Affiliate Software Unleashed: A Comprehensive Guide to Earning Through Partnerships

Affiliate networking can be complicated while working remotely. Managing affiliate programs daily to promote products or services is a very daunting task. To bring some ease, affiliate technology has advanced and brought a comprehensive solution in the form of affiliate software. It helps marketers run, control, and optimize all affiliate marketing activities using software tools.

Today, we will discuss the potential of affiliate software in managing affiliate programs. We will also discuss how it creates growth opportunities. How does it automate affiliate operations to help marketers get off the ground?

I. What is Affiliate Marketing Software?

Affiliate marketing software enables tracking affiliate activities of several partners promoting products or services of a company. This may include customer referral programs, endorsements, or recommendations made by each partner. It enables tracking and managing all activities of an affiliate program like:

• Customer IP detection.
• Browser detection.
• Advertiser’s completed transaction.
• Affiliate onboarding.
• Link tracking.
• Commission payments.
• Customizing tracking codes.
• Choosing different link styles.

Affiliate management software also provides data that can be used to optimize visitor traffic. Companies can regularly check data to know about the type of visitors affiliate partners drive to their sites. Analyzing this data can help merchants and marketers:

• Target the right audience.
• Attract loyal customers.
• Make one-time buyers a recurring source of revenue streams.

Additionally, affiliate software automates the process of analyzing certain metrics, marketing efforts, and assigning rewards for affiliate partners. The activities of visitors are observed and statistics are recorded to generate reports and affiliate rewards. The activities include:

• Page views.
• Sales results.
• Number of generated contacts.
• Impressions of links and banners.

Simply, you need this software to generate affiliate links and manage them. The best thing is that this software can be customized according to the needs of a company. That means you do not need to pay additionally for each sale and abide by the policies of affiliate networks.

II. How Does an Affiliate Marketing Program Work?

An affiliate marketing program is the process in which several affiliate partners join a business to help it promote its products or services. In return, they receive a portion of each sale as a commission. Hence, both partners benefit from this deal. The deal begins with the affiliate

• Searching for a good product
• Promoting it on his website
• Getting a piece of profit from each sale

This way, an affiliate earns from the products of someone else without making any investment. The process of affiliate marketing divides the responsibilities of product marketing among several parties. Also, these individuals combine to design a more effective marketing strategy while getting a share of the profit.

3 parties are involved in this process to make things work:

1. Sellers and Creators (Affiliate Network)

Have a product to market. The seller could be a large enterprise, solo entrepreneur, merchant, retailer, or retailer. While the product may be a physical object or a service.

2. The Advertiser or Affiliate Partner

A company or individual that promotes the seller’s product in appealing ways to the potential audience. An affiliate convinces the consumers that the product is beneficial to them.

3. The Consumer

Follows affiliate links and purchases on the seller’s website.

The process might seem simple but involves complex things like tracking progress and making frequent reports. Several networking platforms help companies manage these operations. However, affiliate software is an exclusive tool to automate all the dealings between a merchant and an affiliate.

It relieves their workload of marketing products on a vast level. Affiliates do this for a profit share and affiliate marketing software records all the ongoing activities in real time.

III. Benefits of Using Affiliate Management Software for Your Business

Using affiliate software to manage, track, and optimize the performance of your offers can benefit your business in several ways.

1. Solid Tracking of Data

Affiliate marketing tracking software provides all partners and stakeholders tools that aid in:

• Generating and assigning links to affiliates.
• Tracking links to determine clicks, page views, purchases, impressions, or transactions.
• Seamlessly generating commission earned by each affiliate program.

These tools enable companies to build a trust level with their affiliates so that they confidently promote your products or services.

