What is performance marketing and how does it work?


With the introduction of performance marketing in the eCommerce business scenario, it has changed the way of advertising and selling products online. Tracking and measuring the success of marketing campaigns has become much easier with performance marketing in comparison to traditional marketing efforts. The fine line that separates profitable marketing efforts from the waste of resources and time can be eliminated with performance marketing.

What is performance marketing?

Performance marketing refers to marketing and advertising programs online in which marketers or retailers i.e., the advertisers pay the affiliates or publishers i.e., the marketing company when a specific action is completed. It comes in all sizes and shapes.

Basically, it is based on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ pricing model. Whether you are looking for website traffic, new leads, downloads for your app, or sales, this marketing model makes you pay after the goals are achieved.

Benefits of performance marketing

When it comes to using performance marketing, companies use it for the benefits it offers. Here are a few important benefits of performance marketing.

• Measurable

One of the main benefits that performance marketing offers is that it can be measured. You can monitor all the metrics of your campaigns and make necessary changes based on the data you have collected. Tracking performance becomes much easier with performance marketing.

• ROI focussed

Keeping track of your ROI (return on investment) at any point in time is possible with performance marketing. And when it comes to paying for such performance campaigns, you know exactly how much you’re spending and how much profit you’re getting in return.

• Pay as you go

Rather than paying the advertisers the cost for the services upfront, you can pay the cost only after achieving the designated goal. This model of marketing is very friendly for companies with low budgets and for start-ups. However, this strategy can become costly depending on the pricing model of your agency.

• Low risk

When you pay after a specific action is done, you know the money you have spent is not wasted. If you don’t receive the desired result, you don’t have to pay for it. This reduces the risk of spending with no effective results.

• Help you to build your own brand

One of the obvious benefits that this marketing strategy offers is that it lets you create your own brand with the help of third-party partners using their audiences and own budget. The result is more audience, increased targeted traffic, and better market share.

Tips for outstanding performance marketing campaigns

Though there is no one right way to perform performance marketing, following some guidelines can make better your performance marketing efforts. This holds beneficial for both the brand and the publisher. Let’s check some useful tips:

• Create clear, actionable goals

Starting with clear, actionable goals will help you draw the specific line connecting the actions and results which is the backbone of performance marketing. All the parties should be aware of the goals in order to make the campaign function smoothly.

• Choose partners carefully

Whether you’re the brand or the publisher, choosing your partner wisely is extremely necessary for a successful performance marketing campaign. If you’re the brand, the publisher should be relevant to the niche, its style and see if the style and voice goes well with your brand, are the followers real, and so on. This goes the same if you’re the publisher.

• Track

Tracking the performance marketing campaigns is another important aspect to measure the success of the campaigns. There are many tools and software available these days; you can use those to track the campaigns.

As a marketer, at some point of time, you may have wasted time and money on marketing campaigns. Including performance marketing into your marketing strategy offers direct solution to your marketing problems. This marketing method will ensure your marketing budget is spent wisely making your business grow. However, you should make sure to choose the right partner, set clear goals and review the process to keep on the right path.