Affiliate Marketing Due For An Overhaul 07/27/2015 - MediaPost

Affiliate marketing drives Web traffic and sales through performance-based rewards, but a new study suggests the industry might be long overdue for an overhaul. Some 52% of U.S. affiliate marketers say it takes longer for them to get paid these days, down to 41.3% elsewhere in the world.

Key insights from Tipalti’s study show the need for an overhaul of platforms and better communication skills as well as improved best practices and business models. The report shares findings and insights from the more than 250 people responding to the questionnaire.

Late payments and not getting paid at all — along with other issues — continue to force affiliate marketers to drop out of network programs. In fact 34.8% of non-U.S. affiliates have had a situation where they did not receive payment compared with 13% of U.S. affiliates. Complex problems like tax ID information can become confusing when the site offers global programs.

Forrester Research expects the affiliate marketing industry to reach a 17% compounded annual growth rate to $4.5 billion in 2016. The statistic from the most recent report published in 2012.

One feature that affiliate marketers want but do not have, as identified in the study, is the ability to verify payment status, complete with automatic notifications when payment issues arise. While U.S.-based affiliates prefer PayPal and ACH systems, global affiliates prefer PayPal and wire transfers and show a greater willingness to pay for transfer fees. Non-U.S. affiliates also made Echeck their third preference, showing the need for a more cost-effective, reliable transfer network.

Nearly 48% of the affiliate marketers participating in the survey say they are “somewhat satisfied” with the payment experience; followed by 32.4%, very satisfied; 16.4%, needs improvement; and 3.2%, needs improvement.

Nearly 41% of affiliate marketers admit to stop working with a network because of a payment issue. Of those who did not already end a relationship with an affiliate network, 65% say they would stop working with a network because of consistent payment problems. If an affiliate network has payment issues, they are more likely to lose affiliates.

Affiliate Marketing Due For An Overhaul 07/27/2015 - MediaPost