Today, brand affiliation gets me talking about coffee. Happens every God given morning: first, I drink the coffee; then, I cope and get things done. Never the other way around.
Thus, to me, “We proudly serve Starbucks” has deep meaning. Not the way you think, though. Starbucks-affiliated brands use this slogan… with much pride, it seems. (*smile) So, it’s driven me to question the actual power of corporate identity togetherness.
In a past article, we’ve approached B2C Brand Ambassadorship as a sales booster strategy. Conversion wise, I wonder, what other concept-trend are you NOT capitalizing on? I particularly bet you’re not benefitting to the most, from brand affiliation.
But, rest assured because we’re here with your Nutshell Brand Affiliation information. A larger nutshell, that is. In the current piece we’ll discuss:
- How Brand Communities are at the core of social branding
- The meaning of Brand Affiliation
- Marketing Affiliates Platforms as a Brand Affiliation practice
- 2Performant – the first Romanian Affiliate Marketing Platform
Brand Communities at the core of Brand Affiliation
It all starts with the customers. Brand Communities are people trooped together on their appreciation for a product or brand. The marketing focus then falls on the tribe and converting as much of it as possible.
Social brand building is somewhat different from the traditional one. We explained more on this here. It juggles with crowds and their intrinsic, interconnected buying experiences, whereas, the latter, would leverage on consumer’s experience with products or services.
It’s about creating experiences with people versus experiences with products. Actually, it’s about a little bit of both, to be honest.
They have the following roles:
- Brand Communities Serve People
- Brand Communities Strengthen Brands
- Pools of people usually center around values and goals. They’re most effective for spreading stories related to company identity – new management changes, etc. Pools are the widest and most diverse kind of community.
- Networks enhance the relational aspects of groups. They’re most appropriate for PR and promoting physical events such as flash mobs, etc. Networks are smaller than pools.
- Hubs foster a guru figure. They act as forums, reaching various informational topics and a dedicated, loyal audience. Hubs best promote your products or services. They’re a more compact crowd that might even embrace a common cultural identity.
- Brand Communities depict your Online Reputation
They serve as a bridging tool between brands and their prospective customers. “Tool” underlines the dynamics brand communities add to the tandem.
Tribes take several social shapes and sizes, such as pools, networks or hubs.
A Strong Brand is a brand with Social Authority that differentiates community management tactics. Think trendsetters and thought leaders. Think iPhone customers who don’t sleep the night before the new model’s launch. We do that by coordinating our marketing goals with crowd size and structure.
Your Online Reputation consists of customer reviews and testimonials, former employees, guest posts, etc.
By defying managerial control, communities have the make-or-break power over your online reputation.
Brand Communities throughout the Sales Funnel
Troopers propagate social links, thus reducing the company’s efforts throughout the sales funnel.
Inbound marketing wise, Pools, Networks and Hubs influence throughout the entire sales funnel. They’re bolstering online reputation at channel extremities and strengthening brand over the middle stages.
- Pools intensify the brand’s Online Reputation with Brand Familiarity tactics. Extended community in itself, it connects to other potential visitors.
- Pools and Networks aim to convert visitors into leads! Members practice a strategic position to ease visitors’ attraction.
- Hubs have a greater impact on closing leads into customers. Members already identify as leads aiming to create and close other leads. Needless to say, they’re the ones who ease most of our marketing work.
- Hubs might have a double role and based on their own advocacy act upon brand evangelization.
Effective Brand Affiliation
According to MarketingMastery, Brand Affiliation reflects a customer lifestyle orientation. Companies use their brands’ attributes to appeal to customers’ lifestyle and identity. Yes, it’s about identity centric branding.
