326 % increase in sales within one year

AuraNatura® develops and distributes high-quality nutritional supplements based on international research. The wide range includes over 50 natural health products. With the Fermentura brand, AuraNatura is also the leading European manufacturer of products with fermented ingredients.

We have been managing all performance marketing for AuraNatura since the start of our collaboration in September 2021. However, the decision to introduce an affiliate program was made a little later, as some basics such as positioning, approach and competition were first defined. In several meetings, we analyzed the potential and advantages of affiliate marketing in detail.

Why affiliate marketing?

An analysis of the competition showed that comparable programs were already being used successfully. This underlined the added value of an affiliate program, which also increases reach and can play on additional platforms cost-effectively.

For AuraNatura, affiliate marketing was a new channel in the marketing mix. We therefore started without any existing affiliates. First, we created a forecast for the potential turnover and the associated costs in order to always have a clear benchmark in mind for the development of the affiliate program. Based on our competitive analyses and current trends in the industry, we set a competitive affiliate commission. With these conditions established, we could focus fully on acquiring the right affiliates in the first operational step.

In August 2022, together with AuraNatura, we launched affiliate marketing through our partner network Adcell to work with a variety of publishers, including content sites, influencers, couponing and cashback providers and specialty magazines. Adcell was an ideal choice due to its existing connections with top publishers such as Shoop, Deutschlandcard and mydealz, as it could also cover coupon and cashback sites with a wide reach. This made acquisition easier overall and enabled the use of voucher codes for promotions.

For content creation, we relied on high-quality, topic-specific content that corresponded to the interests of the target group and thus strengthened brand awareness.

We also promoted the program through regular promotions such as Summer Sale, Carnival Sale, Easter Sale, Fermentura Sale and Black Week. Awareness among publishers was increased through newsletters and active acquisition via Adcell.

AuraNatura was able to achieve a significant increase in sales through affiliate marketing. At the beginning, the focus was on acquiring new affiliates, as more partners in the program also generate more sales. At the start, we had 16 affiliates, mainly from the cashback sector. Within a month, we were able to more than triple this number through independent applications.

Awareness of the affiliate program was increased through measures such as mentions in Adcell newsletters and inclusion under “Program launches”. This guaranteed high visibility among registered affiliates and encouraged independent applications, which facilitated acquisition. It usually takes 4 to 6 weeks for affiliates to integrate the advertising material and the tracking link on their website. Only then can the first conversions follow:

After launching the affiliate program in October 2022, AuraNatura was already able to celebrate impressive successes in Q4 thanks to Black Week and Winter Sale.

In the first quarter of 2023, voucher and discount campaigns for Carnival and Easter provided new momentum. In particular, individually rotating voucher codes provided a noticeable boost.

Towards the end of 2023, performance stabilized and we were able to close the year with sales growth of 229 % compared to the start of the program - a clear sign of the positive development of the affiliate program.

Following these successes, AuraNatura naturally wants to further expand its affiliate program. To this end, we have developed a medium and long-term strategy to further drive scaling:

• Action planning: Annual campaigns with top publishers to achieve marketing goals and increase reach.

• Publisher expansion: Strategic negotiations with publishers for profitable placements.

• Regular analyses: Ongoing optimization of strategies based on market and competitive analyses.

• Partnership maintenance: Strengthening the successful collaboration with existing affiliates.

• Product samples: Introduction of sample sizes for juices provided to affiliates for authentic promotion.