In today's increasingly digital business world, affiliate marketing has emerged as a critical driver of growth and profitability. With a strategic affiliate marketing plan, businesses can drive new customer acquisition, enhance brand visibility and generate substantial revenue. One platform that has proven indispensable in this endeavour is AWIN. As a business owner or manager, understanding how to leverage this platform can be a game-changer for your company.
In this guide, Tuula, our International Marketing Executive walks you through the process of getting started with affiliate marketing through AWIN.
What is Affiliate Marketing and AWIN?
Essentially, affiliate marketing is a 'pay for performance' business model. It involves collaborations with affiliates, who could be influencers, bloggers or other businesses. These partners promote your offerings to their audience and, for each successful sale they direct towards you, they receive a predetermined commission. Hence, it's a results-oriented model that pays dividends when you see genuine, tangible results, making it a cost-effective strategy for growth-oriented businesses.
AWIN is a global affiliate network that connects businesses (merchants) with publishers (affiliates). It provides a platform for businesses to incentivise publishers to market their products or services. By harnessing the power of AWIN, you can tap into a network of over 270,000 active publishers and reach a wide array of potential customers.

1. Registering with AWIN - An Affiliate Marketing Platform
Kickstarting your affiliate marketing journey begins with registering your business on AWIN as an 'Advertiser'. You'll need to provide some essential details about your company, including the business name, your website's URL and the main sector your business operates within. Also, you will need to input financial details as AWIN manages all the transactions, from receiving payments to disbursing commissions to affiliates.
Creating an AWIN Access account comes with a monthly fee of £75 + VAT. This commitment extends for a minimum duration of three months. Each transaction processed via AWIN incurs a minimal service fee of 2.5%. To make your registration smoother, AWIN offers the first month completely free of charge. To begin your journey with AWIN, click here.
2. Defining Your Commission Rates For Affiliates
Once registered, it's time to determine the commission rates you're prepared to offer your affiliates. AWIN allows you to set varying rates based on different types of sales, such as new customer acquisitions, repeat customer purchases or promotional sales. While setting your rates, remember, the more attractive the commission, the more quality affiliates you'll attract. However, larger commissions mean bigger payouts from your pocket. The trick is to find the perfect balance that both entices affiliates and preserves your profit margins.
3. Finding Suitable Affiliates through AWIN's Opportunity Marketplace
With your business and programme terms in place, it's time to scout for potential affiliates. Thanks to AWIN's comprehensive network in the “Opportunity Marketplace”, finding suitable partners that align with your offerings is much simpler. Choose affiliates who engage in a similar niche and have an audience likely to be interested in your products or services.
4. Equipping Affiliates with Effective Marketing Tools
To effectively promote your products or services, your affiliates need the right marketing resources. These can include uploading creative assets like banner designs in the “My Creatives” section, and product feed information. Providing clear, engaging and visually appealing promotional materials through emails to affiliates in the “Communication Centre” can also significantly enhance the effectiveness of your affiliate programme and motivate your affiliates to strive harder. Head over to our Marketing Calendar for inspiration for content to send affiliates and maximise their promotional efforts!
5. Analysing and Optimising Performance with AWIN
One of the major benefits of using AWIN is the access to robust tracking and analytical tools. These allow you to monitor your affiliates' performance in real time and draw insightful data to refine your programme. Take note of high-performing affiliates - understand what they're doing right and consider sharing whats working well with your other affiliates to boost overall performance.
6. Refining Your Affiliate Programme
Lastly, keep in mind that affiliate marketing isn't a 'set it and forget it' strategy. It requires continual refinement and fine-tuning based on changing market trends, performance metrics and new learnings. Keep adjusting your commission structure, recruiting fresh affiliates and experimenting with innovative promotional materials.
In a nutshell, embarking on an affiliate marketing venture with AWIN gives you access to an extensive network of potential affiliates, an intuitive interface and powerful analytics. Irrespective of the size or nature of your business, you can harness the power of affiliate marketing with AWIN to propel your business growth!
For more information on setting up your AWIN account, check out AWIN's YouTube channel. It has a bunch of helpful video tutorials and webinars that can guide you through your affiliate marketing journey!
Are you ready to take your marketing strategy to the next level and maximise your business potential? Click here to book a call with Vic today!