Leveraging AI for Affiliate Marketing – A Complete Guide (+5 Brand Examples)
Affiliate marketing is an established strategy which sees businesses promote their products or services on third-party websites in exchange for a conversion-based commission. Over recent years, the popularity has boomed as websites look to monetise their sites, leading to affiliate marketing growth outperforming all digital ad spend by 50% in the UK. In fact, 54% of brand marketers now rank affiliate marketing as one of their top three customer acquisition channels – a clear indicator of how important it is for brands to find new ways to expand their reach among the competition.
The rise of AI (artificial intelligence) has meant affiliate marketing as we know it has seen significant changes as of late. With AI having the power to automate time-consuming tasks and use vast amounts of data to create personalised user experiences, affiliate marketing strategies are becoming more advanced than ever before.
In this article, we explore exactly how AI is transforming affiliate marketing and when it can be used to improve existing strategies. We also discuss five well-known brands that are harnessing the power of AI to optimise their affiliate marketing programs.
The Role Of AI In Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a commission-based marketing tactic in which a business pays affiliates to direct traffic to its content. It is continuing to evolve as AI transforms the landscape, automating processes and making data-driven decisions. By analysing vast amounts of data in real-time, AI algorithms are able to identify current trends which can help a business inform its marketing strategy.
Nowadays, affiliate marketing can automate tasks that previously had to be done manually, saving large chunks of time that can now be spent fine-tuning campaigns. With capabilities to automatically segment audiences, personalise content, and suggest recommendations, users are receiving content which is more relevant to them, thus boosting the chance of conversions.
With advanced technological capabilities now being available, businesses are able to track the source of their conversions much easier. When an affiliate link is clicked on, AI is able to track whether a sale is made and can pinpoint this back to the original source. Introducing affiliate marketing with AI-driven tools allows businesses to tailor, track, and scale their campaigns with precision, ultimately improving their long-term success.
How Businesses Can Use AI In Their Affiliate Marketing
Businesses of all sizes can ramp up their affiliate marketing strategy by utilising the power of AI. With the ability to analyse vast amounts of data, automate lengthy processes, and personalise content, not implementing AI solutions can be a costly mistake that causes the business to fall behind its competitors.
Here are a handful of ways in which a business can implement AI into its affiliate marketing:
Data-driven decisions
One of the most powerful features of AI is the capability to analyse vast amounts of data in an instant. By using a combination of a business’s historical data and current web trends, AI is able to identify patterns and insights. This information can then be used to inform future marketing strategies, basing tactics on AI insights so they can be used to make more educated decisions.
Campaign automation
Running a successful affiliate marketing campaign requires both knowledge and patience, needing a lot of time to optimise strategies and adjust commission structure off the back of performance metrics. By incorporating AI tools, the data will continually be analysed and parameters can be automatically adjusted to achieve maximum results.
Affiliate tracking
There have long been challenges associated with attributing sales back to the correct affiliate link, but AI has made the process significantly easier for businesses. Instead of having to set up complex website code and affiliates losing credit for a sale if the user interacts with multiple touchpoints, AI algorithms are able to track the entire customer journey.
Personalised content
By tailoring content to the buying habits and browsing behaviour of an individual user, a business is able to increase the relevance of its affiliate marketing strategy. AI is able to produce personalised components by displaying the banner or copy which is most relevant to the user based on what they have shown interest in in the past.
Challenges Of AI In Affiliate Marketing
Although there are huge benefits to incorporating AI into an affiliate marketing strategy, there are also challenges which can be faced.
AI has long led to concerns about privacy and the ethical use of data. Since the systems are designed to analyse large quantities of data and base output on a user’s online activity, there have been issues with people feeling like boundaries have been crossed. All AI systems must comply with regulations, making them legal and not compromising personal information, but any misuse of a user’s data could lead to legal issues and damage to the brand reputation.
Another challenge when using AI for affiliate marketing strategy is the integration with existing systems. If a business uses a complex platform for affiliate marketing, it may require advanced development work to integrate AI. For those using a CRM system, finding out which AI tools are compatible with the existing system will help facilitate an easier integration.
Now that AI has become such a big aspect of affiliate marketing, there have been instances of businesses losing that human element. Becoming overly reliant on AI output and allowing it to take over tasks entirely, rather than using it as a tool, means personalisations may look robotic and a brand will be unable to reflect their values and personality. Instead, utilising the capabilities should not take away the creative input from the brand’s marketing team.
Brands Successfully Utilising The Power Of AI
1. Amazon AI in action
Amazon was one of the first big-name brands to harness the power of AI, using it to transform the online shopping experience with personalised suggestions and shopping assistants. Using previous user data, AI is able to suggest products tailored to the individual buyer profile of a customer, increasing the likelihood of them finding what they are looking for.
