Affiliate marketing isn’t going anywhere. A recent study by Forrester Consulting showed that the industry will significantly grow over the next five years.

LinkShare’s co-general manager Adam Weiss referred to this as a “resurgence of growth in affiliate marketing.” For those who want a piece of the pie, Weiss suggested these four strategies for improving ROI:

• Embrace the value of the industry.
• Measure how your program drives conversions.
• Avoid fraud and review publishers before they join your network.
• Market yourself in a way that will strengthen your brand.

As a leading affiliate network, we’ve invested time and resources into these four key areas. You may be wondering what kind of ROI we’ve seen from these efforts. Let's look.

A Unique Perspective

We recently updated our user interface to help improve user experience. This has yielded many positive results. We have found that when we make it easier for affiliates to analyze reports and see data, they are in a better position to make decisions. We feel this is one way we've embraced the value of the industry.

One of our major goals is to provide the best technology in the industry. Our tools adapt to clients' needs and help drive conversions. Through these efforts we have become a valuable affiliate marketing resource.

Weiss’s third point has to do with avoiding fraud. According to a recent article from Review + Performance magazine, networks need to ask themselves a few important questions about compliance:

• Do you review publishers before they join your network?
• Do you test your clients’ lead generating software?
• Do you look at your own data on a daily basis to determine if any fraud has taken place?

We invest a lot of manpower into these areas. Our in-house compliance team works diligently to avoid fraud.

Finally, publisher branding is more important than ever. In a recent Moz blog, Rand Fishkin wrote that brand preferences impact everything from consumer affinity to Google rankings. This highlights the importance of building a brand your customers will find attractive. But, how? One way is to use cultural cues your customers will respond to. Start by figuring out what makes them tick, and then make sure your tone, voice, and visuals are a reflection of that.

This is an exciting time for our industry and we plan to take full advantage of the growing market. Hopefully these tips will help you do the same.