2. User-Friendly Dashboard

A user-friendly dashboard helps your affiliates navigate easily on the affiliate marketing platform. Reports are regularly generated with an organized replacement. It allows your affiliates to experience a seamless tool to track and manage reports. These reports are highly crucial in streamlining your business growth like:

• You can see customized views and impressions in real-time to get a better understanding of visitors.
• You can track visitors and turn them into loyal customers.
• Find yourself the right marketing partner.
• Find the best affiliates and customers.

Plus, you also have the freedom to customize this interface as per your needs.

3. Security and Privacy

Affiliate software maintains the security and privacy of all your partnerships to secure financial value. It tries so hard to avert any sort of fraudulent activities in software affiliate programs. Such activities have a large spectrum and may appear in several sizes and shapes. This may include

• Domain squatting
• Spamming by email
• Creating webpages with similar names
• And many other tactics

This is why, it is critical to choose an affiliate software that uses its own server rather than a third-party server. That means your data and statistics are private to the software and no external source would be able to breach in. Hence, it ensures a secure and stable affiliate system to rely on.

4. Automation

A great affiliate software tool automates much of the process for you to save loads of time. It generates real-time data and reports to help you make informed choices. This can be the overall strategy to launch an affiliate campaign and drive sales. Not only that, you get access to several automated systems that can even include payment and payout processes.

5. Integration

You might be already working with any successful affiliate marketing program or network. Now, choosing the best affiliate marketing application should not be complex for you. One must not feel forced to alter the system altogether for using a new software. To help with this, affiliate software comes with easy integrations. You only need to check the tools this software sets well with like:

• eCommerce affiliate marketing platform.
• Email marketing software.
• Customer support.

IV. Features to Look For in Affiliate Tracking Software

Want to try a top-notch affiliate tracking software but do not know which features to look for? Below are listed some must-have features for the best affiliate marketing software. Have a look!

1. Affiliate Program Management

A great affiliate marketing application must be capable of:

1. Onboarding affiliates.
2. Tracking affiliates promoting your products or services.
3. Counting associated sales.
4. Creating and sharing contracts.
5. Making payments.
6. Design digital banners to promote your products.
7. Launch affiliate campaigns.

2. Tracking and Reporting Capabilities

Your ideal affiliate link software must be able to thoroughly track:

• Page views.
• Affiliate sales tracking.
• Referral program.
• Unlimited affiliates.
• Automated emails to affiliates.
• Customizable reports.
• Fraud protection.
• Real-time tracking features.

After tracking all these indicators, the software generates results and reports to let you make informed changes. It ensures your decisions are based on the latest information and can impart a maximum positive impact on your partnerships and sales.

You can also further drill down analytics to break down performance in each segment. It allows you to check engagement events or sales driven by your affiliates.

3. Affiliate Management, Commission, and Payout Options

The tool efficiently automates the process of commissions and payouts through:

• Conversions or sales tracking.
• Calculating associated commission.
• Facilitating online payments.

This feature eliminates the possibility of human error in calculating commissions or making payments. Hence, the affiliate marketing software automatically tracks everything and ensures timely compensation for partners. It also streamlines administrative tasks to improve the overall efficiency of an affiliate software program.

4. Integrations With Other Tools and Platforms

While picking an affiliate software, look for the available integrations it offers. Here is a quick checklist:

• What shopping cart solutions and e-commerce platforms does it work with?
• Is it compatible with customer support software?
• Does it integrate with customer relationship software?
• What type of email marketing solutions does it easily connect with?

You can also ensure an affiliate management program without computer access. Your software must be capable of running on mobile to give you the freedom to access, track, and manage all data from the ease of any place.

5. Ease of Use and User Interface

One of the main features of affiliate software is an easy-to-navigate dashboard. This is the interface of any affiliate marketing platform that establishes the first interaction with a visitor. It must be frustration-free to enable visitors to avoid any hurdle in understanding the statistics and options available.

The best affiliate software has an organized interface with regularly generated reports. Merchants and affiliates can easily explore and use every option to build trust and confidence with the company they are working with.

