The UK affiliate network affilinet has launched an integrated content sharing platform, aimed at automating the sharing process of its advertisers’ image, video and text content with affiliates.
The platform, dubbed ‘Connect’, presents affiliates on the network with a running stream of available content from advertisers presenting a tailored fit, negating the need for affiliates to contact them individually.
With around 700,000 affiliates on the network’s books across Europe, the service – which will offer personalised recommendations – also pledges to be a boon for new affiliate discovery.
Affilinet says Connect arrives as a result of increasing demand for content-based advertising as display formats lose further ground to a wide scale use of ad blocker software, which according to the IAB UK’s last estimate sits at around 22% among British adults.
Streamlining processes
Previously, content-focused affiliates were faced with the “time-consuming and inefficient” process of referring to each individual advertiser in order to find the resources they wanted to feature on their channels.
Affilinet’s UK MD, Helen Southgate, said: “For a long time now we have felt that affiliates do not get given enough content to help them promote advertisers, and in turn advertisers are not engaging with customers through affiliates in the most creative and effective way.”
“We launched affilinet Connect to enable advertisers to ensure that all affiliates can easily access new, exciting and rich content and that affiliates are inspired to promote existing, and new advertisers and can improve their success by engaging with consumers in a much more creative way.”
With currently just four brands on board, the network claimed today’s launch marks the “first phase” of the platform, but pointed at a number of developments to follow in the coming months, including improvements to Connect’s personalised recommendations for its European advertiser and publisher clients.
Additional penned updates include establishing a “communications centre” and improved CRM capabilities, allowing for advertisers to better signal their content offerings to affiliates.
PerformanceIN spoke to Helen Southgate about the effect of ad blockers on the affiliate channel at Performance Marketing Insights. You can watch the full interview here.