Affiliate marketing has long been heralded as a cost-effective and scalable way to increase sales, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses. The concept is straightforward: brands partner with affiliates, who promote their products in exchange for a commission on resulting sales. Done right, affiliate marketing can be a win-win scenario, allowing businesses to leverage the reach and influence of affiliates while only paying for performance.
However, as more businesses turn to affiliate marketing to drive growth, some have experienced significant failures. In Europe, where the affiliate marketing landscape is still evolving, several high-profile campaigns have fallen short of expectations. This op-ed will examine the common causes behind these failures, using real-life examples of affiliate marketing gone wrong, and outline how companies can avoid the same mistakes.
1) Lack of Transparency and Trust Issues
One of the main reasons affiliate marketing campaigns fail in Europe is the lack of transparency between brands and affiliates. Trust is the foundation of a successful affiliate program, but when it’s compromised—whether through vague terms, unclear performance expectations, or poor communication—it can result in poor outcomes.
A notable case occurred in the UK with the Fitbit affiliate program in 2015. Fitbit, one of the most recognized brands in wearable technology, launched an affiliate marketing campaign to boost their product visibility. The brand worked with several high-profile fitness influencers and affiliates across the UK to promote their wearables. However, despite substantial outreach and seemingly favorable reviews, the campaign didn’t result in the expected sales boost.
After a detailed analysis, it became apparent that the affiliate links weren’t consistently tracked or monitored. Some affiliates weren’t adequately motivated to push the product because they weren’t provided with clear goals or sufficient commission incentives. Moreover, some affiliates did not disclose the affiliate nature of their promotion, which led to consumer trust issues. In the case of Fitbit, many users discovered that the “recommendations” were more about making money than providing genuine product insights.
Lesson Learned: To avoid failures like Fitbit’s, brands should clearly define affiliate program terms, set transparent performance expectations, and ensure that affiliates understand their role in the brand’s overall marketing strategy. Proper tracking and communication tools should also be in place to ensure transparency and trust at every level of the campaign.
2) Unclear or Poorly Defined Target Audiences
Affiliate marketing campaigns often fail when the brand and its affiliates don’t have a clear understanding of the target audience. This disconnect can lead to irrelevant content, misaligned promotions, and wasted resources.
Take the example of Decathlon, the European sportswear and equipment retailer, whose affiliate marketing program faltered in 2018 due to a misalignment with affiliate partners. Decathlon partnered with a range of affiliates from various sectors, including health and wellness bloggers, athletes, and outdoor enthusiasts. However, many affiliates promoted products that did not resonate with their audiences. Health bloggers, for instance, ended up pushing equipment meant for extreme sports, while fitness influencers showcased camping gear.
This mismatch resulted in low conversion rates and frustration on both sides—Decathlon was not seeing returns on its affiliate investment, and affiliates were unable to generate sales because the products didn’t align with their niche audiences.
Lesson Learned: For affiliate marketing to be effective, both the brand and affiliates must have a clear understanding of the target audience. Brands should ensure that they partner with affiliates whose audience closely matches the product or service they are promoting. Clear communication about target demographics and audience insights is critical to ensure alignment between the brand and its affiliate partners.
3) Overreliance on Low-Quality Affiliates
Some brands in Europe fail in their affiliate marketing programs by working with affiliates that have large but disengaged audiences. While the idea of partnering with influencers or affiliates who have millions of followers can be enticing, brands need to be cautious about overrelying on these partnerships.
A high-profile case of this overreliance occurred with L’Oreal, which launched an affiliate marketing campaign in Europe with an influencer-heavy approach. In an effort to boost sales during a major promotion, L’Oreal engaged influencers with millions of followers across the beauty, fashion, and wellness sectors. While the influencer partnerships initially appeared successful, they did not yield long-term results for the brand.