Even while setting up the software in your system, you do not need to reinvent the wheel. No additional tools, software, or plug-ins are required to implement the software in your affiliate management program. They individually work in the form of web apps running on browsers to avert any chances of fraud or data breach. You also get an option to download a desktop version of the application.

6. Customer Support and Training Resources

Working with an affiliate network software is never from the human touch. From purchasing to installing and putting the tool to work, look for dedicated support from a stellar affiliate team of professionals. They must always be ready to offer you help. This support system may include:

• Integration Team: Help people set up the software.
• Customer Services Management Team: Answer all queries and resolve any issues you face.

A great affiliate marketing software is ready to resolve customer queries at any time. It is responsive, listens to their problems, and finds them a good solution.

V. Tips for Choosing the Right Affiliate Software for Marketing Efforts

Selecting the right affiliate software can be challenging. With plenty of options available, it is difficult to find one that can perfectly address your business needs. A lot of important features and tools are essential for grabbing the best affiliate program software.

Below are some tips to help you decide which affiliate software can adequately address your business needs.

1. Defined Business Goals

Defining business goals is an important prerequisite to finding the best affiliate software. Here is a checklist to ask yourself what you want in your affiliate tool:

• Is the tool easy to use?
• How efficient is its analytics and reports generating capability?
• Is it equipped with all the features I need for my business?
• Does it seamlessly track leads, sales, and commissions in real time?

Consider answering all the questions to make the best affiliate purchase of your life. You can see the comparison section of affiliate marketing software to see which tool fits well in your criteria. Some tools also offer free trials so you can try exploring them before making a purchase.

2. Do Your Research

To gain a successful affiliate marketing program, it is a brilliant way to do research by yourself. You can visit the official pages of these tools to learn about their features and prices. Moreover, you can check review pages to know what people are experiencing after using them. In the next section, we have compared and summarized some popular tools to help you save time and energy.

3. Compare Features

Before investing in any affiliate software, it’s crucial to compare the features offered by different providers. Look for software that offers comprehensive tracking and reporting functionalities, as well as features like a customizable affiliate dashboard and easy integration with your existing systems.

Additionally, consider the scalability of the software to ensure that it can handle the growth of your affiliate program in the future. By comparing features, you can find software that aligns with your specific needs and goals.

4. Read Online Reviews

To get a better understanding of the user experience and the effectiveness of affiliate software, take the time to read online reviews. Platforms like Trustpilot and G2 Crowd offer valuable insights from real users who have already implemented the software.

Look for reviews that highlight the software’s strengths and weaknesses, ease of use, customer support, and overall satisfaction. Reading reviews will give you a better idea of what to expect from the software and can help you identify any potential red flags.

5. Define Your Budget

While exploring different affiliate software, make sure to define your budget. It will help you make sure your desired features are not exceeding the limit. There might be some expensive options with advanced tools and features. However, plenty of affordable options are also available that offer a diverse range of tools to cover all your needs.

6. Get a Free Trial

One of the best ways to gauge whether affiliate software meets you requirements is to try it for yourself. Many affiliate software providers offer free trials or demos to potential customers. Take advantage of these offers and use the trial period to test the software’s functionality and assess its user-friendliness.

During the trial, pay attention to the ease of setting up and managing campaigns, tracking and reporting accuracy, and the overall user interface. By experiencing the software firsthand, you can determine whether it’s the right fit for your marketing efforts.

VI. Popular Affiliate Marketing Tracking Software on The Market

Learn about some popular affiliate marketing tracking software on the market to get the best of all. Their pricing, usage, pros, and cons are given to help you make a great choice.

1. Kiflo

Best for: Small business, medium business, large enterprise.

Kiflo is an amazing affiliate software that facilitates partner onboarding with a super clean and organized interface. This is an all-in-one partner platform that levels up the success of your partners without stress.

