Affiliate marketing has become critical in modern PR efforts.
Whether it's leveraging Share-A-Sale, Awin, Impact, Skimlinks, Pepperjam, or whatever the new-and-next one is called (it's not rare for brands to switch affiliate partners), it is incredibly important your affiliate program is dialed with the media first perspective in mind.
A brand that lacks a robust PR-focused affiliate component, with expert oversight, is multiple steps behind the competition for media attention. Some brands have strong in-house teams managing their affiliate programs. Others need help. And sometimes, a strong affiliate program managed by experts in public relations can more than pay for a brand's PR retainer (click here for a video we shared on LinkedIn).
For brands that need help, Remedy PR has its own integrated affiliate marketing capabilities. We can help brands launch their own affiliate programs, or revamp existing ones so they don't hinder the goals of their ongoing PR efforts.
The current media climate dictates that having an affiliate program alone is not enough to compete for media attention. A strong PR campaign requires an affiliate campaign that is competitive in structure, with the daily oversight of a team who understands how to connect with the leading publishers.
Executed correctly, a strong affiliate management program increases the likelihood of repeat media interest, generates important backlinks, and creates longer-term relationships with publishers.
Excerpts from the press release announcing our capabilities below:
“The ‘set it and forget it’ model of affiliate program management is over. For consumer and lifestyle brands, and even those in the B2B and finance spaces, a strong affiliate program is critical for a successful PR campaign,” commented Bill Byrne, managing director of Remedy Public Relations. “Affiliate management is so important to modern PR that I find it incredibly suspect when a potential partner tells us that other PR teams did not ask about their affiliate marketing program in advance.”
We quietly launched our affiliate management capabilities in 2020 after learning some of our partners’ affiliate programs were an afterthought in their marketing initiatives. This coincided with findings from its signature PR audit program, which uncovered that many potential clients’ PR teams were not leveraging affiliate networks and often not insisting that their clients had these resources in place.
With the rise of different models, including ”hybrid performance” compensation, a PR-focused affiliate program must be competitive with rates, and managed by a team that can speak the language of the e-commerce editors at the leading publishers.
“Cookies are going away. Performance-based ads are costing more. PR continues to be an effective resource for awareness and brand building, but it takes more than a simple press release and relationships to make the magic happen,” continued Byrne. “If you don’t have an affiliate marketing program supporting your PR efforts, your product may as well be vaporware.” The full press release on our PR-focused affiliate marketing capabilities can be found on the Associated Press website and Outdoor Sportswire.