With Amazon having one of the biggest affiliate marketing programs in the world, AI-powered link-building tools allow sellers to promote their products to a highly relevant audience. These AI-powered tools help optimise the visibility of products by analysing customer behaviour and preferences, ensuring that links are shared with users who are most likely to be interested in the items being promoted. This increases the potential for higher conversion rates and more sales.
As well as benefiting Amazon itself, businesses using its affiliate marketing program benefit from the AI capabilities as they are able to promote tailored promotional materials and videos which address the user’s specific needs and desires. This means that the ads are not only more relevant, but are more likely to lead to increased revenue off the back of the conversions.
2. Booking.com travel recommendations
Booking.com is one of the leading digital travel platforms, helping customers find accommodation options for their trips. Over recent months, they have been expanding their AI-powered features to create a more personalised experience for each traveller.
They have introduced a range of tools that allow for much more ‘human’ searches, giving users the ability to describe their ideal property or ask questions. GenAI is then able to scan the entire inventory to suggest the most relevant options, boosting accuracy since the user is able to make more detailed requests.
These AI advancements also offer benefits to members of the affiliate program who earn money when advertising Booking.com services. A website owner can promote Booking.com through banners on their site and receive commission from any bookings made. These banners use AI to recommend properties based on the user’s previous searches, so they are highly relevant and more likely to convert.
3. Nike’s AI-refined designs
Unlike the other companies mentioned, Nike is harnessing the power of AI differently, using it as a tool to refine the design of their products. When discussing the launch of their new Nike Air footwear, the level of research into the R&D process was revealed. Once prototypes had been created, elite athletes were invited to answer detailed questions about the product before their answers were handed over to AI to produce suggested refinements.
With such time and effort being put into the creation of each product, the Nike team continue to fully utilise the intelligence of their team instead of relying solely on technology. By combining human knowledge with AI algorithms, they are able to create unique products which allow them to maintain their leading position in the market.
The Nike range continues to offer carefully created products designed for athletes in different areas, allowing all marketing to be heavily tailored to the recipient. This offers benefits for businesses involved in the Nike Affiliate Programme as they are able to earn commission from promoting the products. Each partner is able to choose from a range of different banners created by Nike to choose the solution that will best resonate with their website audience.
4. Adobe Sensei GenAI
Adobe has an affiliate program which offers partners monetisation opportunities if they promote Adobe products on their website or social media channels.
The Adobe Creative Cloud packages are leading programs designed to suit individuals as well as businesses. They incorporate AI services which help businesses deliver an improved experience to customers through their generative AI solution, Sensei GenAI. Using multiple large language models, text-based experiences can be generated to unify content and maintain a consistent tone of voice.
The Adobe platform allows businesses to create and manage content which can be deployed across multiple ad platforms and then managed in one place. This content will be scaled according to the placement and data insights will be able to personalise the content to suit the audience.
5. eBay AI descriptions
With the shopping platform being home to millions of different product listings and sellers, eBay has recently rolled out new AI-generated item descriptions and background removal tools. They have been working to create a more consistent shopping experience for users by making imagery more tidy and improving the quality of product descriptions, in turn making the user interface more usable.
This advancement is also a big change for sellers, allowing them to produce improved listings without time restraints. The AI-powered features mean they can showcase their items in a more professional manner and stand out among product listings.
For members of the eBay partner network, this creates more opportunities to promote eBay on their website, blog, app, or social media network. Since affiliate revenue is earned from a percentage-based commission from each sale price, being able to promote higher-quality listings will increase the likelihood of sales.
The Future Of Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing continues to grow as websites offer new opportunities for ad revenue. With so many web pages displaying third-party advertisements, whether that be on the side of the page, in a header banner, or part-way through a blog article, this has become a standard part of web browsing for users.
As technology advances and the power of AI continues to change the online landscape, affiliate marketing is undeniably impacted by the growth. Through personalised campaigns, businesses are able to target their audience using highly relevant material that is based on their previous buying behaviour and browsing habits.
With leading brands already adopting new AI tools in their strategies, there is no doubt that it is going to become commonplace for other businesses in the online world. Failing to keep up with trends and produce targeted content will make it increasingly difficult for smaller businesses to remain competitive in such a saturated world.
As we look into the future, affiliate marketing is only expected to become more and more driven by AI-powered tools that allow advertisers to automate and personalise their marketing materials. By embracing new innovations and using the tools to their full potential, businesses can continue to find new opportunities to stand out from the crowd.
