
The business tier starts at $249/month (if paid annually) for up to 200 monthly order conversions.
The enterprise tier is available with unlimited monthly order conversions – you’ll need to contact Refersion for pricing details.

2. Impact

Screenshot from Impact.com, August 2024

Impact is one of the biggest affiliate marketing software platforms for cloud automation.

Its signature product, the Impact Partnership Cloud, allows brands to automate their affiliate and influencer marketing campaigns. It offers a marketplace where brands can connect with a network of affiliates, influencers, ambassadors, and other possible partners.

The platform’s tools also include dynamic commissioning, reporting, advanced analytics, and third-party integrations for companies to track and manage their affiliate programs.

However, pricing is not readily available, and you must contact the Impact sales team for a custom quote.

Pricing:

Custom quotes are available upon request.

3. Tapfiliate

Screenshot from Tapfiliate.com, August 2024

For businesses primarily operating and generating their revenue on ecommerce SaaS platforms, Tapfiliate may be a great choice.

It features a range of automation capabilities, including an autopilot mode that can automate things such as onboarding new affiliates, sharing via social media, or even drip campaigns.

Tapfiliate easily integrates with major ecommerce players like Shopify and WooCommerce, and offers advanced tracking and reporting capabilities. However, most of the features are accessible only through the Pro plan, which starts at $149 a month – nothing to sneeze at.

Pricing:

The essential plan starts at $74/month for 1 team member and basic features.
The pro plan starts at $124/month for 5 team members and more advanced features.
The enterprise plan offers custom pricing for unlimited team members, unlimited tracking requests, a dedicated personal manager, and more.

4. Awin

Screenshot from Awin.com, August 2024

Awin, previously known as Zanox, merged with Affilinet in 2017 to become one of the largest affiliate marketing platforms, providing “unlimited access to over 1M vetted partners.”

It features a handful of marketing and reporting features you’d expect from such an extensive network, like tools for cross-device tracking, real-time reporting, and automated compliance management.

The platform’s Awin Access program is an interesting option for smaller businesses or teams newer to affiliate marketing, as it offers a straightforward setup process and flexible pricing to make joining the network easier.

Registration is free on Awin, but it uses a performance-based pricing model. This means brands pay a predetermined cost-per-acquisition (CPA), and specific pricing details are only available upon request.

Pricing:

Custom quotes are available upon request.

5. CAKE

Screenshot from getcake.com, August 2024

CAKE is another SaaS-based affiliate marketing platform, meaning you can access it from anywhere (with an Internet connection).

CAKE partners with a bunch of partners to offer a variety of streamlined and automated features. It’s known for its great tracking and reporting capabilities, which enable you to follow and optimize your campaigns in real time.

The platform boasts more than 500 advertisers, networks, and publishers across 50+ countries, and it offers 24/7 customer support to its users. It has customizable features, granular data analysis, and impressive fraud protection to give customers peace of mind.

Unfortunately, CAKE’s pricing is not readily available on its website. It also doesn’t feature any pre-made promotional tools for marketers, which doesn’t make it quite suitable for novice users just starting out with their affiliate program

Pricing:

Custom quotes are available upon request.

6. ClickBank

Screenshot from ClickBank.com, August 2024

ClickBank was one of the first affiliate platforms, launching all the way back in 1998. Since then, it’s grown to one of the largest affiliate marketplaces with over 200 million customers.

According to the company’s website, there are 300,000+ daily purchases made on ClickBank – and it boasts $4.2B in paid commissions.

ClickBank stands out for its native support for subscription services, which makes it easy for brands to create one-click, repeatable purchases. This allows them to provide monthly products without requiring manual monthly payments.

It also offers some of the standard features commonly found on most affiliate platforms, such as affiliate reporting, payments, commissions management, and third-party integrations. It’s quick and easy to list your products and set up affiliate programs on the platform.

However, compared to some of the other affiliate platforms on this list, it doesn’t offer a demo, free trial, or monthly pricing. Instead, ClickBank charges a one-time activation to list products on the platform and then a fee per sale.

