SEO

Digital PR Strategy: Building a Kickass Campaign

Published

2 years ago

August 11, 2022

Digital PR Strategy: Building a Kickass Campaign

Since Google News debuted in September 2002, I’ve created or co-created the digital PR strategy that produced kickass campaign results for various clients.

That list includes The Christian Science Monitor, Get City Dealz, Harlequin Enterprises, Parents magazine, Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conference & Expo series, Southwest Airlines, and Rutgers University.

I initially used a five-step process for crafting digital PR strategies.

But, that’s evolved into a seven-step process as I’ve learned what worked (and what didn’t) from producing digital PR campaigns for clients with different business goals and marketing objectives.

Now, I wouldn’t describe this seven-step process as a digital PR strategy template.

Why? Because one size does not fit all.

However, it’s a tried-and-true framework for helping a wide variety of B2B and B2C organizations to:

Create brand awareness.
Generate demand and/or leads.
Increase sales and/or revenue.
Support the launch of a new product.
Build a subscribed audience.
Drive attendance to one or more in-person or virtual events, or
Provide a return on marketing investment (ROMI).

Now, I wish that I could claim authorship for this framework.

But, that honor goes to Aristotle, who wrote his classic “Nicomachean Ethics” in the 4th Century BCE.

His “elements of circumstance” were: who, what, when, where, why, in what way, and by what means.

All I’ve done is apply them to craft successful digital public relations strategies and campaigns in the 21st Century.

Let’s examine each of the seven steps.

1. Who Are Your Target Audiences?

When you create a digital PR campaign, the first question you should ask is: “Who are my target audiences?”

Your answer should include “the public” as well as “the press.”

Why? Because the best digital PR campaigns put “the public” into public relations.

Before the beta version of Google News was launched in September 2002, the press was the only target audience for traditional PR campaigns.

But, Google News did something that shifted the paradigm: For the English language, it crawled and indexed over 4,000 sites, including multiple press release distribution services.

That allowed the public, as well as the press, to use Google News to search for and discover product and company news based on their search intent and interests.

It’s worth noting that the vast majority of Google News users are not members of the press. They are members of the public.

Over time, this ratio has tilted even more towards the public.

According to a Pew Research Center analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, “Newsroom employment in the United States has dropped by 26% since 2008.”

In 2008, there were about 114,000 total newsroom employees – reporters, editors, photographers, and videographers – in five industries that produce news: newspaper, radio, broadcast television, cable, and digital news publishers.

By 2020, that number had dropped to about 85,000: a loss of about 30,000 jobs.

So, consider why your target audiences should include the public – consumers or business buyers.

In April 2020, Rand Fishkin and Casey Henry launched SparkToro: an audience research tool that gives me crucial information about any online audience in seconds.

That information includes:

Demographics: Gender, age, and education.
Firmographics: Employment and skills.
Top words in bios: How they describe themselves.

For example, I used SparkToro and quickly found 844 people who frequently talk about “digital PR strategy.”

The tool provided a detailed breakdown of my audience by gender identity and age range.

Screenshot from SparkToro, August 2022

Beyond this, SparkToro provided me with data about my audience’s level of Education – whether they have an Associate’s degree, a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s, a doctorate, or if their education is unknown – and their academic majors.

But demographics rarely tell the whole story. Fortunately, SparkToro also revealed this audience’s firmographics.

For example, 34% work in the marketing and advertising industry, while 31% work in public relations and communications. I can also see their years of experience in their respective fields.

In addition, 83% of this audience mentioned social media as one of their skills, 76% mentioned social media marketing, 74% mentioned marketing, and 73% mentioned public relations.

Finally, 17% of this audience use the word “agency” in their bio/profile/about fields on social platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

And 11% use “digital PR,” 10% “marketing PR,” and 9.5% “communications.”

This gives me a clearer picture of who this target audience is.

And it works for other target audiences, too.

2. What Is Their News Search Intent?

Given the profile I’ve built of this target audience, they will likely know how to use Google News and Google’s other “news surfaces” to find press releases, images, and videos from some of the companies and organizations that matter to them.

