The unprecedented COVID19 pandemic has not only hit the economy globally but has also put businesses in an extremely tight spot, including Affiliate Marketing.
The consumer’s behavior post the lockdown is highly unpredictable and such the marketers are trepidatious of what is in store.
At indianaffiliateprograms.in, we have always tried to help the readers set up their affiliate sites or given them insights to earn more earnings.
In this article, we shall delve deeper to understand the current fiasco and the challenges it has posed. The below topics shall be covered in this article:
- Impact of COVID19 on Affiliate marketing.
- Understanding the marketing condition and niche.
- The Industries to focus on.
Let us first understand how the affiliate marketing industry in India has been impacted
- Decline in Ad Revenues – With most brands on a cost-cutting spree, and consumer behavior and their spending ways gone for a toss, the ad revenues are gradually going down. Brands might not use their marketing budget for one or more business quarters. This means that the commission rates might be slashed by publishers. Also, affiliates might earn less with lower CPM and CPCs.
- Delay in fulfilling demands – The entire supply chain has been impacted. So even if you are jumping on to a sector which is doing good during these times, the offers and payouts might be impacted.
- Redundancy of some offers – Because of most businesses being hit by the pandemic, many affiliate offers might get redundant. E-commerce, Travel, and service-based industry offers have come to a standstill or have had to be canceled. While these have impacted the affiliate and their sales, other industries have slowly opened up newer avenues.
As the world grapples to cope up and come out of this cacophony, we need to be calm and focussed and study the trend and niche to be in the game.
Understanding the market condition and niche
COVID19 was unprecedented and did not give any business time to prepare for the crisis.
However, in the past months, as an affiliate marketer, one must assess the marketing domains and see where it stands to prepare the future.
The prominent developments happening are enlisted below:
- Paradigm shift to online – While digital has always been the future, COVID19 has made people realise the importance of taking their businesses online. Not just fashion and lifestyle, but your food and medicines too – Online is the future.
- E-commerce is still up and running – True that most e-commerce sites have seen a decline in sales. But it is primarily because some cities and delivery companies are not functioning. Consumers are placing lesser orders because they fear delayed delivery. However, with a relief in the lockdown norms, be prepared to have a surge in the traffic to e-commerce portals as most people will order essentials online.
- The flagship product might not be the USP – For brands and advertisers, the dynamics have changed. An online pharmacy website might experience low footfalls for their regular products but see a rise for sanitisers and masks. As affiliates, one must keep an eye not just on the website but the performing products too. A company’s secondary products might hold the key. Some of the affiliates and businesses are in dire straits because of the lookdown and a change in consumer behaviour. On the other hand, many different industry verticals have stood the test of time and are emerging more reliable with their products and services.
New Opportunities:
As an affiliate, we must be cognizant of the current trends and assess if our niche, audience, or traffic can be capitalized to earn some money.
The industries seeing a positive spree of sales and traffic are enlisted below:
- e-commerce – Well, a universe in itself, eCommerce has been the go-to place for people for almost every essential. Medicines, groceries, to dairy products to cosmetic elements, e-commerce will only gain a stronger footing in days to come.
- e-Learning – Touted to be the future for quite some time now, e-learning tools and brands are now slowly entering the mainstream. With children home quarantined, the e-learning products and, online classes are becoming more popular in every household. This vertical must be analyzed for their commission rates and tapped
- Communication Softwares– With the country locked in and people having no choice but to work from home the communication software is seeing humongous demands. Zoom, Hangout, Google Meet, and CISCO Webex are among the most popular tools being used by business folks. As affiliates, one can explore their referral and partner programs.
- Entertainment & Gaming– can you imagine spending the lockdown without entertainment? Be it binge-watching your favourite shows on your preferred video-on-demand platform or engaging in some fun online games, the digital entertainment industry has seen a spike in their subscribers. While it is true that platforms that were running on an advertisement video-on-demand model have seen a decline in their revenues, the fact that hereon digital entertainment in India will see a spike cant be undermined. Add to this the fact that theatre and multiplexes are to remain shut in the coming days, and the Entertainment industry is undoubtedly one vertical to look out for.
- Pharmacy – A no-brainer during these uncertain times – Pharmacy is the need of the hour. Websites selling medicines online are one of the most sought after. They are not just delivering medicines but are also engaged in selling other essential medical devices and survival kits like sanitizers, gloves, and face masks. With so much competition in this vertical, advertisers are running multiple offers, discounts, and referral programs on their portals. As an affiliate, one can cache on this and promote the links and banners of these companies.
Affiliate Tips to brace up to future challenges
As evident from the above categories, all is not lost amidst the plethora of challenges in the affiliate market.
With things gradually and seamlessly drifting towards the online medium, newer options are bound to pop up. As an affiliate, you can follow these simple mundane tips:
- Be vigilant of what is happening around you and the other industries. This shall keep you in good stead as things gradually start easing out.
- Be up to date on the new and evolving trends. Not just with the industry and the niche but also in terms of the software and tools.
- Keep engagement with your audience and site visitors as at the end of the day, they are your leads and conversions. Articles and write-ups of the latest happenings, surviving these tough times, coping with the financial worries and guides to earn good earnings, and invest in a post COVID19 world are some of the ways you can keep them engaged on your sites.
These are simple tips to keep the affiliate spirit up and running.
Thrive and Survive Amid the COVID19 Crisis
It is important to note that new business solutions emerge out of a problem. True that COVID19 is much beyond a business problem with the amount of impact it has had on businesses worldwide.
But the fact remains that, this downturn has opened up myriad avenues and opportunities in parallel industry verticals and also bringing about a change in consumer behavior.
The online ecosystem with mobile apps being the key beneficiary.
A mobile affiliate marketer must engage with and adapt to the latest technology trends to survive and thrive in this crisis.
