Affiliate Strategies for Using Commerce Content

In today’s digital world, there’s a special reverence held for commerce content but for anyone trying their hand at engaging with affiliate sites that rank well for relevant search terms in their sector, it can be a confusing, humbling and sometimes infuriating experience. You can have the best product in your sector but if you don’t know who to send it to, which sites require payment for their editor’s time and which sites simply need a link to your affiliate program, you can waste hours of your own time as well as  theirs.

Table of Contents

Definitions used in commerce content

Before we get into the different types of sites, let’s first start with a few definitions that will prove useful for the rest of this article:

Content commerce (in this context) refers to the creation of content by affiliate sites designed to rank well in search engine results for specific keywords. These keywords are typically those that potential customers use when researching products to purchase. The content often includes product reviews, buying guides, and comparisons, aimed at guiding the customer’s purchasing decisions.

Mass media, as referred to here, are major content creators. They are known for a wide variety of lifestyle & specialised publications. These organisations typically work in both print and digital mediums and their content creation involves multiple editors, both in-house and freelance. Additionally, they have a distinct commercial team which focuses on monetising the content after it’s produced.

Niche sites refer to smaller-scale, independently operated online platforms sometimes run by at most, a handful of contributors. These sites are focused on specific interest areas or niches, ranging from hobbyist topics to specialised industry insights. The content creator typically wears multiple hats, handling everything from content production to marketing, commercialisation and site maintenance.

ROAS is defined as return on ad spend. It encompasses all the money you have spent on an advertising campaign (usually a mixture of fixed fees and commission fees) and relates it to the amount of revenue you have derived from the campaign. It’s usually written as a figure such as £3.12 (revenue) for every £1 spent.

With these definitions out the way, let’s cover off what steps you should take in order to give you and your content partners the best chance of success.

How to successfully prepare your affiliate program for content sites

The first and most important part of engaging content sites is to have a genuinely good product. If you don’t have the kind of product that would impress someone who has taken a thorough look at its quality, how it works and what features it has, you are probably best off using another channel.

The second part of having an affiliate program that’s attractive to content sites is to create an ecosystem where they can thrive. This means separating the tracking of your content based activity from everything else; don’t have them compete on a last click basis with last click specialists (like cashback and voucher). Content sites should have their own deduping rules, their own commission structure and you should feel obligated to reward them for every part they play in making a sale happen, regardless of whether the sale had a final touchpoint with a different channel or partner. Content commerce sites influence a consumer looking at a broad set of products similar to yours, to now exclusively looking at your brand and your product. That is worthy of reward, no matter what follows (even if the consumer returns the product at a later date).

The third part of attracting content sites to your affiliate program is to set your expectations sensibly: 

  • Similar to paid search or paid social, expect a return on ad spend of around £2 or £3 per £1 spent.

  • The affiliate channel may have given you the unrealistic expectation that you should expect ‘returns’ of  £10 or even £15 per £1 spent.This only happens when consumers were more than likely about to buy from you anyway.

  • Prepare to pay up front. Content sites that rank well in your sector will be in high demand. No other marketing channel is as successful at swaying a consumer to buy specifically from you at a time when they’re researching with your competitors.

  • Play the long game. Whilst upfront costs of £1200+ look intimidating, these campaigns are a long term play. Most bookings last for 1-2yrs, meaning it’s just £50-£100 a month to feature on a site that ranks #1 or #2 for buying guides in your sector. Suddenly, those costs are easier to justify with a long term outlook.

The fourth and final part to succeeding with content sites is to do your research:

  • Make sure at least 100 people per month search for phrases related to buying guides in your sector. Tools like Coam, ahrefs, similarweb and others can help here.

  • Only pick the articles that are in positions 1-5 to try and feature in, unless the search volumes for buying guides in your sector exceed 2,000+ per month. 

  • Don’t be afraid to ask how frequently the rank of a particular article has changed in the last 3-6 months. Consistency is key!

  • Don’t spend much budget on ‘new’ articles. A new article is like a lottery ticket, you’re really hoping that Google decides the article is worthy of being indexed  and ranking well.

Now, with a clear understanding of how to set your program up for the best chance of success with content sites, let’s move on to how you can recognise and engage both mass media sites and niche sites.

