The result of this complexity is that most affiliate marketing teams have had to use traffic automation tools, which allow for manual intervention to be replaced by automated systems that monitor and decide when to route traffic.
The most modern automation systems provide affiliate marketers with a type of control system. They provide a way to maintain operational control over the sources of traffic and the advertisers, so they can maintain a good quality of traffic and not have to put in more effort than manual control to scale the campaign.
As affiliate marketing becomes more professional, serious media shopping teams, as well as affiliate networks, are starting to use traffic automation tools as an integral part of their operation systems.
Why is traffic automation important in affiliate marketing
Traffic conditions in affiliate marketing change all the time. Even a single source, audience segment, or geographical region can dramatically change the performance of a campaign. Without automated systems, responding to these changes in real time is near impossible.
Managing a set of campaigns manually can take several hours every day and create operational inefficiencies. Traffic managers monitor campaigns and change campaign settings, stop under-performing traffic sources, and shift traffic to better-performing offers. Even seasoned professionals find it impossible to monitor dozens or hundreds of campaigns the way they are expected to.
Manual optimization means lost potential revenue. Operating traffic to a poor-performing offer is lost revenue. It means that the media buyer is spending less on a poor-performing traffic campaign, rather than sending the traffic to a more profitable one.
In affiliate marketing, fraud is an ever-present reality. Most systems regard it as low-quality or deceptive traffic and treat it as an enemy. Automated systems can identify abnormal traffic and can stop or redirect the suspicious traffic so that it is not shown to advertisers.
Another key advantage of automation is scalability. Without manual systems, operational work will need to be done as the volume of traffic increases. With routing and monitoring automation, teams can scale campaigns without the operational work.
While automation technologies are new to some organizations, they are not the case for large affiliate networks and seasoned media buying teams, for whom automation is not simply a nice additional feature, but a critical operational function.
Considerations for computing costs by automation platforms for affiliate traffic
When it comes to choosing an automation platform, it is essential to consider multiple operational elements associated with the automation capabilities of various platforms. The best fit varies depending on the overall size and internal organization of a team’s traffic operations.
- automation and traffic routing
- analytics, reporting, and depth
- ease of use, operational,l and onboarding
- integrated flexibility (API, partner integrations)
- scalability for teams and networks
- traffic quality control and fraud detection
An example of a platform’s core functionality is traffic routing, which is the automated distribution of incoming traffic to various offers, landing pages, or advertisers. Advanced automation platforms allow for the creation of routing rules based on more sophisticated elements, such as geographical location, type of device, specified performance, and performance of partners.
For a large number of partners, the detection of fraud is of paramount importance. As the traffic supply chain becomes more sophisticated, some platforms use integrated fraud detection (as opposed to anti-fraud systems on the market). For partners who use large volumes of traffic, early detection of fraud can save ad expenditures and foster positive relationships with advertisers.
The management of traffic analytics is critical to the success of the platform. Without management, traffic analytics yield a set of reports from the platform, and little use. Reporting helps to clarify the many sources of conversion and the performance of different segments of traffic, which can be confusing. The reporting set should be granular, allowing the team to recognize performance patterns in order to make routine decisions.
The ability to integrate systems adds to the operational efficiency of affiliate teams. Affiliate teams often collaborate with various sources of traffic, different tracking systems, and different platforms of advertisers. When platforms have strong APIs and flexible methods of integration, they can improve the flow of work in connecting the aforementioned systems.
For expanding affiliate operations, growing scalability is significant. A media buyer single affiliate operation network can be supported by one platform, but it may be unable to cater to the needs of an entire affiliate network with multiple traffic partners and advertisers.
The simplicity of onboarding and the usability of operations are also very valuable. Platforms have very strong automated features, but to take advantage of these systems, users have to have very high levels of technical know-how. Other platforms offer systems that can be more easily set up, so they can serve smaller teams more readily.
6 Best rewardful alternatives for affiliate & traffic automation
Several platforms have emerged to help affiliate teams manage traffic routing, tracking, and automation. While their feature sets vary, these tools generally serve the same operational purpose: helping media buyers and affiliate networks control traffic flows, monitor performance, and optimize campaign outcomes.
