If you’re feeling the squeeze to stretch every marketing dollar, you’re not alone. Cristy Garcia, impact.com’s Chief Marketing Officer, shared some stats in a recent webinar, “Three in four CMOs report that they’ve been asked to do more with less—86 percent say they are under pressure to make significant changes to achieve sustainable results.”
These challenges hit home for many brands, pointing out the urgent need to think outside the box to grow reach, community, and revenue. One promising solution is to blend affiliate and influencer strategies. Most marketers see influencer and affiliate strategies as separate paths, but the smartest brands quietly crush it with a hybrid approach. Before you write this off as just another trend, let’s cut through the noise about what really works.
Ready to rethink everything you assumed about this growth tactic? Top experts weigh in on what most brands get wrong—and why that matters for your next move.
Key takeaways from this blog
- Leverage combined strengths: Merging influencer and affiliate strategies enhance marketing effectiveness by tapping into each channel’s unique strengths for seamless consumer experiences.
- Cost-effective marketing: The cost-per-action model makes the combined influencer-affiliate approach financially accessible, aligning spending directly with performance outcomes.
- Ongoing relationship focus: Contrary to popular belief, successful integration of these strategies requires ongoing relationship management and active collaboration.
- Optimize with technology: Utilizing tools such as impact.com can optimize and streamline combined marketing efforts, ensuring adaptability and responsiveness to market changes.
- Establish strategic foundations: Setting clear budgets, KPIs, and partner criteria is a foundational step in implementing a successful influencer and affiliate strategy.
3 misconceptions about converging influencer and affiliate strategies debunked by the experts
Curious what happened when we gathered the industry’s brightest minds to crack the code on influencer-affiliate fusion? A recent roundtable revealed strategies most marketers never saw coming.
The experts:
- Cristy Garcia, Chief Marketing Office, impact.com
- Lydia Perrin, Affiliate Marketing Specialist, B&Q
- Alexis Ginsberg, eCommerce Marketing Lead, PepsiCo
Each shared valuable insights and real-world experiences on successfully integrating influencer and affiliate strategies. Discover how these truths dismantle common misconceptions about adopting such a strategy and redefine partnership management.
Misconception #1: Influencer and affiliate strategies are incompatible
Think influencers and affiliates don’t mix? Think again. Sure, affiliates crush it at closing sales, while influencers shine at building buzz. But here’s where it gets interesting: combining these powerhouse strategies opens a new level of marketing performance that most brands haven’t even touched.
Alexis mentions how she is ‘starting to see those worlds merge,’ where Influencers and affiliates play dual roles in the marketing funnel. Why limit influencers to brand awareness? Their shoppable posts and affiliate links are turning followers into buyers right now. Meanwhile, savvy affiliates have cracked the content code, bringing fresh eyes to brands in ways traditional marketing never could.
Lydia shares her experience with the blended approach and highlights its benefits in this clip:
Magic happens when influencers and affiliates join forces. Each step of the customer journey flows naturally into the next, turning casual browsers into loyal buyers. The dual capabilities amplify your marketing efforts while making the purchase journey feel effortless.
Alexis recounts the success of a merged strategy for Gatorade.com in this clip:
Misconception #2: It’s too expensive to implement both strategies
The numbers tell the real story: you only pay when influencer-affiliate campaigns deliver actual results. The cost-per-action (CPA) model means brands pay for clicks, leads, or sales. This performance-first approach minimizes financial risk and puts your budget in the driver’s seat for growth.
Here Cristy gives a real-life example of this strategy:
These strategies adapt to budgets big and small. Whether you’re a scrappy startup or an industry titan, you’ll find the sweet spot that drives results without draining resources.
Performance-based payouts transform your marketing from a cost center into a profit engine. By adopting the CPA model, your budget works harder, stretches further, and delivers clear ROI. This makes influencer and affiliate marketing a scalable and affordable solution for growth.
Misconception #3: It’s a ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ approach
Contrary to popular belief, a successful combined strategy does not simply operate on autopilot once established. The real magic lies in nurturing authentic connections and fostering genuine collaboration. Smart brands know: invest in these relationships today and reap the rewards tomorrow.
Cristy highlights an example of a brand that invested in nurturing productive partnerships and saw a jump in ROI of 223 percent:
Behind every standout campaign lies the foundation of a genuine partnership. Keep your partners motivated with the right resources to effectively promote your brand. This requires regular communication and tailored support, creating a dynamic partnership built on mutual growth.
Management solutions like impact.com are instrumental in supporting these relationships. They allow you to track results, optimize campaigns, and keep communication flowing—all from one dashboard. It’s the backbone that lets you focus on what matters: growing relationships that drive real results.
Alexis elaborates on the role that a centralized platform plays in strategy success.
FAQ
Combining these strategies allows brands to utilize the unique strengths of each, enhancing reach and engagement by seamlessly converting awareness into sales.
This strategy uses a cost-per-action model, making it cost-effective. Brands pay only for performance outcomes such as clicks and sales, minimizing financial risks.
Yes, successful integration necessitates ongoing relationship management and active collaboration to ensure sustainable growth and effective strategy execution.
Management platforms such as impact.com provide comprehensive solutions for tracking performance and optimizing campaigns, making the integration process more efficient and adaptable.
Put your influencer + affiliate strategy in motion
Now that the misconceptions are clear, it’s time to start implementing an influencer and affiliate strategy that can propel your brand forward. Lydia mentions 3 foundations for success:
- Start by setting clear budgets and KPIs to ensure that every dollar spent is aligned with your business goals.
- Confirming partner criteria will help you collaborate with the right influencers and affiliates who resonate with your brand values and audience.
- Finding a suitable management platform, such as impact.com, is crucial to streamlining the strategy and optimizing the integration of these powerful marketing plans.
Set these partnerships up right, and watch influencer-affiliate magic transform your marketing into a revenue powerhouse. Additionally, consider these 5 considerations for affiliate and influencer strategy integration.
Learn more about integrating influencer and affiliate strategies with these additional impact.com resources:
- The convergence strategy: Transforming affiliate and influencer channels to accelerate growth [research report]
- Awareness to retention: How affiliates and influencers connect the entire customer journey [infographic]
- Integrate affiliate and influencer strategies to maximize your omnichannel impact [blog]
- 5 expert insights to converge affiliate and influencer strategies [infographic]
- From full funnel to full circle: 5 ways marketers can adapt to the new digital marketing funnel [blog]
- Drive full-funnel results by integrating your influencer and affiliate marketing programs [blog]
- How merging affiliate and influencer marketing expands reach, strengthens credibility, and accelerates conversions [blog]
