Influencers & Affiliates Archives

Affiliate Marketing Report Card: Jane.com

May 30, 2017 • Greg Hoffman

Merchants can achieve growth through affiliate marketing by learning from the successes and failures of others. In this “Affiliate Marketing Report Card,” a new quarterly series, I will critique an ...

Influencers & Affiliates

Affiliate Marketing Evolves, Again

May 3, 2017 • Greg Hoffman

Every few years headlines scream that affiliate marketing is dead or dying. In fact, affiliate marketing continues to grow, but it’s evolving rapidly. Two things are driving this evolution: the ...

Influencers & Affiliates

7 Pointers to Attract New Affiliates

March 30, 2017 • Greg Hoffman

Major affiliate networks such as ShareASale and CJ by Conversant have thousands of active affiliate programs. I tell merchants that every one of these programs is a competitor because affiliates ...

Influencers & Affiliates

For Affiliate Marketing Success, Know Your Affiliates

March 2, 2017 • Greg Hoffman

Finding the right affiliates to build an affiliate-marketing program means understanding their traffic sources before they are approved. Affiliates come in all shapes and sizes. Once a manager can identify ...

Influencers & Affiliates

Affiliate Marketing: Time to Adopt Attribution Rules?

February 1, 2017 • Greg Hoffman

Deciding who should receive affiliate-marketing commissions is increasingly important. Ecommerce merchants have watched as the affiliate channel evolved and coupon and loyalty sites quickly became the dominant publishers with little ...

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

3 Influencer Marketing Ideas for 2017

December 28, 2016 • Vanessa Penagos-Pino

Influencer marketing is the practice of using highly-connected individuals and opinion leaders to help grow awareness and revenue. The state of influencer marketing is vast, with a wide range in ...

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.