- Hyperone
- Voluum
- Keitaro
- RedTrack
- Binom
- ThriveTracker
Hyperone
Hyperone offers a wide range of functionality for teams collaborating with several traffic partners and advertisers, streamlining traffic automation and management as a traffic automation and management tool for affiliate teams. As opposed to simply providing a campaign tracker, Hyperone aims to manage traffic, conduct traffic orchestration, evaluate quality indicators, and automate operational decisions regarding traffic.
Hyperone has customizable routing scenarios that automate traffic routing. Media buyers have the ability to set conditions regarding the manner in which traffic is to be allocated among different offers or advertisers. The platform also offers traffic monitoring, anti-fraud protection, and quality monitoring to aid teams in identifying and mitigating issues before they compromise the effectiveness of the campaigns. The platform enhances the ability of media buyers to manage performance through real-time analytics, simple API integrations, a user-friendly interface, and the ability to control multiple companies/projects from a single platform.
Hyperone is beneficial for teams that need a single platform for traffic management and automation across multiple partners, as well as for quickly developing affiliate operations that are looking to move away from manual traffic routing and campaign management via spreadsheets. Transparent pricing and constant customer support are attractive to teams needing operational planning without unexpected costs.
As with most fully automated platforms, the primary drawback is the necessity for well-defined routing and operational rules. Teams may need time to establish their automation configurations and to gain a clear understanding of the traffic interactions.
Voluum
Media buyers recognize Voluum as one of the pioneering tracking and optimization platforms in affiliate marketing, having established a reputable standing because of their impressive cloud-based campaign tracking capabilities.
The construction of the platform revolves around the analysis of performance, tracking, and optimization insights; therefore, media buyers can evaluate the flow of performance, the adequacy of the conversion data, and the performance of each campaign. Automation also allows the team to stop or change the direction of the campaign depending on the performance level.
The reason why managed infrastructure Voluum is at the top of popularity is because of its tracking capabilities. Working on a fully cloud-based system, team members are clouded with the burden of handling servers and infrastructure, which makes it more favorable for tracking.
However, this doesn’t mean that Voluum offers everything, as it still lacks the level of traffic automation that other platforms offer. Though automation is still something that Voluum can offer.
Keitaro
Keitaro is one of the self-hosted cutting-edge tracking systems that has gained popularity among experienced media buyers. Offering increased flexibility, Keitaro is different from cloud-based platforms in that it operates on a ‘user-controlled’ server environment. This offers the team flexibility on how to use the traffic infrastructure.
Built within the core of the system is an equally powerful campaign tracking, combined with traffic filtering and routing capabilities. This allows users to establish rules regarding the redirection of traffic. These rules can be set depending on the geo-location, type of device, or campaign.
One of Keitaro’s advantages is its flexibility. Self-hosting means users can modify their environment and make additions to their existing setups. This is appealing to teams with a technical background and who want to maintain maximum control over their tracking solutions.
A trade-off, however, is server management and the need for technical configurations. Without experience in a given infrastructure, the setup may be tedious in comparison to a cloud solution that is fully managed.
RedTrack
RedTrack aims to provide a tracking and automation solution for affiliate marketers and performance marketing teams. The solution aims to bring campaign tracking, automation logic, and reporting in a single view.
RedTrack allows media buyers to control multiple traffic sources and visualize campaign performance from a single dashboard. The platform’s automation capabilities enable a team to set rules to stop and reallocate traffic depending on the performance of the campaigns, thus reducing the need for manual campaign optimization.
RedTrack’s other notable feature is its integrations. The solution can connect with multiple advertising platforms, affiliate networks, and marketing platforms to provide campaign data synchronization.
RedTrack is often preferred by teams who want a middle ground solution for tracking and automation outside of self-hosting in operational surroundings. Additionally, some sophisticated users often feel that the automation capabilities of the solution are geared more towards campaign optimization rather than an entire traffic re-routing orchestration.
Binom
Binom is another self-tracking system used in affiliate marketing. The platform is optimized for fast processing so that media buyers can handle high amounts of traffic with low delays.
The system has strong tracking capabilities to help users detect the optimal sources of profitable traffic. Users can create advanced traffic filtering and conditional routing to send traffic depending on their targets.
Binom is commonly used by advanced media buyers working on high-volume campaigns and therefore needs a high-speed tracking solution. The system is designed for use by teams engaged in high amounts of traffic.