Strategies for engaging and working with mass media sites

Mass media sites are often easy to recognise simply by their brand name but if you need an introduction, check out the biggest magazine publishers in the UK or this list of UK Newspapers. The advertising opportunities of these sites tend to be listed (on-site) and include things like buying impressions, paying for branded or story-based content all at a price that reaches 5-figures or more. The readily available opportunities of these publications are very much branding based, not content commerce and as such, fall outside the purview of this particular article. So how do you engage these sites when they’ve written an article about your sector and you believe your product deserves a spot?

The short answer is; it’s difficult! You can not buy the editor’s time and in most cases there is a strict divide between editorial and commercial influence. The best approach is to take note of the editor of the article you’re interested in and find a way of getting your product to them. The hope (but not guarantee) is that they re-write or update the relevant article in the future or that you get featured in other articles in the coming months. To reach a specific editor, Linkedin, hunter.io (for working out email addresses) or just sending your product directly to the publication’s head office are all approaches that have (and also have not!) worked in the past.

In a recent panel at PI Live Europe, I shared the stage with an employee of a mass media publisher, and the point was made that editors at mass media publishers research the sector/products they’re writing about and when doing so will sometimes visit smaller niche sites as part of that research. It gives rise to the idea that there can be a halo effect of featuring in niche sites that help a retailer to get picked up by mass media publishers too. This brings us nicely on to:

Strategies for engaging and working with niche sites

Niche sites can be most easily identified by their subject matter. These sites cater to specific, often smaller audiences with unique in-depth, detailed information about their subject. They offer expert opinions, thorough analysis of their market and accompanying products and their passion is what attracts an audience. 

The divide between an independent editorial voice and commercial acumen is more fluid with niche content sites and it’s not uncommon to buy the time of the editor to review your products. What they then say is of course at their discretion but in my experience you always get a balanced view on the pros and cons of a product. 

Demonstrating you have an openness to understanding and adopting their way of working is the best opening when engaging with niche sites as it shows you recognise how valuable they are and that you are prepared to pay them for their time which will help separate you from every other retailer vying for their attention.

A good way of improving your engagement rate with niche sites is to avoid talk of your affiliate program altogether. Instead, pointing out the articles you like and asking how you could be a part of them will curry favour. It’s important to realise the power dynamic is very different to traditional affiliate partners

Most affiliate partners (especially last click specialists) want to feature every retailer possible but with niche sites, space exists exclusively for the select few. The level of competition means engagement comes at a cost and this is reflected in the graph below. Month one looks a bit scary when you realise that the up front fees have cost as much as the revenue the booking has delivered.

tracking ROAS over time for content based affiliate marketing

However, as we mentioned earlier, taking a long term view on the up front cost makes it easy to justify. It becomes clear over time that you’re turning on a steady stream of would-be consumers coming from generic searches like ‘best product for x,y,z’. The result is a trend towards more palatable ROAS (return on ad spend) rates which can go as high as £6-7 per £1 spent if you are running without deduplication against other affiliates or other channels.

Round up of strategies for growing content commerce through affiliate strategy

Concluding, the affiliate strategies you can employ to grow your commerce content:

With our plethora of information on how to use affiliate sites to grow your commerce content, let’s round up the key parts of what we’ve learned:

First, it’s important to have a great product. Be ready to invest some money and time upfront and be patient for results to develop over time. Secondly, researching the right keywords – the terms and phrases people are typing into search engines – is a crucial step. 

Also, it’s important to manage the technical side, like making sure your content sites are not competing with other channels, least of all last-click specialists. Finally, tailor your approach depending on whether you’re trying to engage a mass media or a niche site and respect the set-up that they each adopt.

I hope you enjoyed reading our comprehensive guide and if you have any comments or other tips, feel free to leave us a note below!

How to see First Click Attribution in GA4

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on “How to See First Click Attribution in GA4”. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, so does the need for more sophisticated tools to measure and analyse our online performance. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest iteration of Google’s analytics platform, offering a wealth of new features and capabilities but sadly they have taken away some of our much-used reports like First Click Attribution and Assisted Conversions.

Table of Contents

What's Changed in GA4?

One of the most significant changes in GA4 is how it handles attribution and deduplication. In previous versions, Google’s Universal Analytics (the old version) would offer a mix of attribution models and allow you to easily see all contributions (both first & last click conversions as well as assisted conversions) from any source, medium or campaign of your choosing. However, in GA4, these options have changed, and understanding these changes is crucial for accurate data interpretation.

