Carolyn Kmet

Articles by: Carolyn Kmet

Carolyn Kmet

Carolyn Kmet is a clinical professor at the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago, where she teaches undergraduate and M.B.A.-level marketing and information systems classes.

She is also a senior account manager with All Inclusive Marketing, a full-service ad agency that specializes in the online and mobile arena — providing analytics, marketing and site optimization services for clients such as Southwest Vacations, Julep, and Fire Mountain Gems.

Carolyn was previously the director of affiliate marketing for Groupon, where she helped shape global affiliate marketing strategy. In this role, she was honored with the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Manager of the Year 2010, and the New Advertiser of the Year 2011 award from Commission Junction.

Before that, Carolyn led the client services team at ShareASale.com, a Chicago-based affiliate network, and managed affiliate programs at Orbitz, CollectiblesToday.com, and MyPoints.com.

Carolyn earned an M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago, an M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, and a B.A. from University of California, Berkeley.

Email Carolyn.

Influencers & Affiliates
After 20 Years in Affiliate Marketing, 5 Rules for Success

January 2, 2017 • Carolyn Kmet

After almost 20 years in affiliate marketing, I’m leaving the industry to teach full-time at a university. It’s a bittersweet transition. However, I’d like to leave you with five best ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing Results for Black Friday, Cyber Monday 2016

December 12, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

Affiliate marketing data for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2016 showed shifts in consumer behavior that could impact strategies for 2017. AvantLink is an affiliate marketing network for over 500 retailers.
Influencers & Affiliates
A Strategy to Retain Affiliates, for Affiliate Marketing

October 26, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

There are thousands of retailers that offer affiliate marketing programs. Potential affiliates have many options to choose from. A goal of an affiliate manager should therefore be to build loyalty among existing ...
Influencers & Affiliates
9 Affiliate Marketing Pros Offer Holiday Sales Pointers

September 28, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

The fourth quarter is busy for affiliate marketers. Consumers start perusing content and deal sites in October, gathering ideas for holiday shopping. Merchants with affiliate marketing programs will likely see ...
Influencers & Affiliates
4 Misconceptions with Affiliate Marketing

August 29, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing channel. The direct selling cost occurs only when a transaction, lead, or other pre-defined activity happens. Affiliate marketing therefore has one of the lowest ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: Advanced Commission Structures

July 26, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

One of the first questions retailers ask when launching an affiliate marketing channel is “what should my commission structure be?” My advice is to research what competitors and retailers in ...
Influencers & Affiliates
5 Strategies to Activate (High-producing) Affiliates

June 27, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

When evaluating the performance of an affiliate marketing program, avoid measuring success by how many affiliates are enrolled. Instead, measure how many of them are actually driving traffic. I have seen ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Pinterest, in a Change, to Allow Affiliate Links

May 25, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

Earlier this month, Pinterest announced a policy change so that users can insert affiliate links with their pins. This is a reversal from its decision in February 2015 to “automatically remove all ...
Influencers & Affiliates
3 Keys to a Mobile-ready Affiliate Program

April 26, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

Consumers can complete a transaction on a smartphone with just a few taps. Responsive site design and easy-to-use apps enable shoppers to quickly find what they’re looking for. Stored values make ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: Learning from F.T.C.’s Paid Placement Disclosures

March 29, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

Earlier this March, department store retailer Lord & Taylor agreed to settle U.S. Federal Trade Commission civil charges that it deceived consumers by paying for blog and social media placements.
Influencers & Affiliates
Study: 3 Factors in Affiliate Marketing Will Drive Growth

March 1, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

In August 2015, Rakuten Affiliate Network commissioned Forrester, the research company, to conduct a study on the factors driving growth in the affiliate industry. Forrester surveyed decisionmakers at 151 large U.S.
Influencers & Affiliates
‘Co-opetition’ Comes to Affiliate Marketing

January 26, 2016 • Carolyn Kmet

The Performance Marketing Association promotes the growth and practices of the affiliate marketing industry. The PMA recently published a free whitepaper exploring the notion of “co-opetition” as it applies to affiliate ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Notable Affiliate Marketing Events in 2016