Like the other self-hosted alternatives, the users of Binom have to deal with server setup, maintenance, and monitoring. This is not ideal for teams looking for hassle-free tracking solutions.
ThriveTracker
ThriveTracker is a cloud tracking system for affiliate marketers that is aimed at media buyers and affiliate networks that are looking for a tracking system that is easily scalable and does not involve self-hosted systems.
The system offers campaign tracking, reporting dashboards, and traffic filtering, which are essential for campaign performance monitoring across multiple sources. Users can set up optimizations for campaigns using automation,n such as stopping the redirect to campaigns that are underperforming.
ThriveTracker is designed with smaller teams in mind. It has a clear and simple user interface, and being a cloud system, it requires little technical support to set up.
Conversely, the platform seems to emphasize tracking and campaign management over sophisticated traffic automation. Teams that require more complex routing may eventually integrate additional automation solutions or internal systems to complement it.
Affiliate automation platform features comparison.n
There are notable differences between affiliate automation platforms and the level of detail in their automation capabilities, which only become apparent after practical use in live campaign situations.
Automation detail is one of the most useful functional differences in the platform. Some platforms mostly emphasize campaign management and only have basic automation capabilities. Others focus more on the automation and decision-making processes of traffic optimization. For teams working with large traffic volumes and many advertisers, the value of advanced automation is most apparent with greater operational scales.
Infrastructure is another important area for differentiation. Traditionally, on-premise software offered more control and higher customization, but cost more in terms of server management and maintenance. On the other hand, cloud software is easier and less costly in terms of immigration and requires less infrastructure knowledge.
There are many differences in the analysis offered by the platforms. Some focus on real-time analysis of traffic and reports, while others prioritize high-velocity tracking and more simplistic analysis and reporting. How useful the analytics is usually depends on the decision model adopted by the team.
There are also differences in the level of support fraud detection services offered by the platforms. Some platforms have built-in fraud detection and prevention, while others are more reliant on external systems and manual processes.
For most affiliate teams, the critical consideration is scalability. A platform performing well for a single media buyer will later have constraints when interfacing with other traffic partners and high-volume traffic. For growing operations, the ability to control traffic flow and distribution becomes more critical than advanced tracking capabilities for campaigns.
When affiliate teams typically transition to automation platforms
Affiliate teams usually wait some time before starting to use automation tools. When media buying operations start, campaign management is usually done manually through tracking dashboards and spreadsheets. This is manageable when the volume of traffic is low.
However, as operations scale, there are usually several operational roadblocks that start to arise. Monitoring campaign performance is exacerbated due to the multiple traffic sources. Media buyers have to spend time analyzing multiple dashboards, which takes away time from developing new campaign strategies.
Similarly, the manual management of the traffic routing becomes difficult as the operation scales. When multiple offers work with multiple advertisers with similar payouts, it becomes an operational nightmare to manually decide how the traffic should be allocated. Without automation, traffic will continue to lower-performing offers simply because nobody noticed and acted on the performance change in time.
Fraud risk is also a contributor that forces teams to move towards automation. The larger the traffic supply chains become, the harder it becomes to identify suspicious traffic manually. Automated systems identify irregularities and block low-quality traffic from advertisers.
Operational workload largely just means that scale is a hard requirement. Media buying teams reach a point where they just have to hire a new operator for every additional source of traffic they want to use. This is where automation platforms are supposed to shine because they remove the need for additional people to be operational in a setup.
For most teams, the move to automation platforms is when manual campaign management becomes a bottleneck to growth, rather than when it enables it.
Conclusion
With the complexity involved in the relationships of multiple traffic partners, advertisers, and campaign variations, the hustle in directing the campaign manually is inefficient and unsustainable over time.
The sophistication of traffic automation systems lies first in their ability to respond to these complexities and subsequently in the efficiency increase of affiliate teams due to the real-time responsiveness to campaign performance and the ability to overcome circumvention threats.
As automation becomes an integral part of scaling affiliate marketing, operational efficiency, speed of decision making, and, ultimately, the reduction of operational costs will define the value of an automation solution. The right solution will depend heavily on the traffic volume, the desired level of automation, and the team’s technical preferences.
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