Influencers & Affiliates
Partnering with influencers and affiliates is a proven ecommerce revenue generator. Our articles include a seminal 8-part influencer marketing guide, types and examples of influencer marketing, profiles of merchants thriving with affiliate marketing, and more.
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Influencers & Affiliates
Important Affiliate Marketing KPIs, for Mid-year Review
June 28, 2017 • Greg Hoffman
The summer months are slow for many ecommerce merchants. It is an excellent time to do some housekeeping and prepare for the upcoming busy season. Take a few days to ...
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Influencers & Affiliates
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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.
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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.
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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 ...
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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;
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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.
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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
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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,
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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 ...
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