Pros:

• Integrates with Crisp, Pipedrive, HubSpot CRM, Zapier, Zendesk, and Salesforce.
• Incredibly responsive and genuine customer support.
• Advanced tools to manage your referral, affiliate, and reseller partners.
• Comprehensive insights and data-driven marketing strategies to grow your affiliate partner program.
• Track and organize both inbound and outbound programs.

Cons:

• No Learning Management Solution (LMS) to allow affiliates to become certified partners.

Pricing:

• Free plan for 14 days.
• Two paid plans customized to your business needs. No startup fees or hidden charges are implemented.
• Limited payment options. Kiflo offers only Visa, American Express, and MasterCard payments.

2. Relavate

Best for: All types of partners and software vendors.

Relavate is an all-in-one partner affiliate management software to help businesses track and manage all affiliates in one place. It broadens your sales force, generates more leads that convert, and scales your growth.

Pros:

• Free trial without requiring a credit card.
• All-in-one platform to onboard partners and power them.
• Integrates well with Xero, Zapier, Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Asana, Pipedrive, and Quickbooks.
• Highly cost-effective platform with an easy-to-use interface.
• Immersive features to invite partners, accept or reject them, or negotiate further details.
• Allows admin to contract partners with defined terms.
• Stores history and partner agreements.
• Provides all the support and resources to partners to help them close more deals.
• Tracks the performance of affiliates with real-time results and reports on your partner’s sales pipeline.
• Partners payouts are made based on the rules you set.

Pricing: 14-day free trial.

Three paid plans:

1. Standard: $29/month. Best for basic partner programs.
2. Pro: $49/month. Best for scaling and maturing partner programs.
3. Advanced: $59/month. Best for a full-fledged partner program.

3. Allbound

Best for: Marketing and sales team.

Allbound is an affiliate software that helps you unleash the power of affiliate relationships. With this tool, you get complete control over your partnership program as an affiliate manager. Your partners log in to Allbound and access all the required tools to promote your products or services.

Pros:

• Simple to use and configure.
• Willingness and responsiveness to listen to their customers.
• Content library with unlimited storage and the ability to restrict certain materials.
• Automated co-branding to maintain presentation standards and save time.
• Content management tool to adjust groups, visibility, and engagement.
• Integrates with HubSpot, Tango, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Sugar CRM, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and ZOHO.
• Makes your brand credible by providing certifications to your affiliate partners.

Cons:

• Room for adding more filtering options to drill down analytics.
• Missing ability to clone or re-order content.
• More options are required to customize the dashboard view for partner users and admins.

Pricing: They offer custom pricing according to customer’s needs.

4. PartnerStack

Best for Mid-MarketB2B SaaS companies who need an ambassador, reseller, or another marketing partner.

PartnerStack is an affiliate software designed to help B2B SaaS companies and startup programs.

Pros:

• Easy-to-use interface.
• Descriptive of the entire affiliate program, like the products and reward for promoting them.
• Excellent customer support.
• Thorough referral tracking system.
• Manages payouts and referrals with minimum effort
• Top-notch Customer Success Manager to optimize user experience.

Cons:

• Lack of direct integrations with CRM.
• A little expensive compared to other affiliate software.
• Limited payment options for international affiliates. You get only Stripe and Paypal.
• Difficulty removing affiliate partner programs you are not a member of anymore.

Pricing:

• For the first year, the annual fee is $5000.
• It also offers personalized plans that fit the needs of your company.
• You get access to features like methodology, technology, and coaching to kick-start your first affiliate program.

5. Partnerize

Best for: Affiliate marketers.

Partnerize is an amazing affiliate software that provides partnership management to maximize your profits. Basically, it is a SaaS partner automation platform that facilitates all sorts of partnerships.

Pros:

• Increases affiliate channel performance by managing affiliates all around the globe.
• Manages and tracks all affiliate partners in one central location.
• No setup fee is required.
• Brand and anti-fraud protection.
• Responsive customer support system.
• Straightforward and quick integrations with multiple platforms.

