On the rise - is affiliate marketing coming of age in NZ?

As we approach Christmas and some of the biggest online shopping days in Black Friday and Cyber Monday, online retailers in New Zealand are looking for new ways to acquire customers in a cost effective manner and more and more of them are looking to affiliate marketing as a potential solution.

Affiliate Marketing is a firmly proven method of generating online sales and only paying for results. The practice is hugely established overseas in the US and the UK and has been growing at pace in Australia over the last couple of years, but New Zealand businesses have been slow to pick up the mantle. But is that all changing?

At S.L.I.C.E. Digital, New Zealand’s only dedicated affiliate marketing network, they certainly think so and over the last few months the online marketing business has seen more than twenty new advertisers launch onto its New Zealand focussed Affiliate Network. These companies have ranged from global players like Airbnb, to major local online retailers including Kathmandu and Healthpost through to pure play ecommerce companies like BestDeals.

When asked what is behind the increase in companies launching affiliate marketing programs in New Zealand, Gavin Male, Founder and Managing Director of S.L.I.C.E. Digital said, "Since the launch of S.L.I.C.E. Digital in late 2016 we have seen a slow and steady growth in the number of advertisers working with affiliates through the S.L.I.C.E. Digital affiliate marketing platform. As online advertising continues to become more competitive, the dominant digital marketing channels like Google and Facebook are becoming more and more expensive, companies are increasingly looking at new ways to generate incremental online sales with a positive return on investment and that is where affiliate marketing is a great solution."

Affiliate Marketing is an online advertising method that works on a pure commission basis. Affiliates promote an advertiser’s products or services and when a sale is made they receive a commission in exchange for generating the sale. All of the activity is tracked through affiliate marketing technology and the advertiser only pays when they make a sale, meaning affiliate marketing can offer a fantastic return on advertising spend.

Male continues, "Some of the more established online advertising channels are becoming increasingly expensive, affiliate marketing offers a great, low cost solution for SME’s and challenger businesses with an ecommerce offering. The fact that the advertiser only pays when a sale is made means it is very low risk and a great way to increase reach and website traffic on a pay-for-performance basis."

The increase in New Zealand companies operating affiliate marketing programs also brings great benefits for consumers as well as businesses. More affiliate programs means a growing number of Kiwi consumers will get a better deal in their online shopping by tapping into the growing international trend for voucher code and coupon sites like www.freevouchercodes.co.nz, cashback sites - websites that offer shoppers refunds on their spending - such as www.kiwiwallet.co.nz and comparison websites such as www.nzcompare.com.

Affiliate marketing means great benefits for both advertisers and consumers so it is great to see it is finally on the rise in New Zealand.

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