And based on the keyword research and audience research that I’ve conducted, their news search intent is often different from their web search intent.

For example, if you use Google Trends to explore a search term or a topic like “digital PR strategy,” you’ll see sporadic interest in the US over the past 12 months.

But, if you click on the web search tab and select news search instead, you’ll see, “Hmm, your search doesn’t have enough data to show here.”

So, what’s the alternative?

Go to Google News and start typing the same search term or topic.

Google’s autocomplete feature will generate predictions that help people save time by allowing them to quickly complete the search they already intended to do.

As you will see from the image below, people not only search for “digital PR strategy,” but they also search for “digital PR strategy template” because they haven’t learned that they need a framework instead.

Screenshot from search for [digital pr strategy], Google, August 2022

But, it’s worth noting that many of autocomplete’s predictions are for variations of “digital marketing strategy.”

Why?

Because many educated and experienced users of Google News have discovered over time that there’s a dearth of relevant news or interesting stories about the topic of “digital PR strategy.”

So, they’ve learned to broaden their searches instead.

You can also use SparkToro to see a similar phenomenon.

Although the tool identified 844 people who frequently talk about “digital PR strategy,” when you examine the top hashtags that they’ve used on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook over the past three to four months, they are #digitalmarketing, #contentmarketing, #advertising, #branding, and #socialmediamarketing.

And the most frequently used phrases they used were “marketing strategy,” “influencer marketing,” “account manager,” “customer service,” and “marketing trends.”

Screenshot from SparkToro, August 2022

So, you often need to go beyond what the keyword research tools can tell you when determining your target audiences’ news search intent.

Sometimes, you might go broader.

But, other times, you might want to remind yourself that 15% of searches conducted every day are ones Google hasn’t seen before.

Where do these brand-new search terms come from? Breaking news, most likely.

3. When Do They Conduct News Searches?

The next step in creating a kickass digital PR campaign is learning when your target audiences are more likely to conduct news searches.

One strategy is called “newsjacking.”

David Meerman Scott coined the term in 2011, and the Oxford Dictionaries shortlisted it as one of their “Words of the Year” in 2017.

According to Scott:

“Newsjacking is the art and science of injecting your ideas into a breaking news story so you and your ideas get noticed.”

He adds,

“When there is news in your marketplace reporters and analysts are looking for experts to comment on the story. Newsjacking gets you media attention.”

If you want more information about this digital PR strategy and examples of how to strike at the right time, read Scott’s book, “Newsjacking.”

He explains when a digital PR strategist should newsjack, and why this strategy favors players who are observant, quick to react, and skilled at communicating.

Or, if you want a quick preview, watch this short video from his publisher, Wiley.

Another strategy is to leverage the seasonal calendar that many retailers use to plan for the year ahead.

A typical seasonal calendar for U.K. retailers includes:

Valentine’s Day.
Mother’s Day.
Father’s Day.
Summer Sales.
Back to School.
Black Friday.
Holiday Season.

Or, you can create your own tentpole event to promote the launch of a new product.

Traditionally, tentpole events were used by movie studios to promote their big blockbusters each year.

But in July 1987, the Discovery Channel borrowed the concept to promote “Shark Week.”

My favorite campaign was: “Shark Week 2013 Promo – Snuffy the Seal.”

4. Where Do They Conduct News Searches?

In the early days of what was then called “online PR,” the primary place where target audiences could find your press release was Google News.

Today, Google has several different “news surfaces,” including Google News, News in Google Search, Discover, News on YouTube, and News on Google Assistant.

If you want to learn how to optimize your news for each of these surfaces, then read Google News Optimization: How to Boost Your Site’s Visibility & Traffic.

But, when planning your next digital PR campaign, it’s wise to broaden your perspective.

For example, SparkToro reveals that 52% of the people who talk about “digital PR strategy” are located in the U.S. It also breaks down where in the world the other 48% are located.

If you’re planning to drive attendance to one or more in-person events, you should leverage SparkToro’s audience research to see where they’re located.

And you shouldn’t forget the press.

SparkToro discloses which press accounts this audience reads, YouTube channels they watch, and podcasts they listen to.

