Pillars of affiliate marketing

Dustin Howes, Owner of Performance Marketing Magic LLC, talks about the pillars of affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing has come a long way from its earlier days of dodgy tactics to become a channel that is one of the favorites of many companies today. However, the mistake a lot of companies make is expecting the program to maintain itself and grow without dedicating someone to the task. Today, Dustin discusses the pillars of affiliate marketing.
About the speaker

Dustin Howes

Performance Marketing Magic, LLC

 - Performance Marketing Magic, LLC

Dustin is the Owner of Performance Marketing Magic LLC

Show Notes

  • 02:32
    How affiliate marketing has changed over time
    There used to be a negative connotation surrounding affiliate marketing. However, as time has progressed, its become a favorite channel of many companies.
  • 03:35
    Factors that have improved affiliate marketing
    A lot of new companies have emerged, created better products, and provide better protection for clients. Also, tracking attribution has improved and cookieless tracking is making cookie stuffing obsolete.
  • 04:50
    The first pillar of affiliate marketing
    The first step is to audit your program to determine where you need to diversify your portfolio. That process can also help you figure out if affiliate marketing is the right fit for your company.
  • 05:28
    Differences between an affiliate program and a partnership program
    Affiliate programs track strictly through links, websites, and driven traffic. Partnerships are warm handoffs to other companies and introductions and are tracked via handshakes.
  • 06:03
    Optimizing other channels before investing in the affiliate channel
    Good affiliates can recognize whether a product is ideal for them to promote or not. And, theyll want to see that your website is converting. Its essential to maximize the value of your existing traffic before optimizing the affiliate channel.
  • 06:36
    Restructuring an affiliate program
    This enables you to identify other websites and diversification you can have within the affiliate program. So, this could include diversifying into content, influencers, and getting top-of-the-funnel affiliates into the program.
  • 07:38
    Optimizing your welcome sequence
    When youve taken on a new partner, its best to give them all the assets they need for success. So, your welcome sequence should provide them with all they need to hit the ground running.
  • 08:36
    Maintaining relationships with affiliates
    Focus on the top 10 affiliates driving the most traffic. Then, look at what you can do to help improve the conversion rate of the traffic they're sending to you.
  • 09:36
    Dedication to the affiliate program
    Whether it be an agency or someone in-house, someone must be tasked with maintaining the relationships with affiliates. This person should be actively recruiting new partners for the program to grow.
  • 10:14
    Recruitment and growth
    Research keywords that are relevant to your niche and identify the biggest players. Then, engage with them to join your program in order to drive traffic to your site rather than your competitors.
  • 11:04
    Getting help to scale an affiliate program
    Whether its a consultant or someone with many years of experience, its crucial to put someone in charge that will provide a good game plan for the future. The individual should be versed in diversifying a program and recruiting affiliates.

Quotes

  • "20 to 30 years ago, affiliate marketing had a negative connotation to it. These days, it has progressed as a channel to become one of the favorites of many companies out there." -Dustin Howes, Owner, Performance Marketing Magic LLC

  • "Tracking attribution is eons above what it used to be. And cookieless tracking is the newest and coolest trend which is making cookie stuffing obsolete." -Dustin Howes, Owner, Performance Marketing Magic LLC

  • "Make sure your other channels are optimized as well before you really invest in the affiliate channel. Good affiliates will want to see that your website is converting." -Dustin Howes, Owner, Performance Marketing Magic LLC

  • "You only get one chance at a first impression. When you bring on a new partner, you want to show them that you mean business and you're there to help take care of their needs." -Dustin Howes, Owner, Performance Marketing Magic LLC

  • "Tightening up your welcome sequence throughout that whole process is extremely important and it's going to help the affiliate hit the ground running." -Dustin Howes, Owner, Performance Marketing Magic LLC

  • "Take your top 10 affiliates, check-in, see what you can do as a manager to help improve the conversion rate of the traffic that they're sending to you." -Dustin Howes, Owner, Performance Marketing Magic LLC

  • "You must have somebody in charge, giving love to partners and actively recruiting other partners for this program to grow. If you try to put it on cruise control, it's going to fail." -Dustin Howes, Owner, Performance Marketing Magic LLC

About the speaker

Dustin Howes

Performance Marketing Magic, LLC

 - Performance Marketing Magic, LLC

Dustin is the Owner of Performance Marketing Magic LLC

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