December 29, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

The following are leading affiliate marketing events in 2016. All are worthwhile to attend, but their benefits and specialties vary. Some are focused on the affiliate marketing industry in general;
Influencers & Affiliates
5 Ways to Engage Affiliates for Final Holiday Sales

December 4, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

Before you close the books Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there are a few more ways to maximize affiliate revenue through the rest of the year. Here are five ideas to keep your ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: How to Manage Coupons, Deals

October 29, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

Coupon and deal sites tend to drive a lot of traffic. For some retailers, coupon sites will bring mostly new customers. For others, the same coupon site could deliver mostly ...
Influencers & Affiliates
5 Pointers to Help Affiliates with Holiday Selling

September 29, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

As a retailer, you are likely focused on the fourth quarter — lining up promotions, ordering inventory, and readying your fulfillment processes. Now is time to also start preparing your ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: 5 Steps to Identify, Recruit Affiliates

August 26, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

A good affiliate marketing program never stops growing. By continually recruiting and engaging new affiliates, you can produce new traffic and new customers. However, you must first decide which type of affiliates to recruit.
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: Many Ways to Attribute Sales

July 26, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

A "conversion funnel" describes a consumer's path to purchase, when awareness develops into interest, interest develops into desire, and then the transaction occurs. When it comes to ecommerce, this path may take
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: How to Set a Commission Structure

June 24, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

The more complex a commission structure is, the less likely an affiliate is going to prioritize your products. For example, say that you pay different commission rates for different product ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: Manage In-house or Outsource?

May 28, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

A successful affiliate marketing program requires oversight — uploading and maintaining the creative inventory, approving and communicating with affiliates, and reporting and analysis. The person doing this oversight is also likely responsible for developing promotional ...
Influencers & Affiliates
‘Content Certified’ Connects Affiliates and Retailers

April 28, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

Affiliate managers often strive to add content-focused affiliates, such as blogs, forums, news sites — most any site that informs and shares knowledge. The reason content affiliates are so desirable ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Bitly-Viglink Affiliate Deal Raises Concerns

March 25, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

In early February, Bitly, the popular URL-shortening service, partnered with affiliate tool Viglink to auto-monetize every shortlink generated by Bitly’s millions of users. To understand the impact of this partnership,
Influencers & Affiliates
Pinterest Bans Affiliate Marketing Links

February 25, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

On February 12, 2015, Pinterest announced that it would “automatically remove all affiliate links, redirects and trackers on Pins.” This is important news because merchants with affiliate marketing programs could ...
Influencers & Affiliates
3 Affiliate Tools for Content Marketing

January 27, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

Banner ads are best used for branding, not to drive clicks. Affiliate marketers realize this. Increasingly, affiliate marketers are relying less on banner ads, and more on their affiliates’ content.
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing Events in 2015

January 5, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

The following is a non-exhaustive list of top events in 2015 for affiliate mangers to consider. Deciding which events to attend will depend on whether your primary goal is to ...
Influencers & Affiliates
3 Affiliate Marketing Action Items for 2015

November 27, 2014 • Carolyn Kmet

Set aside some time in December to map out what 2015 will look like for your affiliate marketing channel. Many times, “thinking” becomes consumed by “doing,” which results in a ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: Offline Entities Can Generate Revenue

October 30, 2014 • Carolyn Kmet

Affiliate marketing tracks a consumer from a referring source to a completed sale. When we think of affiliate marketing in this simple manner, it opens up an entire realm of ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: Working with Loyalty Sites

September 26, 2014 • Carolyn Kmet

One of the biggest challenges in affiliate marketing is working with loyalty sites, which provide consumers with cash back, points back, or some variation of the two. Some loyalty sites ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Affiliate Marketing: Holiday Action Items

August 26, 2014 • Carolyn Kmet

Just as you’re gearing up your ecommerce business for a busy fourth quarter, your affiliates are going through the same exercise for their own audiences. Many affiliates step up their ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Importance of Affiliate Marketing Managers

July 27, 2014 • Carolyn Kmet

Simply launching an affiliate program does not guarantee revenue. I’ve seen many affiliate programs fail because of the “if I build it, they will come” mentality. Affiliate programs need to ...