Performance-Based Marketing Affiliate Funnels

🔹 1. What Is Performance-Based Marketing?

Performance-Based Marketing (PBM) means you only pay for results — not impressions or reach.

💡 Common result types:

• Clicks (CPC)

• Leads (CPL)

• Sales (CPA)

• Sign-ups or installs

📌 It's measurable, ROI-focused, and results-first.

---

🔹 2. What Are Affiliate Funnels?

Affiliate funnels are marketing funnels built to promote other people’s products for a commission.

Affiliate marketers:

• Drive traffic → Collect leads → Nurture → Redirect to affiliate product

• Earn commission only when a sale or action happens

---

🔹 3. Key Players in Performance Marketing

Role	Function
Advertiser	Pays for performance (e.g., brand, SaaS company)
Publisher / Affiliate	Promotes product (e.g., influencer, blogger)
Affiliate Network	Tracks performance & manages payouts (e.g., Impact, CJ)
Customer	Takes the desired action (clicks, buys, signs up)

---

🔹 4. Popular Channels for Performance Marketing

✅ Google Ads (Pay per Click)
✅ Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram – Pay per Conversion)
✅ YouTube Ads (Pay per View or Action)
✅ Influencer Marketing (Pay per post engagement or affiliate sale)
✅ Affiliate Blogs + Review Sites
✅ Native Ads (Taboola, Outbrain)

---

🔹 5. Affiliate Funnel Structure (Example)

🧩 For promoting a digital product (e.g., AI tool)

1. Landing Page
   → Educates about the product, builds trust
   → Captures lead with lead magnet (free eBook, checklist)

2. Email Follow-Up
   → Day 1: Introduction to problem
   → Day 2: Product overview
   → Day 3: Affiliate link + bonus offer

3. Call to Action (CTA)
   → Affiliate button links directly to product
   → Optionally add a time-limited bonus or discount

---

🔹 6. Top Affiliate Networks

Platform	Use Case
Impact.com	Large brands, SaaS tools, e-com
CJ (Commission Junction)	Retail, finance, travel
ShareASale	Wide product range
Amazon Associates	Physical product promotion
ClickBank	Digital products
PartnerStack	B2B SaaS tools (e.g., Notion, SEMrush)

---

🔹 7. Tools to Track Performance

✅ Google Analytics (Track affiliate page traffic)
✅ Bit.ly or Pretty Links (Track link clicks)
✅ Affiliate dashboards (Track conversions and commissions)
✅ Hotjar (Understand funnel drop-offs)
✅ UTM parameters (Track source, medium, campaign)

---

🔹 8. Best Practices for PBM & Affiliate Funnels

✅ Choose a niche and stay consistent
✅ Promote products you’ve tested or trust
✅ Use lead magnets to build email list
✅ Offer bonuses to incentivize affiliate clicks
✅ Be transparent (disclose affiliate links)

✅ Retarget affiliate page visitors with ads