You know your affiliation system is effective when, goals wise, it converts at any stage. Here’s another article we did with a few stage-by-stage tactics:
Effective Brand Affiliation relies on 2 main strength pillars:
- A consistent internal structure
- An engaging external positioning
Marketing Affiliate Platforms as a practice for Effective Brand Affiliation
Industry wise, affiliate marketing is growing fast. It’s become a key tool for both online shop owners and professional bloggers. To increase conversion rates, shop owners include it in their marketing strategy. On the other side, bloggers use it as an extra source of income.
Marketing Affiliate Platforms manage brand communities and get you closer to influencers. Besides access to a large pool of publishers, they might also provide tracking and reporting or payment and refund services.
How does it work? First, shop owners have a variety of products. Marketers have blogs with audiences that take interest in those products. But as a shop owner, you don’t quite have the time to search for those bloggers yourself. Hence, the necessity for such a platform that makes it easier for you to reach targeted audiences.
What’s the catch? When someone advertises your products, they don’t do it for free, do they, now? Unless they’re your mom. Moms always do it for moral support. So, you need to come up with an incentive, a commission for marketers.
Though affiliate marketing platforms take a cut from those commissions, they serve valuable purposes:
- They’re a great hub for various vendor offers
- They handle the network’s admin running duties
Brand Affiliation Study Case: How does 2Performant help you convert?
2Performant is the first Romanian Affiliate Marketing Platform. They’re active on the Romanian eCommerce market since late 2008. In this article we’ve painted a more clear image of what 2Performant does.
Here are 5 ways 2Performant helps you convert more:
Fair PPS System
2Performant takes pride in their fair rewarding system. They’re set out for performance and won’t accept obscure or illegitimate traffic. The platform manages everything with a solid tracking system for both traffic and correct conversion registration. Moreover, you set the commission you’re willing to pay. In the end, they recognize quality and pay-per-sale.
Conversion – With over 5 million clicks monthly, affiliates significantly increase sales volumes and profit margins.
Profitable Niche Approach
The more a niche is exploited, the less profitable. In other words, if the niche is smaller there is more to gain from it. The 2Performant Platform allows you to connect to affiliates who ease your access into smaller niches.
Conversion – By choosing niche affiliates, you get to focus on an unpenetrated niche ensuring higher conversion rates.
Broaden Audience
The 2Performant platform can diversify your audience, as well. You can choose to promote your products through publishers who approach other topics than what you’re used to. You only need to know your audience and where they hang out. A great question here is “Why would I want to buy your product?”. Brainstorming for diverse answers will direct you to diverse locations to reach those possible customers, as well.
Conversion – Wider reach increases traffic to your website.
Conversion Results Tracking
2Performant offers specific and detailed information on your advertising campaigns. This way, you can not only track, but optimize campaigns.
Access to Skilled Affiliates
Through the 2Performant platform, you gain access to all affiliates categories. This will facilitate a complex online advertising campaign. 2Performant affiliates are skilled bloggers or highly recognized publishers with dense audiences.
Conversion – Skilled promoters ensure traffic quality, which translates into solid conversions.
#NowYouKnow
Brand communities are our target audiences. Only they’ve become dynamic tools instead of just strategy tactics. People group in pools, networks, and hubs according to their purpose, number, and interest. these factors also influence conversion rates across the entire sales funnel.
Brand Communities fulfill 3 main roles:
- They serve people
- They strengthen Brands
- They depict your Online Reputation
Effective Brand Affiliation converts. It’s also based on a strong internal structure and a consistent positioning in their niche.
Marketing Affiliate Platforms are among the most popular tactics for Brand Affiliation. They bring shop owners and influencing publishers together so that the latter group can drive traffic to online shops.
2Performant is the only such platform in Romania. 5 ways it can increase conversion rates are:
- It provides a fair PPS system
- It ensures you have access to unpenetrated niches
- It can broaden your audience
- It offers conversion results tracking so you can optimize your activity
- It guarantees access to Skilled Affiliates
So, we have a comments section below. Use it wisely and tell us – Marketing Affiliation Platforms – Yay or Nay? And… why? *smile