Screenshot from SparkToro, August 2022

The tool also identifies the social accounts they follow and engage with most and the websites they visit frequently.

It often makes sense to pitch your story – under a news or press embargo – to these journalists, social media influencers, and other key opinion leaders – before distributing your optimized press release.

Why?

Because many of these news sources will honor the embargo to receive advanced knowledge of details and can prepare their reports to coincide with the announcement date and yet still “scoop” their competition.

5. Why Does Your News Matter To Your Target Audiences?

The next question you should ask is: “Why would my news matter to my target audiences?”

In other words, is your subject line or headline newsworthy enough to get their attention, and is your pitch or story compelling enough to get them to respond?

In far too many cases, they aren’t – which explains why so few digital PR campaigns generate kickass results.

In fact, the Propel Media Barometer for Q2 2022 analyzed a sample of nearly 400,000 real pitches to figure out what makes up the “perfect” pitch today.

They found journalists open less than 36% of the PR pitches they receive. And, the press only responds to about 3 out of every 100 pitches they receive.

Although similar data isn’t available to the public, it seems reasonable to assume that your customers click on just a fraction of the headlines they find in news search results and respond to only a small percentage of the stories they read.

So, you may need to conduct some tests to better understand why your news matters to your target audiences.

For example, we teamed up with Get City Dealz and Business Wire in 2013 for such a test.

We wanted to see which would generate better results for three local merchants promoting their best daily deals in New Orleans: an online video news release, a photo press release, or a release without multimedia.

The release with a video had 55.4% more release views and 36.1% more link clicks, and the release with a photo had 4.6% more release views and 7.1% more link clicks than the release with no multimedia.

That won us the award for the “Best Use of PR in a Search Campaign” at the inaugural U.S. Search Awards, as well as the “SNCR Excellence in New Communications Award” in the Visual Media Category of the Corporate Division for our “solid campaign with impressive metrics and accurate attribution.”

But, we could generate kickass results because the target audiences for all three press releases were more than 1 million tourists and 5,000 media members converging on New Orleans for two major events: the “Big Game” and Mardi Gras.

We used Google’s Campaign URL Builder to add campaign parameters to URLs in the three releases, so we could measure our Custom Campaigns in Google Analytics.

That enabled us to see a 407% increase in organic search traffic in February over January.

We also saw an 85% increase in referral traffic in February over January – coming from news sites like Yahoo! Finance, Reuters, and social media like Facebook and Pinterest.

Plus, we distributed the releases on successive Saturdays, and the number of unique visitors to GetCityDealz.com on weekends doubled in February over January.

The online video news release for Jazzy Nola featured some unique wine tumblers made in a distinctly New Orleans style with a gold fleur-de-lis imprinted on the tumbler.

The release helped sell out wine tumblers, which were great for tourists and visitors wandering the French Quarter during “The Big Game” or on the Mardi Gras parade route.

The online video news release also mentioned that Jazzy Nola was promoting their Roger Goodell (Commissioner of the National Football League) voodoo dolls.

At the press conference before “The Big Game,” the media asked Goodell about the voodoo dolls, and he joked that he’d read about them. They also sold out in a matter of days.

Who, what, when, and where often influence why your news matters to your target audiences.

6. In What Way Can You Change Hearts, Minds, And Actions?

In ”Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle said we must act voluntarily to be held morally responsible.

Today, your target audiences feel and think they’re in control of what they do.

For example, SparkToro shows us all accounts share stories from media sources and news websites with high levels of factual reporting, the credibility of information, and the consistency with which their content passes fact checks.

The people who talk about “digital PR strategy” have even higher levels.

Screenshot from SparkToro, August 2022

So, how can you ethically change their hearts, minds, and actions?

Start by reading What Is a Content Marketing Matrix & Do We Need One?

It explains that a content marketing matrix is a planning tool.

Below is one that I crafted and contributed to Guy Kawasaki, who included it in his book, “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions.”

Image created by author, August 2022

As you can see, this Content Marketing Matrix had only two dimensions:

Awareness to action on the horizontal axis.
Rational to emotional on the vertical axis.

