Digital Marketing Blog
Digital marketing news, opinion and insights from our expert team of Navigators. Here we share our views on the ever-evolving digital world, breaking down the freshest trends in affiliate marketing, bringing you up to speed with the latest updates from the world of social media and helping you stay ahead of the curve with the newest breakthroughs in paid search strategies.
V2.jpg)
Unlock Game-Changing Strategies with the "Affiliate Marketing Diaries" Podcast
Explore 'Affiliate Marketing Diaries', Navigate Digital's podcast. Learn from experts on attribution, affiliate & performance marketing, and lead gen strategies.
All Posts

What you SHOULDN'T be doing with your affiliate program in 2023
Affiliate marketing has become a mainstream channel for businesses to drive growth and increase their revenues. With the increasing adoption of e-commerce and the accelerated shift towards digital, affiliate marketing has emerged as a crucial component of any successful marketing strategy. The economic climate in recent years has been volatile to say the least, and businesses are looking for more cost-effective ways to reach their target audience. This has led to an increase in the popularity of affiliate marketing, as it provides businesses with the ability to reach new customers, increase brand awareness and drive sales, all while having to pay affiliates only for actual results. In the face of such growth and competition, it is crucial for businesses to avoid costly mistakes and make the most out of their affiliate marketing programs. In this blog, we'll be discussing the key mistakes to avoid in 2023 to ensure that your affiliate marketing program is, and always remains a resounding success.

Cooking up Affiliate Success: Strategies to Help Grow Affiliate Revenue for Food and Drink Advertisers
Affiliate marketing can be an excellent way for food and drink advertisers to boost their online sales and drive customer acquisition. By establishing relationships with relevant affiliates, brands can tap into a new audience of potential customers while also increasing brand awareness. However, there is more to running a successful affiliate programme than simply signing up affiliate partners – it requires careful planning and management in order to deliver maximum returns. In this article, we provide some essential tips that will help you increase your sales through affiliate marketing in the food and drink industry.

How Elon Musk is changing Twitter
Elon Musk, the controversial and very busy tech visionary, has continued his lofty ideas and ambitious business ventures by purchasing Twitter. With all the noise about possible changes to the platform, one thing that sparks to mind is, what is in store for our advertisers who currently use the platform?

Diversity & Inclusion at Navigate
In the midst of 2020’s chaos, certain events triggered a global wake up call. We have seen the BLM movement take centre stage across the world after the tragic death of George Floyd in May. This incident became a symbol for what the Black community has been trying to fight against for centuries.

How can podcast ads help challenger brands to compete?
The digital landscape is constantly evolving and changing, as new mediums emerge or increase in popularity, and others fade into the distant past (remember Tumblr, anyone?). One format that has gone from strength to strength in recent years is podcasts.

