Why Are the Basics So Hard: The Case for Standardisation in Affiliate Marketing

Any company selling affiliate marketing services must guarantee they do three core things well.

Firstly, their technology has to accurately track traffic and sales. Next, they need reporting to show who has tracked the traffic and sales, and lastly they must make sure everyone involved is paid on time.

Three simple concepts that are the bedrock of our industry.

Yet if I were to ask an average affiliate whether this is the case for their programmes, my hunch is they would launch into a lengthy and detailed diatribe about the vagaries and frustrations with any or all these issues across the variety of brands they promote.

From antiquated tracking to foot dragging on paying for app sales, to interminable payment cycles and huge discrepancies between a network’s numbers and other tracking systems, the lengthy list of things that need fixing seem daunting.

Yet those basic principles are clearly easy to understand, which therefore begs the question, why do we go wrong so often?

A rising tide lifts all boats

A few years back a group of like-minded individuals decided the hysteria around third-party tracking meant we should collectively do something. You may remember the headlines screaming that the demise of third-party cookies would lead to the digital industries collapsing like a house of cards: an existential crisis no less. So, we came together to take the heat out of the discussion: Don’t worry, the affiliate channel has a solution and your back. Everything will be fine.