4 Lessons from Fashion & Beauty Brands: Applying Affiliate Programs to Games
Affiliate programs are nearly ubiquitous within the fashion and beauty industries, as they have proven effective in driving revenue. These industries have fine-tuned their strategies to maximize the benefits of affiliate marketing, offering valuable insights that can be applied to the gaming industry.
Let's explore what our industry can learn from fashion and beauty affiliate programs and discuss how these learnings can be applied to games.
Lesson #1: Implement an Affiliate Program
The first learning may be obvious, but it’s to implement an affiliate program, or a Support-a-Creator program, as they’re commonly referred to in gaming. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a fashion or makeup brand that doesn’t invest in an affiliate program, as they’ve become a prevalent strategy for fashion/beauty brands to acquire new customers and drive sales.
Furthermore influencers in the space have become accustomed to partnerships being performance-based. Even if the deal has a minimum guarantee or flat fee, partnerships with fashion and beauty influencers will include a CTA for the influencer’s audience to use their code at checkout, where they earn a share of each sale so the brand can see their true impact.
Gaming: Some publishers, like Supercell, Unity, and Scopely, are ahead of the curve in implementing affiliate systems. Their Support-a-Creator programs in games like Clash of Clans, Fortnite, and Stumble Guys have been powerful tools in driving user acquisition, conversions, engagement, and retention.
Game studios should consider establishing a creator program to tap into the power of content creators. By incentivizing those who promote their games, devs can establish scalable, revenue-driving partnerships with their creator community. Ninja Kiwi, the developers behind Bloons Tower Defense 6, implemented their creator program in 2022, and as a result, has seen the impact that content creators have had on their game.
Lesson #2: Use Seasonality to Your Advantage
Beauty and fashion brands know that new seasons and specific times of year (e.g. Black Friday) will supercharge interest and sales. They capitalize on this by aligning their affiliate campaigns with these seasonal changes, ensuring that their products are at the top of consumers' minds when they are most likely to buy.
Gaming: Game developers can take a similar approach by aligning activations with content creators with major game updates, or seasonal events. This ensures that promotional efforts peak when player interest is highest, leading to increased engagement and revenue. In the context of a Support-a-Creator program, aligned activations can include a higher revenue share during the first week of a new season, giving creators an extra incentive to promote at that time.
Lesson #3: Leverage the IP/Brand of Content Creators
Fashion and beauty brands often create custom products with influencers to drive user acquisition and sales. These collaborations enhance the brand’s reach and visibility and drive UA and sales from the creator's loyal followers.
Gaming: Game developers can mirror this by creating exclusive in-game items or events in partnership with content creators. This promotes the game through the creator's established audience and adds unique content that drives player engagement and spending.
Scopely does this regularly with content creators in the Stumble Guys creator program. Selected creators get to curate a bundle of their favorite in-game items, which is available in the Stumble Guys shop for a limited time.
Lesson #4: Be Generous to Creators
The most lucrative fashion affiliate programs offer high commission rates, extended cookie durations, and reasonable minimum payouts. For example, Amazon Fashion provides up to 10% commission on clothing, shoes, jewelry, watches, and more, with cookies lasting 24 hours and a minimum payout of $10. Boohoo Affiliates offer a generous 12% commission rate, 30-day cookies, and a minimum payout of £50, along with product feeds, banner ads, and text links.
Gaming: Gaming affiliate programs should strive to offer competitive commission rates, long cookie durations, and low minimum payouts to attract and retain top creators. By providing generous incentives and easy-to-use promotional tools, game developers build a loyal network of content creators whose incentives are aligned with the game’s growth.
Applying the Lessons
The gaming industry has much to gain by adopting proven affiliate marketing strategies from the fashion and beauty sectors. These tactics not only drive user acquisition and revenue but also foster deeper engagement within the games community. Are you interested in learning more about how a creator program could help your game succeed? Contact the Nexus team to learn more!
