Targeted at advertisers and agencies, the survey will provide a health report for an affiliate industry that reported 8% year-on-year growth in the UK back in April.
With many businesses involved in affiliate marketing reporting bumper performance across the year as well as significant peak season, Black Friday growth, it also gives the UK Affiliates and Partnerships Group an opportunity to take stock and prioritise work that could help drive additional spend next year.
The survey marks the first time the UK IAB Affiliates & Partnerships Group has collaborated with another local IAB to create a multi-national view on the affiliate channel. The Australian Affiliate Marketing Working Group has just closed its third annual survey with results expected in January. The UK data will be collated alongside that from Australia. By running a survey concurrently with the Australian affiliates group, brands eyeing future international expansion will be able to see what commonalities exist between the two markets.
The questionnaire also seeks to understand how the events of 2020 have impacted affiliate marketing spend in the UK while attempting to understand what challenges and barriers the industry faces.
GroupM, WPP’s media buying agency, anticipates digital marketing will grow globally by around 8% in 2020 despite the overall drop in advertising budgets. With digital spend expected to surge again in 2021 by almost a quarter, it is an important time to understand how important performance marketing channels are in delivering that growth next year.
In light of this expected increase and with e-commerce sales surging by 40% in 2020, the survey asks what barriers exist that stop brands investing more in the affiliate channel. The results will be used to inform future projects of the Affiliates and Partnerships Group in the UK. Other areas covered in the survey include tracking, the affiliate mix on affiliate programmes, attribution and what issues are important as we enter 2021.
For the first 50 completed surveys, the UK IAB will make a donation to the Trussell Trust which is working to stop UK hunger and poverty. Every completed survey will also be entered into a draw to win a £50 Not on the High Street voucher, donated by Awin.
The survey, which takes no more than ten minutes to complete, is open to all brands and agencies and closes next week. It’s supported by all members of the Affiliate and Partnerships Group including Acceleration Partners, Awin, Impact, Optimise Media, Partnerize and Rakuten Advertising.
Recently the IAB published a quick guide to what to expect from the affiliate channel in 2021 alongside some new case studies demonstrating the success of the channel to their wider digital audience.