In almost every industry, referrals are the gold standard of customer acquisition. Research has repeatedly shown that referred leads close faster, buy more, and stay longer — all with significantly less effort and at a much lower CPA than non-referred prospects. A University of Pennsylvania study[1] found that referred customers are more loyal and profitable — by a 16% margin — than their non-referred counterparts.

Affiliate management isn't an easy task. It's not about having a ton of members in your affiliate marketing program that may or may not share your links. It's not about having a popular influencer mention your product, which may or may not lead to conversions. It is all about developing the right relationships with the right types of affiliates. 

While not all effective referral programs yield the same results, there are some steps you can take to set your brand’s referral program up for success. Long story short, your goal is to help your brand ambassadors help you.

While affiliate marketing has been around since the early nineties, we are now seeing more and more companies getting smart about their affiliate program management. What exactly does this mean? Brands are taking affiliate marketing seriously as a means of customer acquisition. They are investing more in this strategy; they are spending more time and resources to understand best practices; and most importantly, they are shifting how they manage their campaigns.

With marketers adopting more personalized strategies, like nurturing via email workflows or developing a partner program, B2B buyers are looking beyond traditional methods of engagement and are pursuing building relationships with organizations.

The rising need for influencer marketing software that can keep up with digitally savvy marketers can no longer be ignored. With 92% of 18-to-34 year-olds saying they seek recommendations from friends and family when considering a product purchase1, it's no shock that leading-edge marketing teams across industries are leveraging an influencer marketing platform to automate and optimize this referral-generating channel.

A simple search query for "affiliate marketing tips" will, without a doubt, result in thousands and thousands of posts primarily directed towards affiliates. But what about marketers looking to employ affiliate marketing strategies to benefit their businesses?