And a digital PR strategist can use one to create news content that will enchant the press and the public.

Just use one of the four quadrants – educate, entertain, enlighten, and inspire – as a starting point for deciding if your content will enchant the press based on their beats and the public based on their interests.

Now, this is a big idea. According to Kawasaki,

“Enchantment is not about manipulating people…. And when done right, it’s more powerful than traditional persuasion, influence, or marketing techniques.”

He adds,

“In business and personal interactions, your goal is not merely to get what you want but to bring about a voluntary, enduring, and delightful change in other people.

By enlisting their own goals and desires, by being likable and trustworthy, and by framing a cause that others can embrace, you can change hearts, minds, and actions.”

For example: In cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and various entities concerned with tourism, culture, and heritage, the UAE Government Media Office launched the World’s Coolest Winter campaign in December 2020.

They distributed a press release to educate the press and the public about the country’s first domestic tourism campaign, which highlighted the wide variety of destinations in the Emirates worth visiting – to offset the dramatic drop in international tourists due to the global pandemic.

As part of the campaign, the New Media Academy teamed up in January 2021 with Beautiful Destinations to create “Let’s Go – The Emirates.”

The goal was to enlighten the public about the UAE’s hidden gems with beautiful cinematic videos, so they would take action.

I should disclose that I’m an instructor at the New Media Academy, and five of my students are featured in this video.

The second season of the World’s Coolest Winter campaign was launched in December 2021.

It expanded on the previous year’s campaign by targeting both domestic and foreign tourists.

The second year’s campaign invited citizens and visitors to share their most beautiful experiences, adventures, and memorable moments across digital platforms in various parts of the Emirates.

The campaign also asked influencers to create inspiring photo and video content like “A Winter Through My Eyes” to inspire tourists to take action.

The video’s description asks,

“Can a country be truly enjoyed by someone who cannot see? As the United Arab Emirates, we believe in making what seems impossible, possible. And this winter, we gave a young child, Clara, the opportunity to experience and enjoy the World’s Coolest Winter in the UAE.”

That’s how you can change hearts, minds, and actions in an ethical way.

7. By What Means Can You Measure Your Results?

Aristotle also wanted ethical people to understand by what means or how they achieved their ends. And today, measurement is so much more than counting.

As Katie Delahaye Paine says in her book “Measure What Matters,”:

“Counting just adds things up and gets a total. Measurement takes those totals, analyzes what they mean, and uses that meaning to improve business practices.”

She adds,

“Measurement of your processes and results … provides the data necessary to make sound decisions. It helps you set priorities, allocate resources, and make choices.

Without it, hunches and gut feelings prevail. Without it, mistakes get made and no one learns from them.”

For example, the first “World’s Coolest Winter” campaign generated:

More than 2,000 media reports reached over 20 million people across the world.
215 million views of videos that captured UAE’s beauty.
950,000 domestic tourists in 45 days.
66% hotel occupancy rate vs. 58% in the U.S.
AED1 billion (US$272 million) of revenue for the UAE’s hospitality sector.

So, the UAE Government Media Office went far beyond counting the number of stories that mentioned their campaign.

They worked with hotels in the country to measure revenue per available room (REVPAR).

(REVPAR is calculated by multiplying a hotel’s average daily room rate by its occupancy rate.)

After analyzing these business outcomes instead of their PR outputs, the second “World’s Coolest Winter” campaign generated:

71,000 photos and videos on social media.
3 million tourists, up 36% from the year before.
A hotel occupancy rate of 73%, up from 66%.
5 billion (US$408 million) for UAE hotels, up 50% from the first campaign.
Plus, US$11.5 million for a new initiative called “Warm Winter,” which extended humanitarian support to more than 110,000 refugees and people in need in Africa and the Arab world.

Now, that’s how you build a kickass campaign!

But, as I said earlier, there’s no digital PR strategy template.

You need to decide what really matters to your organization.

If you’re looking for metrics that you can use as KPIs (key performance indicators), then you should read:

Why? Because the last step in building a kickass campaign is measuring your results.

More resources:

Featured Image: gpointstudio/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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