What is Platform Migration in Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the most effective tool in the digital marketing toolkit. Nowadays, it is the most prevalent source adopted by brands for promotions, brand awareness, and lead generation. Digital marketing ROI can be significantly increased when affiliate marketing is managed effectively with the right tools and strategies. So, to make such efforts worthwhile, affiliate marketers use various tools and platforms.

Sometimes, it is not always possible for the platforms to fulfill all the business requirements of the clients and affiliate marketers. That is where migration comes into the picture. Affiliate marketers have the option to shift from one platform to another that holds immense potential to fulfill all their business needs. But now the question is, if there are multiple alternatives available in the market, then why do marketers stick to old platforms and resist change? Then the answer to this question is fear of losing the statistical data, the stereotypes of migration’s lengthy and hectic procedure, and the distress of changing old patterns.

Migration is not exactly what most affiliate marketers hold in their heads. A successful affiliate marketer knows when it's time to change the old house and enter a new one. New technology and advanced features provided by brilliant performance marketing platforms like Offer18 are all you need to achieve the ultimate goal of reaching the sales target of your business entity.

What Drives Affiliate Marketers to Make the Switch?

There are plenty of reasons that drive affiliate marketers to make the big step of migration. A few of the reasons are mentioned below:-

1. Lack of reliable statistics:- Stat is the primary component that shines on top of the prepared meal and contributes most to its flavor, so it must satisfy all the requirements of the clients. Reliable data and accurate statistics are the primary needs of marketers to target a suitable audience. Where reports offered by the platform are not reliable and cause ambiguity while making various decisions, this drives the affiliate marketers to make a shift.

2. Features not compatible with requirements:- Features are what make one platform differ from another. It is the supreme need of marketers. A business demands advanced functionality to handle enormous data once it reaches a particular growth level. Where outdated features become incompatible with the business requirements, affiliate marketers are left with no option other than migration.

3. Less technical assistance:- As market trends and technologies expand, so do marketers' needs. Therefore, adopting the advanced technology and features in the new patterns requires knowledge and technical expertise. Hence, less technical support from the platform creates frustration and doubt in the minds of the marketers, which leads them to take a big migration decision.

4. Price more than value-added:- When other platforms provide better marketing services with advanced features at a lower price than the existing price charged by the platform, then why do smart entrepreneurs decide not to switch? There is no doubt that every organization strives to reduce operating overheads. Hence, taking migration decisions would not be hard where they can save on overhead expenses and utilize the money to expand their business.

5. Limited prospects for growth:- In the short term, every business strives to reach a target audience to build a customer base so that they can drive traffic to their affiliate products and services, enhancing sales and conversion rates. But in the long run, what successful marketers look for is long-term revenue and growth. So they prefer shifting to another platform as soon as they realize the limited business growth prospects.

Challenges Faced by Affiliate Marketers During the Migration

Various challenges on the way are the main contributing hurdles to sticking to old platforms that provide outdated services. A few of them are stated below:-

1. Hurdles in data transfer on other platforms:- One of the biggest challenges faced by the migrating company is getting through the hurdles of the data transfer, especially for businesses that are operating on a large scale. Transferring huge amounts of statistical data from one platform to another in the blink of an eye is not an easy task. It requires time and energy. That is why it is a crucial decision for businesses to make a shift.

2. Lack of technical knowledge:- Lack of technical knowledge is also another hindrance to making an easy shift. If one doesn't possess enough knowledge of the prerequisites and requirements of migration, then it can prove to be a greatest challenge for them. Without technical knowledge and support, large data transfers are barely possible.

3. Fear of data loss:- Who wants to lose years of effort in vain with one decision. This one question always comes up in the mind of the platform migrating firm. They are afraid of losing their statistical data and hence drop the idea of switching to a better platform than they are currently using.

4. Lack of customer support:- Migration involves technical expertise and the right support; it is not as simple as blending a cup of coffee (although for some individuals it is also tough). Businesses are frequently dissatisfied and question their migration decision if they do not receive helpful customer assistance.

How to Find the Best Platform to Migrate?

Few entrepreneurs select the platform because of its features, while others make this choice due to its ease of use and good customer support. In reality, the best platform is the sum total of various factors, which equally contributes to make it more useful. They are described below:-

1. Ease of use:- A platform that is easy to understand and use is what first attracts the most marketers. It's a big challenge for them to switch from the old platform and learn the new one from scratch. This phobia of change is the biggest reason why they couldn’t make this decision very quickly. Hence, a platform that is easy to use and adapt to is taken into consideration while selecting a platform.

2. Comprehensive reporting and in-depth analytics:- Authentic reporting and impactful analysis are what affiliate marketers look for while selecting a suitable platform for migration. Making a long-term business strategy depends greatly on thorough measurement and analysis of extensive data based on many attributes. This is the preferred approach adopted by successful affiliate marketers.

3. Provides opportunities for growth:- If we ask for the most common long-term goal every business holds, then surely it would be the success and growth of the business. Nobody wants to work in a shell. A good marketing strategy adopted by the marketer is to spend more time and effort researching the platform that provides more opportunities for the long-term growth of the business.

4. Advanced features:- Tools and features are the most important variables of comparison when selecting a suitable affiliate marketing platform. A platform with advanced functionality will undoubtedly have a higher chance of acceptance than others. Tools make the tasks of affiliate marketers more simple and efficient, hence holding a bigger portion of the decision plate.

5. Timely and accurate technical assistance:- Accurate technical support and effective backend customer support are indeed the greatest reasons for SaaS platforms' success. Not everyone has expertise in the technical aspects. Platform users who want to adopt the latest released technology and tools surely need technical support. Therefore, a platform that provides timely and effective technical assistance is preferred by successful affiliate marketers.