In this article, we’ll delve into the specifics of which attribution models we’ve lost, and more importantly, how we can extract first click attribution in GA4. We’ll explain what it means, why it’s important, and most importantly, provide a step-by-step guide on how you can analyse this information yourself, So whether you’re a seasoned analytics pro or a beginner just getting to grips with GA4, this guide will provide valuable insights to help you make the most of your data. So, let’s dive in!

Attribution Models

Google announced that it will be updating its measurement models starting May 2023. Specifically, four attribution models will be removed from both Google Ads and Google Analytics:

  1. First click
  2. Linear
  3. Time decay
  4. Position-based

Google Ads liaison Ginny Marvin explained that the use of these rules-based attribution models has significantly dropped with the introduction of the data-driven attribution (DDA) model three years ago. Now, fewer than 3% of conversion actions in Google Ads use these models (although they conveniently offered no insight on their usage in Google Analytics).

The decision to remove these attribution models is marketed as a way to consolidate and simplify measurement. However, the announcement has received mixed reactions from advertisers and many argue that the removal of these attribution models takes away valuable insights for marketers.

The timeline for the changes is as follows:

  • May 2023: The four models will be unavailable for any new conversion actions in Google Analytics 4 properties.
  • June 2023: The four models will be unavailable for any new conversion actions in Google Ads accounts.
  • September 2023: The four models will be completely removed from both Google Ads and Google Analytics 4.

So where does this leave us Marketers that not only want to view first click insights but also those who want to see all the conversions a particular channel has contributed to?

First Click Attribution in GA4

Many marketing teams often neglect a crucial aspect of their strategy: tracking first click conversions. While it’s undoubtedly important to keep a close eye on direct conversion rates and work towards boosting them, it’s equally vital to remember the role of sites that introduce a user to your site for the first time and by proxy, first click conversions.

According to a review by Harvard Business Review, 76% of consumers engage with multiple channels when purchasing online. When you combine that insight with the understanding that the affiliate channel contains many “last click specialists” like voucher code sites who are great at converting the efforts of other channels, the importance of First Click Sales is pulled into sharp focus.

So how do you see not just the conversions of your marketing channels, but also the first click conversions?

A How-To Guide for Seeing First Click Attribution in GA4

Outlined below are the steps you need to follow to extract the full performance of any marketing channel that interests you.  This will include both First Click Conversions and non-First Click Conversions in line with the model that we used to be able to use in Universal Analytics.

Login & Navigate to the "Advertising" section

Naturally, this how-to guide starts with logging into your GA4 account and then navigating to the “Advertising” section (the last option based on the left hand side).

Choose "Conversion Paths" & Select your date range

The area we are most interested in within this section is “Conversion Paths” as this gives us the sequence of interactions (or events) that lead up to a conversion for all the sales your business has made.

Be sure to select the data range that is of interest to you for this particular piece of analysis.

Change "Default Channel Grouping" to "Source", "Medium" or "Campaign"

Whilst Google gives a somewhat rough overview of channels in their “Default channel grouping”, it’s far more effective to use your own. Retailers will typically have defined “sources” (channels), “mediums” (sites/partners) and “campaigns” (individual promotions). It’s much more useful to look at your reports in these terms, we’d recommend starting with Sources.

A screenshot from GA4 showing the areas to click on to get Assisted conversion data

It is necessary to extract this data and format it in an external service (like Google Sheets or Excel) in order to see both first click and non-first click conversions as Google no longer lets you see it easily within its interface.

Click "Share Report" followed by "Download File"

To extract the data, navigate to the top right of your screen where you can see a little share icon (as in the screenshot above) and follow it up by selecting the option to “Download the file” and then “Download csv”.

This is how the data will look once you have exported it and opened it in a program such as Excel or Google Sheets:

Open our Google Sheets template to see first click attribution in GA4

To save you time trying to manipulate and piece together this data, we’ve done the legwork for you with a handy First Click Attribution in GA4 Template that you are welcome to download and use yourself.

To use the file, you first have to make your own copy by clicking on File -> Make a Copy as in the screenshot below:

the navigation menu in GA4 for creating a copy of a file

Approve the Appscript pop-up

When you make a copy, you will see the prompt (below) about Apps Scripts. 

