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1. Understanding Affiliate Diversification Strategy
Definition
An affiliate marketing tactic for advertisers where you never over-rely on a dominant
publisher, group of publishers, segment of publishers or region of publishers. The
tactic underpins the idea that spreading your publishers far and wide, whether it be
geographical, industry lead, or segment type will reap the benefits in the long-term
and diminish down-turns leading to a more stable channel for growth.
Case Study
In the gaming industry Oddschecker dominate the affiliate landscape. Upon analysis
quarter after quarter they grew and continued to overshadow my other publishers –
making over 50% of new sales. We had a great relationship, they were promoting my
brand and the affiliate channel was one of the most successful in the business,
accounting for 20% of turnover.
Then suddenly we lost our top placement, our odds slipped further down the
rankings due to competition and their account manager changed to a young new
recruit – meaning starting from scratch.
Sales slipped very quickly and the following quarter they fell to just 10% of my sales
– dragging the entire channel with it. My error – over-relying on one publisher and
not diversifying enough. I should have had other publishers to support them and take
their place.
Going forward I insured that I focused my efforts on bringing my large affiliates up to
the level of super affiliate so that I had several successful publishers at the top of my
tree. I diversified into different segments and didn’t just rely on comparison sites. I
spread my wings into regions too so that not just the UK propped up my portfolio.
Origins of strategy
An continuing from the last sentence – portfolio is a good way of thinking about it. In
the wealth management and investment industry, no financial advisor would tell you
to put all your money in one stock or one company. Diversification has always been
the long-term secret to success. This is why when people invest to grow their money
they should buy hundreds or thousands of stock types across regions and industries
so that if one falls it has far less impact. This is where the origins of the
diversification strategy stem from.
It’s also prominent in our own lives, many people believe that we should not just
focus on one source of income due to over-reliance. Multiple sources can help

2. support and not put too much strain on one. Secondly, any good business will tell
you that by diversifying products, suppliers and regions will lead to a much stronger
back-bone to the company. They would never just rely on one source.