Affiliate marketing has gained popularity and is now regarded as a successful marketing strategy for increasing sales. It is a win-win situation as advertisers can reach their business goals by working with affiliates and affiliates earn a commission for each action they bring.
However, to monitor the success of your affiliate program, you must set clear and measurable metrics. To help you decide, we have listed 10 affiliate marketing metrics.
Top 10 Affiliate Marketing Metrics for Advertisers
Affiliate marketing metrics are used by businesses to measure their progress toward their primary goals. These metrics provide a clear picture of a company’s likelihood of success. Let’s look at the top 10 metrics for affiliate marketing.
1. Conversion Rate
The percentage of affiliate link clicks that result in purchases is called the conversion rate. This is one of the most commonly used affiliate marketing metrics. You can monitor this metric with affiliate tracking software to find and compare your top affiliates.
Factors such as the ease of use of the landing page, the quality of affiliate content, and whether the product meets the needs of the affiliate audience affect the conversion rate.
2. ROAS
When a publisher or marketer or publisher runs ads, return on ad spend (ROAS) determines how much money is made for every dollar spent on the campaign promotion. ROAS helps in how well the affiliate marketing campaign affects the website traffic. Affiliate marketers can use this metric as a budgeting guide and compare it to other channels.
3. Click Traffic
The total number of clicks that affiliate links have produced over a given period is called the click traffic. This affiliate marketing metric helps in evaluating the reach and engagement of the affiliate program. You can get higher click traffic by placing the affiliate links correctly in the content. Higher click traffic also helps in determining which platform or affiliates are generating the most engagement.
4. Affiliate Commission Rate
The percentage of sales that an affiliate receives for each measurable action, such as clicks, leads, installs, or purchases is called the affiliate commission rate. Depending on the product, brand, industry, or service, commission rates can range from 1% to 20% or higher.
5. Number of New Affiliates
This affiliate marketing metric shows the growth and reach of an affiliate campaign. By monitoring the number of new affiliates in your affiliate tracking software, you can assess the success of your recruiting efforts. An increase in new affiliates means a strong brand appeal and an appealing commission structure. It also implies that your promotion activities and onboarding process are successfully attracting prospective affiliates.
6. Cost Per Lead
The amount of money a business spends to obtain a single lead is called cost per lead or CPL. A lead is a prospective client who has expressed interest in a product or service by giving their contact information or taking a particular action. CPL is an affiliate marketing metric that helps in scaling lead generation efforts while controlling costs and determining the right commission rates.
7. Earnings Per Click
Earning per click or EPC is the amount generated for each click on the affiliate link. EPC helps in comparing the performance of different affiliate programs with the help of affiliate tracking software allowing you to concentrate on the profitable prospects.
8. Click-Through Rate
This affiliate marketing metric gives the percentage of people who click on an affiliate link out of the total who viewed it. By looking at the CTR you can determine whether your affiliate content is appealing to your audience.
9. Rate of Return/Rate of Cancellation
The rate of return or cancellation is the percentage of purchases that are canceled or returned after buying from an affiliate link. The affiliate program will need re-optimization if the rate of return is more than 10%. Perhaps the marketing strategy is failing or worse, there might be a risk of affiliate fraud. Top affiliate tracking software like Trackier offers a fraud prevention feature that helps in identifying and blocking suspicious activities.
10. Percentage of Sale Active Affiliates
This represents the ratio of sales or conversion generated by affiliates compared to all affiliates who signed up for an affiliate program. This affiliate marketing metric helps in determining the program’s effectiveness in attracting affiliates and producing revenue.
Final Thoughts
Tracking the right affiliate marketing metrics in your affiliate tracking software is essential to maximize your campaign efforts. Every metric like EPC, CTR, and conversion rate provides a different perspective on how well your affiliate program is performing. Affiliate marketers can increase sales and make data-driven decisions by focusing on these important metrics. Prioritize the important metrics first and you will see your affiliate program grow with precision.