An App Script is a custom built function for a Google Sheet that performs the kind of processing that a simple formula can not. In this case, the Apps Script whittles down the list of sources, mediums or campaigns into a single unique set of all entries and is fundamental to how the template works.

a warning screen from GA4 when copying an apps script template

Simply select “Make a copy” to finish the creation process, selecting the Folder where you’d like to store your own copy. This is a key part for enabling the process of seeing first click attribution in GA4 because it requires manual processing of the data from your GA4 account.

Navigate to the "Data Drop" sheet

Switch sheets which you can do at they very bottom of the screen so that you are now looking at the “Data Drop” sheet:

Add your data to the "Data Drop" sheet

Now open up the csv that you download from your GA4 and the aim is to paste your data into the Google Sheet. 

You will take your data from cell A12 (where the first source, medium or campaign appears), copy all of the info that you’ve downloaded and paste it into the “Data Drop” sheet in cell A2, overwriting the dummy data that is already there.

Review your Insights on the Overview Sheet

The formulas should automatically update and you’ll be able to see all conversions for the source, mediums or campaigns you’ve added. The data will include Total Conversions & Revenue, First Click Conversions & Revenue and of course, Non-First Click Conversions & Revenue

Coam template for seeing first click attribution in GA4

If you encounter any issues with the template or need help interpreting the insights, feel free to reach out to us on email at edwyn @ coam.io (removing the spaces)

We have created this with the affiliate channel in mind but of course it can be used with all channels! If you’re interested in learning about affiliate marketing in the UK, we’ve got an easy infographic for you to learn with!

If you also have an interest in assisted conversions in GA4 (another one of GA4’s removed attribution models, we have you covered!)

Concluding how to see first click attribution in GA4

So there you have it, a clear step by step process for seeing the first click performance of any marketing source, medium or campaign regardless of who got the middle or last clicks, and ignoring Google’s own strange (and slightly confusing) attribution models. We hope you enjoyed it!

How to see Assisted Conversions in GA4

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on “How to See Assisted Conversions in GA4”. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, so does the need for more sophisticated tools to measure and analyse our online performance. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest iteration of Google’s analytics platform, offering a wealth of new features and capabilities.

Table of Contents

What's Changed in GA4?

One of the most significant changes in GA4 is how it handles attribution and deduplication. In previous versions, Google’s Universal Analytics (the old version) would offer a mix of attribution models and allow you to easily see all contributions (both last click conversions & assisted conversions) from any source, medium or campaign of your choosing. However, in GA4, these options have changed, and understanding these changes is crucial for accurate data interpretation.

In this article, we’ll delve into the specifics of which attribution models we’ve lost, and more importantly, how we can extract assisted conversions in GA4. We’ll explain what it means, why it’s important, and most importantly, provide a step-by-step guide on how you can analyse this information yourself, So whether you’re a seasoned analytics pro or a beginner just getting to grips with GA4, this guide will provide valuable insights to help you make the most of your data. So, let’s dive in!

Attribution Models

Google announced that it will be updating its measurement models starting May 2023. Specifically, four attribution models will be removed from both Google Ads and Google Analytics:

  1. First click
  2. Linear
  3. Time decay
  4. Position-based

Google Ads liaison Ginny Marvin explained that the use of these rules-based attribution models has significantly dropped with the introduction of the data-driven attribution (DDA) model three years ago. Now, fewer than 3% of conversion actions in Google Ads use these models (although they conveniently offered no insight on their usage in Google Analytics).

The decision to remove these attribution models is marketed as a way to consolidate and simplify measurement. However, the announcement has received mixed reactions from advertisers and many argue that the removal of these attribution models takes away valuable insights for marketers.

The timeline for the changes is as follows:

  • May 2023: The four models will be unavailable for any new conversion actions in Google Analytics 4 properties.
  • June 2023: The four models will be unavailable for any new conversion actions in Google Ads accounts.
  • September 2023: The four models will be completely removed from both Google Ads and Google Analytics 4.

So where does this leave us Marketers that not only want to view first click insights but also those who want to see all the conversions a particular channel has contributed to?

Assisted Conversions

Many marketing teams often neglect a crucial aspect of their strategy: tracking assisted conversions. While it’s undoubtedly important to keep a close eye on direct conversion rates and work towards boosting them, it’s equally vital to remember the role of assisted conversions in leading your visitors to the final conversion.

