Affiliate Roundup: Shopify’s Affiliate Service, Influencer Earnings, and More
New programs such as those from Shopify and Instagram are helping affiliate marketing become more mainstream. Here are the latest updates in affiliate news this week.
Best Practices, Explainers, and Predictions
Google On Whether Sites Should Hide Affiliate Links
From the horse’s mouth: “Is it any good to hide store/affiliate links?” Here are two parameters affiliates might add to their outbound links.
Source: Search Engine Journal
Why use an affiliate marketing agency?
In this week’s episode of Affiliate Drive Time, Lee-Ann discusses some of the advantages of outsourcing your affiliate marketing to an agency. She also highlights the two main benefits of doing this and offers advice on where to begin.
Source: Affiliate Insider
M&A, New Entrants and Features
Shopify’s New Affiliate-Style Service
The new service will allow content publishers to link to merchants in the Shopify network in exchange for a cut of transaction revenue. BuzzFeed has signed on to the new program from Shopify and integrated it into its site. Shopify has approached a number of other digital media companies, including Complex Networks and Vox Media, people familiar with the matter said.
Source: The Information
Impact Tech Plans for IPO After Valuation Hits $1.5 Billion
Impact Tech Inc. is planning an initial public offering next year after raising funds of a $1.5 billion valuation, underscoring a shift in the advertising industry as brands rely more on influencer endorsements and reviews to win customers.
Source: Bloomberg
Case Studies, Profiles, and Awards
The Secret of Influencer Earnings
Freemium paywall. This article has some interesting stats, including average income of £2,137 ($2,944.28 US) with a big split between micro and mega. Only 4% of those surveyed live off of their influencer earnings.
Source: Talking Influencers
Events, Webinars, and Podcasts
Has affiliate broken into the media mainstream?
Awin’s most recent podcast includes several references to affiliates growing in mainstream media’s collective consciousness.
Source: Awin
If you have an affiliate industry story to share, let us know!