The problem? Many of the influencers in question had engaged but relatively small niche followings, meaning they weren’t able to drive substantial sales volume despite their reach. This led to wasted advertising dollars on influencers who lacked the ability to drive genuine consumer behavior. L’Oreal’s failure can also be attributed to a lack of alignment between the brand’s image and some influencers’ audience. Influencers who had been paid to promote L’Oreal products were not able to generate meaningful engagement due to a mismatch in values or interests with their followers.
Lesson Learned: Brands must carefully evaluate their affiliate partners, not just by their number of followers, but by their ability to influence purchasing decisions. Metrics like engagement rate, audience sentiment, and niche relevance are more important than raw follower count when it comes to choosing successful affiliate partners.
4) Inadequate Tracking and Analytics
Affiliate marketing campaigns are reliant on data—tracking clicks, conversions, and sales are critical to understanding what works and what doesn’t. However, many European companies fail to set up adequate tracking systems, resulting in inaccurate reporting and missed opportunities for optimization.
In Germany, the online retailer Zalando faced significant difficulties when running an affiliate marketing campaign for its seasonal sales. Despite investing heavily in affiliate marketing, Zalando struggled to accurately track the performance of its affiliates due to issues with affiliate links not being correctly integrated into its website or partner platforms. This led to inconsistent reporting of clicks, impressions, and sales, making it difficult for Zalando to identify which affiliates were generating high-quality traffic and which were not. Without clear data, they couldn’t effectively optimize the campaign or reallocate resources.
Moreover, without proper attribution tracking, it was hard for Zalando to determine the true effectiveness of its affiliates in driving conversions. As a result, some affiliates who had driven significant traffic and conversions were unfairly penalized in reporting, while others with lower quality leads were rewarded with commissions that were not reflective of their impact on the sales.
Lesson Learned: Brands must invest in proper tracking infrastructure and attribution models to ensure they can measure affiliate performance accurately. This allows for better decision-making, optimization, and ensures that high-performing affiliates are rewarded accordingly.
5) Incentive Structures that Don’t Align with Business Goals
Affiliate marketing can be a very performance-driven model, but if the incentive structures are not aligned with business goals, the campaign can fail. Some European brands have fallen into the trap of offering affiliates too little incentive to truly push sales or, conversely, providing excessive commissions without ensuring that affiliates are targeting the right customers.
A classic case of poorly structured incentives came from The Body Shop in Spain in 2017. The brand launched an ambitious affiliate marketing program to promote a range of eco-friendly beauty products. However, the incentive structure was skewed—affiliates were rewarded based on the volume of sales, but no consideration was given to customer lifetime value or retention. Many affiliates focused on driving quick, one-time sales rather than cultivating long-term customer relationships, which resulted in a drop in repeat purchases and lower overall profitability for The Body Shop.
Additionally, some affiliates targeted discount-seeking shoppers who were only interested in making a one-time purchase, rather than focusing on high-value customers who might have purchased more frequently. This misalignment between affiliate incentives and business objectives led to a campaign that didn’t achieve its intended long-term results.
Lesson Learned: Brands need to design incentive structures that align with their overall business goals, focusing not just on driving sales but also on attracting high-quality, long-term customers. Affiliates should be incentivized not only by the volume of sales but by factors like customer retention and lifetime value.
6) Failure to Adapt to Local Markets
Affiliate marketing campaigns often fail when brands attempt to take a one-size-fits-all approach across multiple countries or regions. Each European market has its own cultural nuances, consumer behavior, and digital habits, and ignoring these differences can lead to ineffective campaigns.
For example, in Italy, Nike ran a European-wide affiliate campaign promoting their new line of running shoes. While the campaign was successful in some regions, it faltered in Italy due to cultural differences in the way Italians approach fitness. Many Italian consumers preferred more traditional forms of exercise, such as cycling and football, over running, and were less likely to purchase running shoes online. The affiliates involved in the campaign didn’t adjust their messaging or target audience, leading to a lack of conversion despite high traffic.
Lesson Learned: Small adjustments in campaign strategy can make a big difference. Brands must consider local market preferences, language, and consumer behavior when creating affiliate marketing campaigns in different European countries. Customization is key to ensuring relevance and maximizing campaign success.
