Affiliate marketing is a turbulent sphere, where performance can fluctuate wildly. One day, you’re on top of your game, and another feels like you should rethink your career choices. We feel you, we’ve all been there.
But the good thing is that the chaos can be minimized, giving you more control over your campaigns and performance. It is paramount to stay calm and collected when you see that you’re losing conversions; diagnose the issue and fix one thing at a time.
To make the matter easier, we’ve prepared a framework for identifying and fixing most major issues that cause campaigns to lose efficiency. But prior to any fixing, you need to understand the root of your problem.
Step 1: Identify what actually dropped
First things first, we need to understand whether the drop is in traffic volume or conversions.
- If traffic volume decreased, the problem is likely on the acquisition side: sources, delivery issues, account restrictions, or platform changes.
- If volume is stable but conversions dropped, the issue is usually inside the funnel: creatives, offer relevance, landing page experience, tracking errors, or changes in user behavior.
These are two completely different problems. Treating them the same way is a recipe for flushing your budget down the drain.
Having pinpointed the problem category, break down your traffic flow by source. Oftentimes, major drops are related to specific channels or zones, unless there’s an issue with the offer or product (talking in generalities here, A.W. Empire provides some of the best offers). Granulation is the way to avoid guessing games and focus on the real issues.
Step 2: Check the most common causes
Right, there are many causes of performance drops, but some are more common than others. Let’s check out some of the most frequent ones.
- Tracking issues. A very frequent, annoying, yet relatively innocent problem. Did anything change in your tracker, postbacks, or Promo Tool links recently? Even a small parameter error can make your numbers look much worse than reality. But the good thing that… well, it’s all only in your tracker, and the actual performance remains stable.
- Recent changes. Did you add a new offer, creative, or zone shortly before the drop? New tests often need time to gather statistically significant data. Don’t rush to conclusions to make sure you’re not skipping some promising sources.
- Seasonal and external factors. Yes, major events affect traffic, just like the Moon affects the tides on Earth. Besides sports events, there are holidays, algorithm updates, and increased competition. Make sure to keep a performance log to remember what happened last year. Luckily, seasonal events tend to repeat themselves.
- Rebills and returning users. Your traffic might remain stable, but a slight drop in high-value users and rebills can hurt your performance more than anything else. This is especially true for the cam vertical, so make sure to take these whales into account in the analysis.
- Creative fatigue. Seeing the same creatives over and over becomes noise. To avoid boring users, rotate the variations and implement new promo tools.
- Offer or landing page problems. Sometimes a generic offer may lose its appeal, or the landing page may stop converting. Regularly test new variations and refresh your landing pages.
Step 3: Change one thing at a time
The biggest rule of them all: change one variable at a time to preserve control. Changing things chaotically is a bad move. Don’t get us wrong, it might work, but you won’t know the cause, meaning you’re bound to fall for the same trap again eventually.
Instead, we suggest making controlled changes so that you know exactly what affects your results. It might be boring or too long, but it works and helps you earn more.
If you’ve gone through this checklist and still can’t identify the root cause, reach out to your Affiliate Manager. We’ve reviewed thousands of campaigns and can often spot patterns or issues very quickly when we look at your stats together. We’re always here to help you get back on track with practical, tailored solutions.
