Affiliate marketing is a massive industry, and there are so many tools already in development that can help affiliates get the data they need to improve their business. However, there are plenty of improvements that are still to be made, particularly in the realm of tracking innovation. This is one area of affiliate marketing that needs further development to better help detect weaknesses in programs and aid with full optimisation.
Streamlining dashboards
While many platforms have a comprehensive list of tracking platforms that will help you keep track of various analytics, they can be very difficult to hunt down for those who have just come onto the platform.
Though an affiliate may be able to track down the data that they might need for analysis, it could be expressed in a way that is not the most accessible, or even buried somewhere further within the system. For this reason, many dashboards need an overhaul They need to make performance far easier to track so that action can be taken at a moment’s notice if needed. This type of tracking innovation might require many programs to rework their dashboard’s UI, but it could be a change that will help massively with onboarding new affiliates and preparing them to work in the program.
Real-time data insights for publishers
Affiliates need to know which of their publishers perform the best, and which of them it might be better to drop. Working out these insights can often mean having to pull CSV files from a tracking platform – something that can take time and resources that an affiliate can better invest elsewhere.
A good tracking innovation here would see these insights available to affiliates without having to access these files. Being able to pull from analytics instantly, in real-time, across any combination of parameters, would be a massive bonus for all affiliates.
Further automation
Plenty of industries are benefiting from the introduction of further automation and smart AI, all of which can help with analysis and the simplification of various processes. Automation is only going to become more commonplace, so affiliates should ensure that they are making use of these tracking innovation tools whenever the chance to use them does arise.
After all, a lot of time can be lost on small daily admin tasks. Automating these tasks will free up time for affiliates that they can then spend searching for leads and driving results in other areas.
Affiliate marketing is incredibly complex, but there is still plenty of scope for innovation and changes that you could make in multiple areas. All affiliate managers should be on the look out for tools that can make the work of them and their affiliates that bit easier to manage. Whether it is in tracking innovation or some other aspect of affiliate management, there are plenty of areas that can still be changed. Who knows what types of tools we could see emerging for affiliates to use in the future.