According to government statistics, at the start of 2019, 5.8 million small businesses (0-49 employees) made up 99.3% of the total UK business population, generating turnover of £1.5 trillion. Yet Forbes say that while 80% of small businesses survive the first year, only half survive past the five-year mark.

Affiliate marketing offers a low-risk, sustainable, performance-based model to drive business growth, by establishing partnerships to promote their goods and services to a wider audience. Awin is already partnered with over 1,500 SMEs in the UK, and in 2019 helped these businesses to drive £1 billion in revenue with their affiliate programmes. Awin Access opens up affiliate marketing to an even broader market of emerging digital businesses.

With minimal outlay and a simple integration, Awin Access further lowers the barriers preventing micro-SMEs from using the affiliate channel, by reducing commitment, removing setup costs and offering low-risk commercials.

Once integrated, clients are able to immediately use Awin’s intuitive platform to begin building direct partnerships with over 200,000 vetted publisher partners, supported by online tutorials and a chatbot. Coupled with first-class tracking and reporting, the platform offers an ethical and secure plug and play solution to boost presence, traffic and sales, vital for young businesses to thrive.

The launch of Awin Access follows a successful pilot in the UK, incorporating 159 micro-SMEs generating over £2.1 million in sales revenue. The pilot welcomed small businesses and entrepreneurs from across the travel, finance, telco and retail sectors. Retail accounted for 72% of programmes, including independent silversmith Hersey & Son, who successfully used the new service to drive a 29% increase in traffic and 23% increase in sales, year on year. The affiliate channel now accounts for 15% of Hersey & Son’s online sales.

Michelle O’Sullivan, Business Development Director UK says “Our goal was to provide the affiliate marketing platform of choice that gives small companies access to a diverse range of online partners to grow their business. We’re delighted with the success we’ve seen so far with the UK pilot and are excited to open up Awin’s platform and network to a new customer segment, helping small businesses to thrive and create their own success stories through a proven, effective marketing channel.”