Cons:

• No free trial.
• The interface may be difficult to navigate for some users.
• The mobile version is not as amazing as the desktop one.

Pricing: Customized according to customer’s needs.

6. Affise

Best For: Affiliate networks and performance agencies.

Affise is an all-in-one partner marketing solution to maximize the growth of your business. It has all the necessary tools to manage your affiliate software program from one dashboard. It has three platforms to level up your business:

• Affise Performance Marketing Platform: It is designed for digital agencies and affiliate networks. It is equipped with high-class tools like automation, analytics, and fraud protection.
• Affise Mobile Attribution: This feature comes equipped with advanced tools to help you track, optimize, and level up your app’s performance.
• Affise Reach: It allows you to scale and automate your affiliate partnerships.

Pros:

• A good platform with a supportive team.
• Advanced features to individually manage each segment of your affiliate program.
• Less downtime compared to other affiliate software available in the market.
• Detailed analytics and solid affiliate tracking tools.

Cons:

• Tech issues may result in the loss of revenue.
• Limited options to get a comprehensive report of your metrics to analyze it for further prospects.
• Steep pricing plans for smaller businesses.

Pricing:

Affise offers three pricing plans:

1. $500: Entry-level plan for small networks and agencies that need only core features.
2. $800: Scale plan for medium-sized networks and agencies that need advanced tools and support.
3. $1500: Custom plan for large networks and agencies that need comprehensive capabilities and support.

7. Impartner

Best for: Those who like to have more customization features.

Impartner is an effortless pathway to communicate and collaborate with your brand’s affiliates. It is equipped with diversified tools to optimize and amplify your sales and keep your partners happy.

Pros:

• Full range of powerful tools available in a single view.
• Well integrates with other platforms like Oracle, Pipedrive, Salesforce, NetSuite, Zoho, and Hubspot.
• Free trial.
• Seamless integration with Microsoft 365.
• Extensive video library for training.
• Options to log in as a reseller.

Cons:

• May include a setup fee.
• Hard to implement
• Data tracking and documentation can be improved.
• Steep pricing plans that are not suitable for everyone.
• May need a lot of dedication to understand the platform.
• There must be present templates to ease creating new pages.

Pricing: They offer different plans with custom pricing based on customer’s needs.

8. Impact

Best for: Professional influencers, marketers, creators, and SaaS companies.

Impact is an affiliate management partnership program that enables you to build a high-value relationship that benefits both partners. To make it happen, it offers more than your business can afford. Within limited resources and budget, it helps businesses achieve higher growth goals and drive more market share.

Pros:

• Easy to comprehend user interface.
• Has its own marketplace to help you find the right partners.
• Fantastic customer support.
• Detailed performance metrics.
• Reliable and solid tracking and reporting.
• Easy to share referral links and see the number of clicks.
• Large selection of brand assets and banners to utilize.
• Equipped with Learning Management Solution (LMS).
• Easy application process and communication opportunities.

Cons:

• No free trial.
• Can have more affiliate options.
• The onboarding process can be difficult for new affiliates.
• A little complex API implementation.
• Room for upgrading user interface.
• Thousands of advertisers make the market overwhelming.

Pricing:

• Starter Plan: $500
• Pro Plan: $2500
• Enterprise Plan: $5000

VII. Conclusion

The affiliate marketing industry is not new. It has been here for around decades. With growing online platforms and technology, its potential has multiplied manifolds. Brands launch massive affiliate programs spending millions of dollars to expand their business and maximize sales.

However, it is complicated for companies to manage and track several affiliate channels working to promote their products. Thanks to affiliate marketing software, much of the process is now automated.

Affiliates onboarding, tracking sales, commissions, and impressions, timely payments, and payout, are all automated to save human time and minimize errors. An affiliate link software also generates reports to help you dig down the analytics and devise a better functional strategy. If you want one such comprehensive solution for your business, Relavate is all you need to grab.