Turning a blind eye on anything with a trace of doubt is never the answer. In affiliate marketing, this has never been truer. Malpractice within the marketing industry, like any other industry, must not be allowed to deter better policing practices. Even though acts of malpractice like making use of malware is now illegal, back when it happened, it was neither illegal, nor went against any of the existing terms and conditions of their contract. It nevertheless left a lot of brands with unpleasant experiences.
That left a lot to be desired though, as many felt that the harm had been done, and there was no possible way of regulating the practice at that point.
Then came search marketing. And display advertising. And the speed at which new methods of online marketing come into play, makes existing practices somewhat obsolete, especially in the case of affiliate marketing. Result? The exodus of advertisers and brands to newer strategies and concepts leaves virtually no room for in-depth understanding of existing practices.
Since, affiliate marketing incorporates a slightly more technical tactic than the usual base online advertising models, people, and brands, tend to stay away from what could be a major strategic partnership channel. The absence of a single voice and opinion to motivate and attract affiliate marketing adoption has not helped either. And this has been a critical factor in instigating more distrust and blame on affiliate marketing.
On the other end of the spectrum, brands that have taken the time to educate themselves about this particular channel have benefited immensely from doing so. Repeatedly, companies have put this marketing channel to their use and have the positive results to show for it. This claim can be further justified by how online companies like Amazon and eBay, the largest affiliate marketing campaigns in the world, have adopted affiliate marketing as a division within themselves, and run affiliate marketing operations globally, giving control to the process.
Balancing the conversations to bring to light the potentials for affiliate marketing, even in this age of search and display advertising conversions, can help to unearth both the positive and the negative aspects of this channel. And even though there are inherent risks with affiliate marketing, like all channels, provided there is active monitoring and evaluation allowing for opportunity risk management, the benefits will far outweigh the risks. Possibly tilting the risk-reward profile to the brand advantage.
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