Affiliate marketing is a constantly evolving landscape with growing market value. Even in our current economic state, the global affiliate marketing market is expected to reach $14.3 billion by the end of 2023 and $15.7 billion in 2024. With major e-commerce holidays such as Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday becoming increasingly cluttered with participants, retailers are looking for new and innovative ways to cut through the noise. SMS presents a lucrative opportunity for many organizations with affiliate programs to cut through the chaos and meet consumers where they're at - right on their phones.
Today, we're showcasing how SMS can seamlessly integrate into current affiliate strategies to amplify engagement efforts and drive affiliate revenue. Let’s first show you a few examples of successful executions.
CNET has been a long-standing player in the deals game and has been providing consumers with the hottest and best deals delivered via SMS with their CNET Deals channel. During their Amazon Prime push, each broadcast boasted a 15%+ CTR (click-through rate) compared to the industry benchmark of 2.3% CTR via email.
Forbes Vetted utilizes their SMS channel to deliver daily deals as well as personalized product reviews and deals based on each subscriber's interests. By listening to their audience using Subtext's keyword and segmentation feature, they're able to drive meaningful engagement and revenue.
The editors at Reviewed USA TODAY run the Here's the Deal with Reviewed channel which does the leg work of testing out everyday items, so their readers don’t have to. The team texts a weekly deals’ roundup to thousands of highly engaged subscribers, utilizing SMS as an effective distribution channel.
Apartment Therapy has run SMS channels with Subtext, including their latest e-commerce campaign Cook/Shop. It's a way for subscribers to find great deals on stuff for their kitchen. Apartment Therapy texts deals weekly from the latest Prime Day deals to Wayfair's Way Day sales to favorites they've compiled themselves, they've got their audience covered.
Now that you've seen how powerful SMS can be when integrated into your affiliate marketing strategy, let us tell you about some best practices! Here's a list of our best recommendations to get your shopping SMS channel off to a booming start:
We're online shopping more than ever, with 66% of consumers identifying their phones as their single most important shopping tool. SMS allows you to target your most engaged audiences with product deals they told you they want.
Whether you're looking to ntegrate SMS into your yearlong affiliate strategy or utilize it for Cyber Monday and Amazon Prime Day to cut through the noise, we've got you covered. Reach out to set up time to talk to our SMS experts.