Challenges of implementing affiliate marketing in the retail banking sector of Bangladesh
Authors
Fahim, Golam Murtoza
Issue Date
2024
Degree
MSc in Digital Marketing and Analytics
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
Affiliate marketing offers a low-cost marketing solution for the retail banking industry in Bangladesh, which is forced to face the twin specters of market saturation and high costs resulting from traditional marketing, since the expenses are directly related to performance outcomes. In spite of the rise of internet penetration, the banking industry at the local level has adhered to a great degree to the use of traditional marketing techniques and has lagged behind in implementing affiliate marketing tools, which are digital and scalable in nature. Therefore, the study tried to evaluate the strategic challenges of implementing affiliate marketing and its potential as a core marketing strategy in financial institutions in Bangladesh. This study, through qualitative analysis with the help of in-depth interviews of industry experts, identifies possible benefits and significant barriers of affiliate marketing. Key benefits that have been noted in this regard encompass cost effectiveness and better reach of markets due to the performance-based nature of the tool of affiliate marketing that directly aligns the cost of marketing with outcomes. Technological readiness, regulatory compliance, and customer trust remain the major challenges. It then moves on to examine strategic requirements and needs for the incorporation of affiliate marketing within a broader framework of marketing for achievement of competitive advantages and better market penetration. The study contributes to academic literature and industry practice by offering insight into the intricate process of adoption of digital marketing by the retail banking sector of a developing country like Bangladesh and reporting of strategies that had been custom-designed to overcome specific local challenges.