Want to elevate your influencer marketing? Influencer promo codes and affiliate links might be the tools you need! Both will help you track creator performance and provide the information required to evaluate campaign performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether you\u2019re new to the world of discount codes or just looking for fresh ideas, we\u2019re here to help you understand how these little codes can make a big difference in your campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An influencer promo code is usually a four- or more-digit code that followers get from a content creator to use at checkout to receive discounts on items in their cart from a particular brand. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re new to promo codes, understanding how they work and using them in your influencer strategy can offer significant benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ecommerce and DTC brands use promo codes to increase sales and better understand where their customers come from. For influencer marketing, promo codes are among the best ways to boost and track campaign success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Influencer promo codes are also easy to customize – you can create public, private, or restricted codes – and incentivize social media users to act now rather than later. It isn\u2019t easy to run a robust influencer program without discount or promo codes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Some of your audience may be \u201cwindow shopping\u201d for your products and hesitant to purchase them. Promo codes can be the final nudge they need to take the plunge and try your products. In influencer marketing, followers gravitate to brands their favorite creators love. While gaining more fans is a happy side effect, promo code use furthers your ultimate goal\u2014boosting sales. Promo codes are a powerful way to turn those hesitant followers into paying customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Depending on how you structure your promo codes, they can help you track sales attribution with surprising detail. While you may share the same promo code across multiple influencers, you can segment them by campaign, discount, product, and season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Examining the redemption data, you can see which promo code offers the most incentive for your customers to buy. You can also track seasonality and which products are best suited for specific promotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Discount codes are great for bringing new customers and can encourage your existing customers to try new products or services. New product lines, clearance items, and more are good reasons to integrate promo codes into campaigns targeting your existing customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“Getting a coupon, as hard as it is to believe, is physically shown to be more enjoyable than getting a gift.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n– <\/em>Paul J. Zak<\/em><\/a>, Claremont Graduate University\u2019s Center for Neuroeconomics Studies <\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Fewer brands are holding back on discounts and promotions, realizing they\u2019re a great way to attract new customers and enhance the customer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DTC brands, in particular, understand consumers love deals on products they want or need. Influencer discount codes offer audience members an exclusive shopping experience, making your brand even more appealing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWhat is the difference between an influencer discount code and an affiliate link?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
An influencer discount code is a unique series of numbers and characters that content creators share with their audience. It offers an exclusive discount on a brand\u2019s products, directly benefiting the consumer and helping track the effectiveness of an influencer\u2019s promotion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, an affiliate link is a unique URL that tracks sales or clicks generated by an influencer or<\/em> affiliate. The link user earns a commission from the sales made through this link, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily offer a discount to the consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both tools measure the effect of the content creator and reward them for their influence in driving sales.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Why do brands use both discount codes and affiliate links?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Affiliate links are web pages (usually landing pages) containing your brand\u2019s domain name with a unique affiliate ID at the end of the URL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because affiliate links point to your domain, they drive traffic to your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Discount codes work whether or not the web visitor used an affiliate link. These digital coupons do not necessarily drive website traffic, but they do offer a larger incentive for a potential customer to purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using both allows you to control offers and track sales more accurately, giving you a comprehensive approach to influencer marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to set up discount codes and affiliate links for your influencers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Understanding how to set up discount codes and affiliate links before getting started in influencer marketing is critical. Broken affiliate links can seriously impact your influencer campaigns, and savvy shoppers may misuse unmonitored discount codes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Discount codes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How you create and maintain your coupon codes will depend somewhat on your ecommerce platform. For example, Shopify allows vendors<\/a> to make as many as 20 million discount codes. You can customize these codes in the Discounts section on your Shopify admin account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When creating these codes, you\u2019ll want to consider the code itself (the combination of letters and numbers), the discount type, and the duration. You\u2019ll also want to pay careful attention to any discount restrictions or conditions you wish to have in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Affiliate links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can create affiliate links using marketing automation software or your CMS. You\u2019ll want to create landing pages<\/a>, each with a unique affiliate ID. Creating and managing these affiliate links can be tedious if you have more than a handful of affiliates\/influencers. However, if you have a small roster of content creators, ensure you have a Google, Excel, or Numbers sheet that tracks essential information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After creating the links, use tags to track visitor traffic and conversions. If you\u2019re using a free analytics tool like Google Analytics, you can create Goals<\/a> under the Conversions section. By doing so, you\u2019ll be able to watch consumer behavior on your links and optimize your website\u2019s UX design for greater influencer success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to set up your discount codes and affiliate links for campaign success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Anticipating the challenges with each approach will help you set your campaigns up for success. With more experience, you\u2019ll be able to leverage discount codes and affiliate links for best results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Challenges with discount codes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Some promotions will resonate with consumers better than others<\/em><\/strong>. Depending on your product and target audience, percentage discounts might perform better than dollar-off discounts and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another challenge is your profit margin<\/em><\/strong>. You shouldn\u2019t sacrifice sustainable profit margins to drive more sales. Discounts should be mutually beneficial to your brand and the shopper. At Organifi, they\u2019ve found their sweet spot in modest \u201cpercentages off\u201d discounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cAs a company, we\u2019re much more strict about the percentage off, so all our influencers are at 15% off. The reason for this was that we have a very high quality product. We wanted to make sure that the quality was still evoked even with the discount.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n– Organifi<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Lastly, some leading coupon websites try to take advantage of coupon codes in ways you may disapprove<\/em><\/strong> of<\/em><\/strong>. Monitoring who uses your codes and setting expiration dates can prevent misuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Challenges with affiliate links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Affiliate links are far less complicated than discount codes. Neglecting your affiliate links could result in broken links, untracked traffic\/conversions, and a poor user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your influencer program needs a system for organizing and maintaining these links<\/em><\/strong>. Influencers using those links depend on your marketing team to provide their audience with the best online shopping experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to scale<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Managing promo codes and affiliate links on spreadsheets and CMS platforms<\/a> is possible if you have a small influencer team. However, once your content creator roster grows beyond ten people, you will likely need a more efficient process to manage your influencer program and its resulting web traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Automation software<\/a> can save you hours of tedium and web development costs. Without an influencer-specific automation platform, you will likely burn out and miss opportunities to achieve maximum influencer ROI<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brands using influencer discount codes and affiliate links right<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Body Angel Activewear<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n