Incrementality<\/a> means different things to different brands \u2013 some brands think it’s just new customers \u2013 but I prefer to define it as “value you wouldn’t have otherwise realized.”\u00a0<\/p>\nTo assess incrementality, I look at the customer journey in totality:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Where did customers first discover the brand?<\/p>\n
What channels\/publishers did they interact with?<\/p>\n
Are there commonalities and consistencies throughout?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For instance, if Retail Me Not (a popular affiliate coupon partner) is the last touch 95% of the time, they’re likely not providing much incrementality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In this example, and for any bottom-of-funnel partners that follow the same pattern, affiliate teams simply decide what to pay those partners based on the value they’ve determined in assessing the customer journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In other words, if there’s not much incrementality, good affiliate marketers won’t pay much for these results.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There’s also much more to the story than the bottom of the funnel (which is what many marketers think of when they hear “affiliate”).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The truth is that affiliate can be a fantastic top-of-funnel channel that brings new users into your purchase journey and<\/strong> <\/em>shortens the time from discovery to conversion.<\/p>\nWe’ve talked about affiliate publishers like Cond\u00e9 Nast and how they can help increase your influence in paid and organic search terms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For many customers, the articles featuring your brand will be:<\/p>\n
A great introduction from a trusted source. (Awareness)<\/p>\n
A furthering of your reputation. (Consideration)<\/p>\n
A reminder to try a shortlisted product. (Conversion)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or another, validating touchpoint with a previous user. (Retention)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, those articles also feature your competitors, which is another argument for you to participate.<\/p>\n