According to a review by Harvard Business Review, 76% of consumers engage with multiple channels when purchasing online. When you combine that insight with the understanding that the affiliate channel contains many “last click specialists” like voucher code sites who are great at converting the efforts of other channels, the importance of Assisted Sales is pulled into sharp focus.

So how do you see not just the conversions of your marketing channels, but also the assisted conversions?

A How-To Guide for Seeing Assisted Conversions in GA4

Outlined below are the steps you need to follow to extract the full performance of any marketing channel that interests you.  This will include both Assisted Conversions and Conversions in line with whichever attribution model you have selected.

If you are also interested in First Click attribution, we have a helpful guide on how to see First Click attribution in GA4 too.

Login & Navigate to the "Advertising" section

Naturally, this how-to guide starts with logging into your GA4 account and then navigating to the “Advertising” section (the last option based on the left hand side).

Choose "Conversion Paths" & Select your date range

The area we are most interested in within this section is “Conversion Paths” as this gives us the sequence of interactions (or events) that lead up to a conversion for all the sales your business has made.

Be sure to select the data range that is of interest to you for this particular piece of analysis.

Change "Default Channel Grouping" to "Source", "Medium" or "Campaign"

Whilst Google gives a somewhat rough overview of channels in their “Default channel grouping”, it’s far more effective to use your own. Retailers will typically have defined “sources” (channels), “mediums” (sites/partners) and “campaigns” (individual promotions). It’s much more useful to look at your reports in these terms, we’d recommend starting with Sources.

A screenshot from GA4 showing the areas to click on to get Assisted conversion data

It is necessary to extract this data and format it in an external service (like Google Sheets or Excel) in order to see both conversions and assisted conversions as Google no longer lets you see that easily within its interface.

Click "Share Report" followed by "Download File"

To extract the data, navigate to the top right of your screen where you can see a little share icon (as in the screenshot above) and follow it up by selecting the option to “Download the file” and then “Download csv”.

This is how the data will look once you have exported it and opened it in a program such as Excel or Google Sheets:

Open our Google Sheets template to see assisted conversions in GA4

To save you time trying to manipulate and piece together this data, we’ve done the legwork for you with a handy All Conversions in GA4 Template that you are welcome to download and use yourself.

To use the file, you first have to make your own copy by clicking on File -> Make a Copy as in the screenshot below:

the navigation menu in GA4 for creating a copy of a file

Approve the Appscript pop-up

When you make a copy, you will see the prompt (below) about Apps Scripts. 

An App Script is a custom built function for a Google Sheet that performs the kind of processing that a simple formula can not. In this case, the Apps Script whittles down the list of sources, mediums or campaigns into a single unique set of all entries and is fundamental to how the template works.

a warning screen from GA4 when copying an apps script template

Simply select “Make a copy” to finish the creation process, selecting the Folder where you’d like to store your own copy.

Navigate to the "Data Drop" sheet

Switch sheets which you can do at they very bottom of the screen so that you are now looking at the “Data Drop” sheet:

Add your data to the "Data Drop" sheet

Now open up the csv that you download from your GA4 and the aim is to paste your data into the Google Sheet. 

You will take your data from cell A12 (where the first source, medium or campaign appears), copy all of the info that you’ve downloaded and paste it into the “Data Drop” sheet in cell A2, overwriting the dummy data that is already there.

Review your Insights on the Overview Sheet

The formulas should automatically update and you’ll be able to see all conversions for the source, mediums or campaigns you’ve added. The data will include Total Conversions & Revenue, Assisted Conversions & Revenue and of course, Last-Click Conversions & Revenue

If you encounter any issues with the template or need help interpreting the insights, feel free to reach out to us on email at edwyn @ coam.io (removing the spaces)

We have created this with the affiliate channel in mind but of course it can be used with all channels! If you’re interested in learning about affiliate marketing in the UK, we’ve got an easy infographic for you to learn with!

Concluding how to see all assisted conversions in GA4

So there you have it, a clear step by step process for seeing the total contribution of any marketing source, medium or campaign regardless of who got the first or last click, and ignoring Google’s own strange (and slightly confusing) attribution models. We hope you enjoyed it!