When is the right time for brands to launch an affiliate programme?
Affiliate marketing, also known as partnership marketing, is considered by many to be a key part of a brand’s marketing mix.
What do challenger brands need to do differently in the new normal? Part 3. Incentivise new customers
In the third post of our series, we look at how to incentivise and keep your customers engaged after purchase.
How Instagram Reels can help increase share of voice
In August of this year, Instagram released their latest video feature, Reels.
Navigating the world of home working
The worrying circumstances we are faced with in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, have forced a huge number of workers across the world to work from home – including the Navigate team.
H1 2019 Digital Ad Spend Reaches £7.3bn
UK digital advertising spend continues to show year on year growth, with the total UK digital advertising market now worth £7.3bn.
Facebook: should we forgive them, or forget them?
It has been a tough few years for Facebook, who have repeatedly fallen under fire for their failure to protect the data of their users.
Getting Affiliated with a Different Side of Digital Marketing
What do you first think of when you think of digital marketing? Paid search? SEO? Social media?
Google’s Latest Chrome Update: Security Patch or Money Grab?
In its November 2018 release of its Manifest v3 public document, Google announced an upcoming security update for their Chrome browser.
Is winning without pitching really possible?
Regular readers of our blog may remember my blog from December last year, when I gave prospective clients some of my own thoughts around how to approach the new business process from an agency owner perspective....
Snapchat is down with the youth
It's been announced that Snapchat's 18-24 user base is expected to overtake Facebook's before 2018 is out
IAB Engage: Moving Forward
On the 7th June I visited the Engage ‘Moving Forward’ conference held at the Barbican, London.
2017 digital adspend reached £11.5bn
2017 proved to be another record-breaking year for UK online digital adspend, with total investment reaching £11.55bn.
Moving towards a new viewability standard
With digital effectiveness being called into question more frequently, the move to raise standards can only benefit advertisers in the long-term.
Performance Marketing Awards 2018 Shortlist
We are delighted to be shortlisted for two awards at this year’s Performance Marketing Awards.
Valentine’s Day and Afterpay
Roses are red, violets are blue, Valentine’s Day is now the shopping holiday for you.
CES: what to look out for in 2018
The Consumer Electronics Show is one of the most significant technology events of the year, attracting some of the world’s largest tech and hardware developers.
Personalisation is here to stay
Personalisation has been identified as one of the key online marketing trends this year.
PPC 2017: Big, fat review of the year’s biggest trends & updates in paid search
This year, AI and machine learning permeated through nearly every paid search update
Going for Gold Standard
2017 saw digital advertising and the need for transparency thrust into the spotlight. What does 2018 have in store?
Marketing to the last minute Christmas shopper
We may be heading increasingly closer to the Big Day, but that’s no excuse to slow down on promotional activity.
New statistics on Affiliate Marketing in Australia and must-read articles
Navigate's top statistics on Affiliate Marketing in Australia, including Single's Day, Black Friday and Big 4 Banks' Affiliate Spend
Looking to hire a new media agency? Here are some tips...
“Christmas comes but once a year, now it's here, now it's here”. A time for giving, a time for sharing.
Showcase Shopping Ads
We break down a new-ish Shopping ad format, aiming to help people discover your brand & products
H1 2017 adspend: video overtakes banners
With online video adspend overtaking banner ads for the first time, IAB Engage acted as a timely reminder to us all on the importance of the context in which these videos are being viewed.
Building a sustainable future for digital advertising
The IAB will be spearheading change to help remedy a turbulent 12 months for digital...
Visual search: what does it mean for advertisers?
Last month, ASOS became the most high profile fashion retailer to launch Visual Search on their app.
Facebook ramps up their video offering
Earlier this month, Facebook announced their new video proposition “Watch”, a platform for shows and video on Facebook.
What are soft click cookie affiliates?
In May 2017 controversy was abound in the Affiliate industry as a new player to the market ‘Pouch’ announced a voucher code extension tool that would allow brands to essentially bid to feature on the extension when the customer was browsing a rival site.
How is digital media growing up?
The start of 2017 saw Marc Pritchard, P&G’s Chief Brand Officer, deliver what was referred to as the "biggest marketing speech for 20 years".*
International Affiliate Marketing
In the final part of our roundup of 'Affiliate Huddle', we look at the discussion points around international growth.
The Affiliate revolution & automation
In part 2 of our roundup of Affiliate Huddle, we explore two of the talks around automation and the need for revolution in the Affiliate industry.
Affiliates & travel: overcoming the twin terrors of Brexit and Trump
Last week the Affiliate team were lucky enough to attend the annual ‘Affiliate Huddle’ conference, taking place for its 4th year in central London.
How Whole Foods will help Amazon sell more shoes
Last month online retail giant Amazon announced that they were buying Whole Foods, a business which is completely reliant on physical stores, for a whopping $13 billion!
Round One: Google vs EU
The EC's decision to fine Google nearly €3b will be a soap opera like no other & could have longer-lasting implications for Google
Attribution: What? Why? How? When?
Viewability, brand safety and attribution are all difficult issues for marketers to solve in the complex digital landscape.
Snapchat Spectacles have arrived – Revolutionary tech or unnecessary accessory?
In 2016, Snapchat launched Spectacles in the US and last week they finally became available in the UK.
Data & Innovation Conference: Lessons Learned
Last month we attended the morning sessions of the IAB’s Data and Innovation conference held at the British Museum.
Amazon & Influencer marketing
Amazon has launched a beta version of an invite-only Influencer Program. So is this the link between Influencer marketing and Affiliates that we’ve been waiting for?
Brand bidding and Australian Affiliate Programmes
Addressing a weakness in Australian Affiliate Marketing
Afterpay: Changing consumer shopping experience
Online shopping and the role convenience and flexibility plays in changing consumer behaviour
Time kills all deals
Yes, it may seem like a cliché but it is as close to the truth as you’re going to get!
Battle of the immersive environments - who came out on top?
In this fast paced digital world, Virtual Reality is quickly becoming the next exciting, emerging platform, budding with opportunity.
The Future of Advertising
I was very lucky (and very happy) to attend one of the highlight events of the IPA’s Festival of British Advertising to celebrate the institute’s centenary.
Notes on the Programmatic Summit 2017, Sydney
Programmatic in Australia is abound with challenges and opportunity
The Great British Chefs Foodie Survey
Our Take on Understanding Foodie Consumer Behaviour for Paid Search & Social
Biddable Blog Series: Automations to spring clean Adwords
Clean up & improve Adwords accounts, at scale and at speed
Mis[s]guided; is their branch into the physical just that?
If there’s one thing Missguided do well, it’s having a DGAF attitude to innovation.
Navigate & Monarch shortlisted at The Travel Marketing Awards 2017
2017 has got off to a great start with the agency being shortlisted at The Travel Marketing Awards.
Our recap on CES 2017
CES – the Disneyland of digital delights wowed Las Vegas earlier this month celebrating the 50th anniversary of the event.
The Month in Media - November
Navigate's Pam, Catherine & Laura have picked out a few interesting developments from the past few weeks.
PMI 2016: Our round-up of this year's event
Over the 25th & 26th October, myself and a number of the Navigate team were privileged to attend the Performance Insights event in London, one of the highlights of the Affiliate and Performance marketing calendar.
Know your publishers: how fashion & beauty brands can get the most out of the affiliate channel
Every year brands are facing the same questions – how to outperform last year’s results and how to invest their budget?
Navigate Digital nominated for two Drum Network Awards
We are delighted to have been nominated for two awards at this year’s The Drum Network Awards.
Five ways to prepare your affiliate programme for Christmas
We have less than 68 days until Christmas!
Day Two at the Festival of Marketing - Make movements instead of campaigns
Day two at the Festival of Marketing kicked off with a panel discussion over what ‘Brand Britain’ means in the post-Brexit era.
Day One at the Festival of Marketing – Steve Wozniak steals the show
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, closed what was an insightful first day at Econsultancy’s Festival of Marketing.
The Value of Voucher Code Partners
Since gaining prominence in 2007, the share in sales from voucher sites has grown from 11% to a whopping 25%, collectively making them the most successful type of business model in the affiliate space.
Key ingredients for a successful blogger-brand partnership
One of the many topics that arisen this year within the industry are bloggers and their role as online influencers.
AdBlock Plus Launches Its Own Ad Network
Ever heard the one about the ad blocker that started its own ad network?