Your business needs a strong online presence to compete in the modern marketplace, but getting yourself out there can be difficult.

Businesses spend a large amount of money each year on performance marketing and search engine optimization to get ahead. What is performance marketing, and how can you use it to improve your company’s online presence?

This guide will tell you everything you need to know about performance marketing and how it can boost your business.

What Is the Performance Marketing Definition?

Performance marketing is a general concept related to digital marketing and advertising programs. When a potential client takes a certain action, such as buying a product or service or clicking on a link. 

Performance marketing involves creating advertisements and using innovative marketing techniques. The typical performance marketing agency uses its resources to help retailers and affiliates grow their business. 

They do this by creating highly targeted marketing campaigns. Those who know how to excel at performance based marketing are able to create win-win situations for everybody who is involved. 

With other types of marketing, businesses need to pay upfront fees. Regardless of how successful a marketing campaign becomes, they still need to pay the same amount of money.

On the other hand, those who advertise with performance marketing only need to pay when marketing campaigns are successful. This means that it’s possible to measure ROI in real-time. 

In fact, it’s very easy to track the effectiveness of performance marketing by measuring things such as the cost of acquisition

Some companies that embrace performance marketing are small. But there are also fortune 500 companies that work with performance based marketing. 

Models for Performance Payout 

There are several ways that publishers can structure performance-based payments. Every method has different payout amounts. Yet it’s possible to track each method.

It’s easy for merchants to define what their advertising goals are. If these goals do not get met, merchants will not need to pay. This is particularly helpful for those who work in the insurance industry

Percent of Sale 

This is the most common way that retailers pay. For an advertiser to be paid, there are several things that need to happen.

First, a user needs to visit a publisher’s website. They also need to click on an advertiser’s link and purchase a product or service. The publisher will then earn a commission. 

There are many consumer finance brands that prefer to use a percent of sale performance payout model. 

Leads 

Lead generation requires that a potential customer fill out a form. In most cases, the length and complexity of this form will determine how much a retailer will need to pay for a lead. It’s usually possible for merchants to start or stop their pay-per-leads programs at any time they wish. 

New Customers

This is a popular model for subscription-based products and services. The advertiser will typically determine the commission rates by assessing the customer’s estimated lifetime value. 

Key Constituencies of the Performing Marketing Industry

There are three important constituencies in the performance marketing industry: advertisers, networks, and publishers. Outsourced program managers (OPMs) and solution providers complete the ecosystem of performance marketing.

Advertisers 

Advertisers are the ones who are selling products and services. People often refer to them as merchants or retailers. They are also the ones who set up performance marketing programs. 

They can set these programs up through an affiliate network or track them with in-house software. 

Advertisers will give publishers unique links to place on their websites. Whenever a customer makes a purchase by using one of the links, the publisher will get paid. 

Networks 

Networks function as intermediaries between advertisers and publishers. They offer a platform to help connect them. These networks also make it easy to do things such as track transactions, host ads, and fulfill ad payouts between advertisers and publishers. 

Publishers 

Publishers are website owners who sign up for advertising programs. Their goal is to promote an advertiser’s products and services. They do this by sharing links on their websites that are able to be tracked. 

Every time a customer buys a product or service by using these links, the publisher gets paid. 

It’s important to know that publishers do not work for the companies that they promote. This means that they play no part in shipping items or taking payments from customers. 

The Benefits of Performance Marketing 

If you want to make money online, it is a good idea to get involved with performance marketing. Contrary to what many people think, it is not a get-rich-quick scheme. 

Even though it takes time to become a performance marketer, you’ll have the chance to be creative as an entrepreneur. And you can get started as a performance marketer with very little money. 

Getting Started with Performance Marketing

To get started, you’ll need to know how to set up a website or blog. You should be self-motivated and understand what it takes to write compelling copy. 

Some people choose to work with an outsourced program management agency. This makes it easy for them to be successful without running their program in-house. These agencies typically offer services such as landing page design and publisher recruitment. 

It’s also possible to work with a solution provider if you want help with web hosting and want to make use of their website creation tools. 

Get Started with Performance Marketing Today 

If you’ve been thinking about getting started with performance marketing, it’s important to understand the basics of how it works. The most important constituencies in the performance marketing industry are advertisers, networks, and publishers. 

If you’re ready to get started as a performance marketer, we are here to help you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us today with any questions that you have.