Profitable Performance Marketing

In an age of quick convenience and immediate satisfaction, improving or emphasizing the quality of your product offering may help put distance between you and the also-rans. In this episode I share a personal anecdote that highlights the importance of quality as a differentiator and the hurdles more discerning consumers are willing clear in order access it.

Over the last year and change we’ve brought you great interviews from all over the digital marketing space. However, to date we have yet to dip into the pool of talent “within our own walls.” To remedy that, this episode marks the first of several in a series highlighting the many savvy folks working at JEBCommerce.

Headlining this episode is Digital Marketing veteran and resident super star Chris Park. Jamie and Chris dive into whether programs can or should be run on multiple networks, when and when not to dismiss affiliates, managing multiple brands, and best of all, why Affiliate Marketing is a business of building relationships.

For more on Chris, be sure to check out his biography or get him on the phone for a chat. He’s a wealth of knowledge and experience on a variety of subjects, and one of the nicest guys you’ll meet.

In today's episode I talk about three things you need to change and/or look at differently if you want a successful relationship with influencers in your affiliate program. The specifics I cover include cookie duration, your technology set up, and your overall terms and conditions. Looking after these basics will help ensure that your influencers are getting the sales that they deserve and that you're able to get an accurate measurement of the ROI within the program.

Today’s businesses require a diverse set of marketing disciplines to be truly effective. However, getting all of them and their practitioners to play nicely together can sometimes be a challenge. Have you encountered this yourself?

Whether you have or not, check out this episode of the podcast as Jamie interviews Faheem Dayala, Chief Digital Strategist at Shayr Digital. They get into some of the pitfalls today’s marketers face, the necessity of setting relevant KPIs and data tracking, and what happens when data is scrutinized for its own sake, a case of paralysis by analysis.

The title says it all, really. If your brand doesn’t already have a functioning affiliate marketing channel, you may be missing out on a variety of opportunities including staying competitive with rival brands! If this describes your situation, tune in as we cover seven compelling reasons why you simply cannot afford to sit on the sidelines.

Season 1 was full of amazing guests and even some serious topics like diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry. Not only did we cover a lot of ground, we had a great time doing it. In fact, it was so fulfilling that we're gearing up to do it again!

This time around, in addition to a great new lineup of guests, we're introducing a new episode format we're calling "solos" where we'll tackle the topics you've asked us about. If there's a burning question you'd like answered, let us know!

The nature of work has fundamentally changed since the pandemic forced businesses and employees from their once familiar office confines. Those who pivoted successfully were able to shore up basic operations, but may still be grappling with the idea of this being a permanent shift and question how to flourish as an enterprise focused on building and maintaining relationships.

The good news is that this new way of doing things isn’t new to everyone. Today’s guest, Karen Fong Snyder, has worked remotely since the early 2000s and is no stranger to the rhythm of the WFH “lifestyle,” the effects it has on people, organizations and their partners. Tune in as we discuss the benefits and challenges of our new work reality.

If you haven’t already, please check out our 19 Affiliate Marketing Strategies to Survive and Thrive, a guide to success in challenging times. Download it today and put your affiliate channel on solid ground!

The last several years have brought a lot of things to the forefront of society in the present day. Racial justice, equity, and inclusion are now things we talk about with increasing frequency. Here at the Profitable Performance Marketing podcast we get to cover issues that are important to us and that relate to the digital marketing space. Today we get to do that and so much more.

My guest today is Michele Shelton. Michele is the CEO and principal consultant of Shelton Holdings LLC. You can find her and everything about her agency at www.micheleshelton.com. For more than 20 years, Michele has held leadership roles providing oversight to equal opportunity and diversity efforts as a city and state government official, corporate executive, and nonprofit program manager of workforce development initiatives launched and funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and National Urban League. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, Society for Human Resource Management, National Association for Female Executives, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, and Leadership Louisville. Michele has been featured in Who's Who Publications, The Louisville Defender, Courier-Journal, Today's Woman magazine, as well as on podcasts, radio and television. In 2020 Michele received recognition as a Top 100 Diversity Trailblazer for her work, and she continues to make an impact serving on boards that advance equal opportunity and equity in education, employment, and entrepreneurship.

I met Michele through a coaching group that I'm currently a member of and have been for several years. Michele focuses on helping organizations construct and execute diversity equity and inclusion programs. It's not something that's discussed a lot within our industry and I'd like to change that. Race, equality, and inclusion definitely have a role in our discussion around all things digital marketing. So today Michele and I dive right into what DEI is, why it's important, and what we can do about it. I am so excited to count her as a friend, mentor, and colleague and I think you're going to learn a ton from today's episode.

JEBCommerce created its DEI statement earlier this year and is working to make the organization a safe place for all people. Michele has been an important resource to help us get there. We're not done yet but we're making strides that I hope you begin to make as well. If you'd like to get a hold of Michele you can go to her website, www.micheleshelton.com and follow her on LinkedIn.

Today I get to talk to long time industry Vet, and Senior Affiliate Marketing Manager at Zoro, Julia Hochstein. Julia started her career in sales at Career Builder and spent some time with some pretty well known brands - Group and Commission Junction. So her experience really speaks for herself and I was super excited to have her on as a guest.

Our topics ranged quite a bit today and all of them are gold. Julia had a child pre-covid and during the pandemic and we discuss the differences as a working mom and how important the new found flexibility she found because of the WFH need to her being a mom and a professional.

We also talked about the wage gap. You definitely want to listen to this section. Julia shared something with me that blew me away and showed how when we start on an inequitable foundation we are building a system that propagates that inequality. Don’t get triggered by what I just wrote, give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Then we dove into affiliate marketing and discussed topics like

• We need to stop apologizing for the problems with our channel. SEO’s and Paid Search Managers don’t.

• Characteristics of a great affiliate manager

• Why it’s important to focus on the audience, and not how we feel about a particular category of affiliates

• The importance of understanding the customer’s path to purchase

• How consumers are using loyalty, cash back and coupon sites to augment their search or even start their purchasing process

Julia was amazing on this podcast and I’m so glad we had a chance to talk. You can follow her on linkedin for more.

FTC Compliance, the 3 C’s, an Affiliate Donut and more with today’s guest, and the man I was second or third runner up to for affiliate manager of the year, Matt McWilliams! I was super excited about this recording as Matt has tremendous success in the affiliate world and I’ve personally learned a ton from him.

Matt is the principal of Matt McWilliams Consulting where he helps people turn their passion into profits through affiliate marketing. He is well versed in recruiting, developing, optimizing, coaching and training affiliates to drive revenue and serve their audience.

Today we talk about:

• The 3C’s of affiliate management - Contests, Communication and Coaching.

• The Affiliate Donut

• Serving your audience first

• Using affiliate programs as a springboard to launching your own products

• And more

Matt really drove home in the first half how important it is to ask yourself, as an affiliate manager or advertiser, “If I were an affiliate, what would I want.”. Hammering home the idea that this is about relationships and a good solid one keeps both parties’ best interests at heart.

You’ll enjoy this podcast for many reasons and you’ll get a lot of actionable items out of it. So give it a listen.

And if you’d like to get in touch with Matt or get more help, please go to www.mattmcwilliams.com/quickstart or www.mattmcwilliams.com/first100

Thank you Matt!

And don’t forget our free resource - The Incremental Benchmarking Tool. If you are unsure if your program is set up to drive incremental revenue, then you need to walk through this tool. Takes about 11 minutes and provides you with a detailed list of the things you are doing well and the opportunities you have to make it better.