Awareness campaigns build the connection. Performance marketing turns that connection into a steady, measurable stream of sales or leads — priced on outcomes, not impressions. BuyersCircle’s affiliate model combines the platform’s advertising ecosystem with an active network of 30,000+ merchants to drive direct results for partners on a cost-per-conversion basis.
How it works
The affiliate/performance model runs on a structured process:
- Asset production, offer development and programme set-up — building the creative, offer and mechanics that will convert this specific audience
- Initial test phase to confirm viability and establish a sustainable long-term cost per acquisition (CPA) or cost per lead (CPL)
- Ecosystem optimisation — refining creative, offers, landing pages and customer experience based on real performance data
- Ongoing active management — the programme runs live, monitored and optimised continuously
- Results at a known, set cost — with spend controls available if required
Why performance-based pricing works for this audience
The model is 100% performance-based — you only pay for each verified conversion, whether that’s a sale or a qualified lead. It draws on all available platform advertising inventory (excluding the Coupon Overlay, which runs as a separate high-engagement format) and the platform’s 30,000+ strong active merchant network, so your offer gets consistent, always-on visibility rather than only appearing during discrete campaign bursts.
Typical cost bands vary by category and competitiveness — high-volume categories like FMCG, apparel and events generally see the most efficient cost-per-conversion, mid-tier categories like health, beauty and supplements sit in the middle, and premium categories like luxury, finance, banking and investment carry higher costs per conversion reflecting higher value per outcome. Every partner ultimately finds their own sustainable CPA/CPL sweet spot during the test phase — submit a brief and we’ll model this for your category specifically.
Sales-driving vs lead-driving: which model fits your brand?
Retail / D2C brands
Affiliate activity drives a stream of incremental sales through your Official Store, amplifying the reach built through advertising and keeping the store active with new traffic between major campaign moments.
Non-retail brands
Affiliate activity drives leads, off-platform acquisitions, or other tailored outcomes through a dedicated landing page — useful for categories like finance, real estate, education and professional services where the objective is a qualified enquiry rather than an on-platform purchase.
Why “always-on” matters for this audience specifically
Chinese-Australian consumers are highly engaged daily WeChat users (82% daily usage, ~80 minutes a day), which makes an always-on presence disproportionately valuable compared to campaigns that appear and disappear. Affiliate/performance activity is what maintains visibility across the platform between advertising bursts and cultural-calendar moments — see our cultural calendar guide for how to plan a sustained annual presence rather than one-off spikes.
Frequently asked questions
How is affiliate/performance marketing priced?
On a cost-per-outcome basis — you pay only for verified conversions (a sale or a qualified lead), with the exact rate depending on your category and competitiveness. An initial test phase is used to establish a sustainable long-term CPA/CPL specific to your brand.
What’s the difference between a Retail brand and a Non-Retail brand affiliate programme?
Retail/D2C brands typically drive incremental sales through an Official Store. Non-retail brands typically drive qualified leads or off-platform acquisitions through a dedicated landing page — the underlying advertising and merchant-network mechanics are the same, but the destination and outcome differ.
Do I need an Official Store to run an affiliate programme?
No — affiliate/performance activity can stand alone and drive to an external landing page, though it performs best when combined with a store or a well-built, Mandarin-first landing page as the conversion destination.