Common Affiliate Marketing KPIs: How to Measure Success

Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are metrics that show you whether or not a campaign strategy is successful based on an established goal.

KPIs are important for any type of marketing campaign because they let you and your team show quantifiable value to your business. From a strategic perspective, KPIs can also help marketing departments optimize performance by showing what works and what doesn’t and identifying which marketing partners drive the most value.

Choosing the Right KPIs for Your Affiliate Marketing Goals

Generally speaking, there are no “wrong” KPIs to track. That said, you can get a better idea of progress toward the goal and valuable insights into campaign performance by selecting a few KPIs to focus on. 

For instance, if your affiliate marketing campaign goals are conversions, you may measure conversion rates and average order value. If your primary focus is on brand awareness, you may monitor clicks or engagement rates.

Take a closer look at some essential KPIs for affiliate marketing. 

15 Essential KPIs for Measuring Affiliate Marketing Success

Here are 15 common KPIs for affiliate marketing tracking.

Engagement-focused KPIs

• Clicks: How many people click on affiliate links

• Impressions: How many times is content shown to users

• Click-through rate (CTR): How often someone clicks a link after seeing an ad (Clicks / Impressions = CTR)

• New vs. returning customers: How many customers are first-time buyers compared to returning shoppers

Conversion-focused KPIs

• Total sales or conversions: How many total sales or conversions have been generated by your campaign

• Conversion rate (CR): How many site visitors converted or made a purchase (Total conversions / Total visitors x 100 = CR)

• Average order value (AOV): How much the average buyer spends on a transaction

• Customer lifetime value (CLV): The total amount of money a brand can expect from a single user throughout the buyer’s lifetime (Average revenue per user (ARPU) x Customer lifespan = CLV)

• Return on ad spend (ROAS): How much revenue an ad campaign generated compared to its cost (Ad revenue / Ad spend = ROAS)

• Return on investment (ROI): How much profit a campaign generated compared to its cost (Net profit / Cost x 100 = ROI)

• Cost per acquisition (CPA): How much each customer conversion costs (Campaign cost / Total number of converting customers = CPA)

• Revenue per click (RPC): How much revenue is generated by each affiliate link or ad click

Affiliate-focused KPIs 

• Percentage of click-active affiliates: How many affiliates drive clicks compared to the total number of affiliates

• Percentage of sale-active affiliates: How many affiliates drive conversions compared to the total number of affiliates

• Revenue generated by affiliate: How much revenue each affiliate drives compared to the total affiliate sales amassed during a period

How to Use KPIs to Optimize Your Affiliate Strategy

KPIs can provide valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t with your affiliate marketing campaign. They can also help you and your team identify opportunities to improve performance. For instance, if one or two influencers are generating the highest number of sales, you may extend or expand your partnership with them. If your goal is traffic and you notice affiliate ads on a social media platform that drive a considerable volume, you may prioritize ad spend on that platform. 

Just remember: Don’t get overwhelmed trying to track every metric. Monitor those most closely aligned with your campaign goals, and look for opportunities to enhance performance and scale your affiliate program along the way.

Not sure where to start? Track the right KPIs and maximize your affiliate marketing performance with Acceleration Partners. Contact us today to get started.

FAQs About Affiliate Marketing KPIs

Learn more about affiliate marketing KPIs and how to track them.

1. How do you determine which KPIs matter most in affiliate marketing?

Choosing the most important KPIs depends on campaign goals. If you’re just getting started, consider focusing on metrics like conversion rates and click-through rates to gauge success.

2. What’s the best way to track multiple affiliate marketing KPIs?

Tracking multiple affiliate marketing KPIs often involves a combination of software platforms. For instance, you may use a sales dashboard to monitor conversions or tools like Google Analytics to monitor traffic. Our proprietary software, APVision, can even generate custom reports based on the KPIs you identify at the start of your campaign.

3. How often should you review affiliate marketing KPIs? 

As a general rule of thumb, monitor metrics at least once a month for long-term campaigns, or more frequently for short-term campaigns.

Visit our Services page to learn more about our unique approach to affiliate program management and the expertise of our global team.