6. Upgrade features with needs:- Unlike other fields, affiliate marketing is constantly evolving and changing, which is reflected in the features and tools offered by a variety of service providers. Platforms that focus the majority of their efforts on upgrading features in accordance with the market and client needs stand out in competitive markets.

7. Possibility for personalization and customization:- The greater mode of satisfying the client’s needs is by providing them with customization options based on their business requirements. Flexible, reliable, and responsive are the qualities that successful affiliate marketers look for. Consequently, whoever possesses this leads the market.

Offer18 - Best Solution for All Your Marketing Needs

If you are looking for a platform that will meet all your marketing requirements and make your business stand out from the rest, then Offer18 is the best choice for you! Holding all the brilliant features on one platform is what the majority of affiliate marketers look for. Offer18 values its customers and forms the most flexible platform for them. If you are still thinking about why Offer18 is the best alternative for your entity, then let its features and achievements convince you better!

Awards:- Offer18 has been serving its clients for a long time. Due to its outstanding features, dedicated technical support and customer success team, impressive dashboard, and brilliant services, it has become the first preference of clients who need an all-in-one marketing solution. Due to clients' positive ratings and reviews in the world’s leading tech review platforms like capterra, G2 and software suggest, Offer18 has racked up more than 50 awards in its bucket of achievements.

Ratings:- Many eminent tech-lead platforms provide ratings to brands on the basis of their performance, features, web presence, user ratings, and reviews. So, if the words aren't convincing you, let us show you digits in the form of ratings instead!

Features:- When it comes to providing all the advanced features on one platform, Offer18 stands out from the crowd as the best performance marketing software. It provides quality features to its clients like Smart Offer, Offer Automation, Offer Sync, Anti-Fraud tools, Rule-based capping, Link tester, and much more. Once you start using it, you will get to know that the more you explore it, the better it will serve your business and enhance the growth and ROI of your business.

Customer Support:- More than 800 happy users believe in Offer18, and we give a big slice of credit to our customer support team, who remain 24*7 available to assist our valuable customers. You can expect the best support because many organizations continue to honor Offer18 with prominent awards in the customer support services segment, indicating how satisfied users are with its support services. Our support team isn't biased toward the plans. Whether you are trial users, or paying clients, it provides a quick and helpful response to everyone.

Comprehensive Guide to Migrate from Any Other Platform to Offer18

In the internet marketing industry, technology changes very frequently. So if you think the technology of the platform that you are using is outdated but you are afraid to migrate because of the difficult and lengthy procedure it entails, then Offer18 provides a variety of tools and features to make your migration process go as smoothly as possible and help you reach out to your potential customers. It will eliminate all the wrong perceptions held by affiliate marketers related to migration. So make a suitable marketing plan of the migration and then follow the below stated steps to migrate to Offer18 smoothly and effortlessly.

1. Communicate with the onboarding team regarding migration:- When you make up your mind regarding migration, the first step you should follow is to contact the onboarding team of Offer18 regarding your requirements. Provide all the details concerned with the migration, including the previous service provider, the campaign-supported integrations, feature and tool requirements, etc. Our supportive onboarding and customer success team will walk you through each and every step to make sure all your requirements are fulfilled.

2. Migration of offers, affiliates, and advertisers:- As you communicate with the Offer18 onboarding team, you will learn how to migrate offers, affiliates, and advertisers to Offer18. It's super easy. You will simply need to export your data from your previous platform and modify it according to the Offer18 template provided by our team. You can seamlessly import your entire data set as it is in the Offer18 dashboard.

3. Check the newly updated setup, including tracking and postback URL:- Once you migrate your offers, advertisers, and affiliates to the Offer18 dashboard, the next step you should follow is to check the created configurations beforehand to avoid future hurdles. See whether tracking links are working properly and save the postbacks of affiliates in the offer18 dashboard so that conversion should reflect at their end smoothly.

4. Notify your advertisers and affiliates regarding platform migration:- When you become confident about the setup after a thorough examination of all the configurations, the next steps should be to inform the advertiser and affiliates regarding the platform migration. One can’t do business alone in a shell. Concerned people are involved in making things work properly. In performance marketing, advertisers and affiliates play a bigger role, so it is very important to communicate with them regarding your shift in the platform.

5. Provide updated postback to your advertiser and affiliate link to your affiliates:- Once you notify them regarding your platform switch to Offer18, make sure to provide the Offer18 system-generated postback URL to your advertisers so that they save it at their end and you will receive conversions at your end serenely. Also, share the affiliate tracking URL with your affiliates for smooth promotions.

6. Share login credentials of affiliate dashboards to your affiliates:- When you reach this step, 90% of your migration tasks are fulfilled. Now you can provide Offer18 affiliate dashboard credentials to your affiliates. You can set the dashboard and reporting settings in your admin portal.

So yes, after fulfilling such easy steps, you will finally become part of the Offer18 family and our dedicated support team will stand by your side 24*7 to assist you.

User’s Experience after Migration to Offer18

Migrating from one platform to another is a crucial decision, but sometimes it is the only big decision that one should make to enhance the business's profitability and growth. Many affiliate marketers migrate from one platform to Offer18 and get the benefit of updated technology at minimal cost and other supporting features. They are satisfied with their decision because, by using Offer18, their business is enhanced and so is their profitability.

Here is a glimpse of the real experience of various reputed affiliate partners after migration.

Conclusion

Shifting from the old platform becomes quite necessary when it starts affecting your revenue. So one must make the crucial decision before things get out of hand. The preceding discussion should have made it clear how important migration is for the growth of the business and also how one can easily shift from the old platform to Offer18 without much hustle.

We hope that the Offer18 migration guide has succeeded in breaking the old stereotypes and perceptions formed from hearsay about the cumbersome procedure of migrating platforms.