Pricing:

One-Time Activation Fee: $49.95.
Transaction Fee: 7.5% + $1 per sale.

7. CJ Affiliate

Screenshot from cj.com, August 2024

CJ Affiliate is a well-known and reputable affiliate marketing platform. It offers access to hundreds of advertisers, publishers, and potential partners in one platform.

CJ Affiliate provides a customizable dashboard and a variety of reports and specialized tools, including advanced tracking and reporting capabilities. Most notably, it offers specialized tools, such as Deep Link Automation and Product Widgets, that enable brands to improve their affiliate program ROI.

While CJ Affiliate is a great choice for businesses of all sizes, it’s worth noting that the company doesn’t provide a free trial or demo, operates on a performance-based pricing model, and you’ll need to reach out for specific details.

Pricing:

Custom quotes are available upon request.

8. TUNE

Screenshot from Tune.com, August 2024

Designed for companies that require detailed tracking and analytics, TUNE allows brands to build, manage, and grow their affiliate partner networks through its proprietary marketing technology.

TUNE offers a flexible platform, which users can tweak and tailor to fit their needs. Within the platform, you have customizable tools, commissions, payments, and real-time affiliate tracking and reporting.

However, it doesn’t provide affiliate promotional tools like most other platforms, and there is no straightforward pricing listed on the website.

It does, however, list details on its different plans, including a Pro Plan with basic features up to an Enterprise Plan with features like custom integrations, premium support, enhanced fraud prevention, and more.

Pricing:

Custom quote available upon request.

9. LeadDyno

Screenshot from LeadDyno.com, August 2024

LeadDyno specializes in affiliate program promotion and perhaps offers the most promotional tools available in an affiliate marketing software platform.

LeadDyno offers tools that enable brands to create various promotional campaigns, such as email, newsletters, and social media campaigns, making it a wonderful choice for companies that want to expand the reach of their programs.

It provides a straightforward user experience that makes it easy to onboard affiliates, track your performance, and manage payouts. Extensive real-time tracking and reporting features give businesses the ability to monitor and optimize their campaigns.

Pricing is on the affordable side and LeadDyno offers a free trial – which not all tools on this list do!

Pricing:

The lite plan starts at $49/month for up to 50 active affiliates, one commission plan, one reward structure, and other basics.
The essential plan is $129.month and offers up to 150 active affiliates, three commission plans, and one reward structure, as well as other advanced features like a landing page, 1:1 call and video support, and more.
The advanced plan is $349/month and offers up to 500 active affiliates, unlimited reward structures and commission plans, and many other advanced features.
The unlimited plan is $749/month and offers unlimited active affiliates, unlimited reward structures and commission plans, and more.

10. ShareASale

Screenshot from ShareASale.com, August 2024

With over 20 years of experience, ShareASale has been around for quite some time. It’s a reliable solution for merchants and affiliates alike, and carries a variety of tools to help boost your affiliate marketing programs.

If you’re looking for an extensive network of affiliates and partners across a ton of industries, ShareASale is a good option for you. You’ll also get access to customizable affiliable management, real-time tracking, detailed reporting, custom banner, and link generation, and plenty more.

One thing to note: like a few of the other tools listed here, ShareASale uses a performance-based pricing model that includes a one-time network access fee and then transaction fees.

Pricing:

There is a one-time setup fee of $650.
Transaction fees: 20% of each affiliate commission, with a minimum of $35/month.

Wrapping Up

Great affiliate marketing solutions enable brands to easily launch and manage affiliate programs, as well as track referrals and sales made by their affiliate partners.

The best affiliate marketing software provides brands with all the tools needed to launch, promote, and grow their affiliate program.

At the same time, they provide customizable and easy-to-use reporting capabilities for real-time performance tracking.

Without reliable tracking and reporting tools, brands cannot effectively assess the success and profitability of their affiliate campaigns and partnerships.

More resources:

Featured Image: Panchenko Vladimir/Shutterstock

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