One of the greatest things about affiliate marketing is that it’s measurable, so you can continuously monitor user data and whether your content resonates with your customers. And if you’re an advertiser, you can also track your affiliates to ensure the right attribution and timely payouts.
Read on to learn more about the most critical affiliate metrics to track so you can get the most out of your affiliate campaigns as a publisher or advertiser.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are numerical representations of certain aspects of a campaign’s performance, like click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, earnings per click (EPC), customer lifetime value (CLV), and return on investment (ROI).
Among other things, KPIs for affiliate marketing help you evaluate whether your current strategies align with your goals. Advertisers (merchants) and affiliates (publishers) may use the same KPIs, but they will have different meanings for them.
For publishers, monitoring affiliate marketing metrics means having a better view of their campaigns and potentially becoming the top performers in their niche, earning the highest commissions. With consistent affiliate marketing tracking, publishers get enough historical data to determine what they need to change to generate more leads or sales.
Here are the 7 most important affiliate marketing metrics for publishers:
Generally speaking, it’s how many times users see your content. Low impressions indicate poor content visibility, wrong targeting, low demand, or technical issues. Impressions are also the denominator in other affiliate marketing KPIs, such as click-through and conversion rates.
CTR is the percentage of people who see an advertisement and click on it, demonstrating whether the ad sparks interest. The average CTR ranges from 0.5% to 5%.
➝Click-Through Rate (CTR) = (Clicks/Impressions) * 100%
CR shows how many visitors completed a targeted action, whether signup, download, or purchase. The average СR for affiliate marketing is 0.5% to 3%.
➝Conversion Rate (CR) = (Conversions/Impressions) * 100%
Sales volume shows all transactions generated through the affiliate’s efforts. Generally speaking, the more sales volume affiliates produce, the more valuable they become for the advertiser.
➝Sales Volume = Number of Sales * Price per Sale
EPC shows the approximate earnings per click. For example, if the ad generates 1000 clicks and $100 in earnings, the EPC is $0,1.
➝Earnings Per Click (EPC) = Total Earnings/Total Clicks
CPA shows the campaign’s average conversion cost or how much you pay to acquire a lead. For example, a high CPA means you may need to think about how you can produce content cheaper.
➝Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) = Total Campaign Spend/Number of Acquisitions
ROI gives you a clear picture of whether your marketing efforts are financially worthwhile. A positive ROI means that the campaign generates more revenue than it costs to run, while a negative ROI indicates that you spend more money generating clients than they spend with your business.
Return on Investment (ROI) = (Revenue−Cost)/Cost * 100%
While impressions or sales volume are still crucial, there are several affiliate marketing metrics that may not seem important while still being essential:
TTFA is the average time it takes for a user to complete their first measurable action on the page. Short TTFA demonstrates that the page is engaging, while longer TTFA indicates potential issues: unclear CTAs, slow landing pages, poor targeting, etc.
➝TTFA = Sum of Time Taken to First Action for All Users / Total Number of Users Taking Action
TTFP is the average time it takes for a user to make their first purchase after clicking on an affiliate link. A shorter TTFP shows a well-optimized affiliate journey and high intent among users, while a longer TTFP might indicate friction points in the sales funnel.
➝TTFP = Sum of Time Taken to Convert for All Users/Total Number of Converting Users
For example, if three users take 2, 4, and 6 hours to make their first purchase, the TTFP is (2+4+6)/3 = 4 hours.
Split-test success rate shows how effective your improvements are:
➝Success Rate = (New Variant Metric – Control Metric) / Control Metric * 100%
Let’s say you’re split-testing two versions of a landing page. The original version (control) gets 250 conversions from 10,000 visitors, and the new version gets 300 conversions from the same number of visitors: Success Rate = (3% – 2,5%) / 2,5% × 100% = 20%. In this case, the new version has a 20% higher conversion rate than the original version.
Engagement affiliate marketing metrics are key indicators of how effectively the content captures and maintains user interest.
Here are some not-so-common engagement metrics:
| Time on page | The average amount of time users spend on a page |
| Timer per session | The average time a user spends on your website during a single visit |
| Pages per session | How many pages users browse before leaving the website |
| Scroll depth | How far users scroll down a page |
Unlike one-off sales, these KPIs focus on the ability to retain customers over time and generate consistent revenue. Customer Retention Rate (CRR) shows the percentage of customers who continue to purchase the advertisers’ products through the link of the chosen affiliate. Low CRR suggests that affiliates that your marketing efforts are more focused on one-time sales rather than nurturing long-term relationships with customers.
Recurring revenue is the income generated by a customer who makes ongoing purchases or subscribes to services over an extended period of time. The higher the recurring revenue, the higher the customer lifetime value.
Advertisers use similar KPIs as affiliates, but those have a different meaning for them:
| Return on Investment (ROI) | ROI is the most important metric for advertisers because it shows whether the campaign is worth the investment. |
| Cost per Acquisition (CPA) | CPA shows whether acquiring certain customers is worth it. |
| Conversion Rate (CR) | CR helps merchants determine the effectiveness of their affiliates. |
| Earnings per Click (EPC) | EPC helps advertisers assess how effectively affiliates are driving revenue with the clicks they generate. |
| Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) | LTV shows the total value of the average customer. |
| Sales Volume | Sales volume helps advertisers assess the direct financial impact of their affiliate marketing campaign. |
| Refund Rate | The refund rate is the percentage of sales that are refunded by customers, indicating the quality of traffic, targeting, and the product itself. |
Affiliate marketing metrics are the backbone of performance analysis. By focusing on important metrics, advertisers and affiliates can gain valuable insights to refine their strategies, allocate resources efficiently, and ultimately grow their bottom line.
Profitise is a leading insurance and solar affiliate network for affiliates who are selling quality web leads and phone calls. With hundreds of businesses already joined and even more to come, Profitise is a to-go place to monetize your traffic.
With Profitise, you get:
Sell leads with Profitise as an affiliate.
Affiliates are individuals or organizations that promote products or services online on behalf of merchants (advertisers) in exchange for a commission.
Marketing metrics are quantifiable data points used to assess the effectiveness of marketing efforts: ROI, sales volume, conversion, engagement rates, etc.
Affiliate contract monitoring is a practice of monitoring affiliates’ compliance with affiliate agreements. It’s crucial for both parties: Affiliates can be sure that they comply with all program terms, preventing potential payment disputes, while advertisers can safeguard brand integrity, avoid fraud, and ensure they get quality traffic.
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