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The EU is a desirable market for many brands wanting to extend the reach of their digital marketing and affiliate activity. The markets we see most commonly requested by clients for expansion are France and Germany.
There are a lot of similarities in running activity across EU markets these days, with a parity in partner types (although maybe different publisher names!) and a lot of affiliates existing in multiple markets.
It is however still really important to get some best practices right to make the most of your EU affiliate activity.
This may seem a very basic point but for affiliates things like conversion metrics are key - ensure you have a translated site for the markets you are live in (in some markets affiliates won’t onboard you without it), ensure your feed is translated and you are tracking in the right currency.
For example, if you want to engage with partners in a market such as Sweden where Swedish Krona is the main currency, you need to be able to pay out/track in that currency and allow affiliates to access a feed in that currency also.
Localisation and translation can feel like a challenge when thinking about negotiating and talking with affiliate partners. Whilst translated copy as we mentioned before is really important in certain areas, we find that communication in English with most affiliates is standard and should not be a block to forming great partnerships.
Ensure you understand the key seasonal dates in the markets you are launching in, including any nuances in things like paydays and holidays.
There will be a lot of similarities but also without understanding the key shopping moments you can’t make the most of them.
This can also extend to understanding the big retailers in certain markets and what matters to a user, for example in Germany consumers are often loyal to the big marketplaces like Zalando. What will make a consumer shop with you VS them? This can be as simple as your shipping offer and ensuring free returns are in place (a key selling point for consumers in Germany!)
If a market is new for you and you are trying to understand why something is not working, talk to your affiliates. An in market affiliate can provide you a huge amount of insight on market trends and what you need to be doing to optimise/grow.
Building relationships with your partners these days is pretty borderless, schedule calls and ask questions as to what you could be doing better to reach their user base.
EU countries are a great affiliate opportunity for expansion - just ensure you lay the foundations and take the time to understand how best to make the most of them.
