What a diverse B2B affiliate program looks like
For simplicity, I’ll break down the funnel into three basic categories—low-intent Brand Builders, Lead Generators and high-intent Closers. Typically, these three run very differently from each other, with very different partners, KPIs, payouts and assets. However, they can blur across category lines depending on a brand’s strategy.
Brand Builders target a broad audience interested in industry-related content but not yet considering a particular product.
- Media publications: Not all larger media sites are willing to work on a performance model, but they are often part of affiliate networks and are open to tracking so leads or sales are tracked properly. Also, there are affiliate partners who buy remnant ad space on larger media sites and essentially resell that real estate.
- Content syndication partners: Sometimes part of a lead-gen team, and usually driven by content to download or a webinar to join, conversion takes place directly on the partner’s site, significantly improving user experience.
- Influencers: With the shift toward consumerization, nothing is more evident than the eagerness B2B brands have to work with influencers. While influencers quickly stormed onto the consumer scene, it’s been a long process for B2B brands to figure out how to get a positive ROI with them.
Lead Generators target a more focused audience related to the product and its specific users, though not always in the decision-making or purchasing stage.
- Bloggers: A blogger is an influencer who primarily uses their blog to create a following around a specific topic. Affiliate bloggers work well for niche or very targeted topics, especially when the content aligns with the reader’s current stage in the buyer lifecycle.
- Social communities: Social groups such as Linkedin, Facebook or specific industry portals and communities can be strong partners for B2B brands. A captive and closed community can be effective if you contribute value to the ongoing conversation.
- Comparison sites: Comparison sites sit further down the funnel, somewhere between the Lead Generators and the Closers. B2B demand-generation or marketing teams prioritize these websites because of the generally high-quality leads. However, these responsibilities often lie with affiliates equipped to efficiently track, manage and compensate these vendors.
