5 Metrics That Actually Matter for Scaling Your Affiliate Program Globally

Creating an affiliate program in the realm of international e-commerce is a breeze, but scaling it can be a very tough task. Most businesses end up focusing their efforts on irrelevant vanity metrics such as impressions or clicks. In order to build your borderless revenue model, you need to go further than simple numbers.

Check out the five key metrics you should measure to drive growth.

1. Customer Acquisition Cost Per Affiliate Channel

All traffic sources are not created equal. Measuring the CAC on a specific affiliate channel will give you insight into which partners have the best conversion rates. This metric allows you to determine how effective your campaigns are at each affiliate partner type such as content creator, coupon site, or niche blogs.

2. Incrementality & First-Time Buyer Ratio

What distinguishes a top-tier affiliate program is not just their ability to identify and promote your products among their audiences, but also how good they are at discovering new audience segments for you. For example, if the affiliates are merely converting your would-be purchasers anyway, then you are experiencing no incremental success.

3. Average Order Value (AOV) by Affiliate

While certain affiliates may generate a large number of conversions, they may do so at a relatively low Average Order Value. On the other hand, a premium micro-affiliate can deliver far fewer conversions with much higher AOVs. This metric will help in structuring unique commission rates for premium converters.

4. EPC (Earnings per Click)

This is an absolute barometer of the overall health of your affiliate links. High EPC means that the traffic you send to your website is very target-oriented and is ready to make purchases. If your clicks have gone through the roof but the EPC has plummeted – there's a problem with the quality of traffic.

5. Affiliate Retention & LTV (Life Time Value)

Getting new customers may be easy, but the true challenge lies in making sure they bring you value. Measure the LTV (life time value) of the customers brought to you via affiliate programs. Customers who come to you as a result of influence marketing will prove more loyal than average customers from standard ads.