Partnerships, Pro Tips and Parties: Affiliate Summit West Recap

By Anneliese Delgado

Keeping your finger on the pulse of affiliate and partnership marketing means sometimes you must step away from the computer and onto a plane headed to Sin City. That’s what the sticky.io team did when we attended and exhibited at Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas.

With dozens of sessions and tons of exciting networking opportunities, ASW21 was the must-attend event for digital marketers, advertisers, campaign managers and publishers aspiring to make more connections and boost their profits. And if the panel discussions and keynotes weren’t enough to induce FOMO, rapper, producer and entrepreneur Akon dropped by a massive post-show party!    

While we can’t introduce you to Akon, we can give you these key takeaways and tactics from Affiliate Summit West.

Go Higher in the Sales Funnel

Historically, partnership and direct response marketing has made their home in the bottom of the sales funnel. While you want to catch consumers when they’re ready to pull out their wallets, be sure to target audiences in the top of the funnel as well. Increasing awareness is more critical than ever since intent-based data is more important to Google this year versus last year, according to Firstleaf CMO Geoffrey Sanders during a panel discussion on the future of digital marketing.

Improve Communication With Finance Teams

It’s no secret that budgets related to performance-based marketing campaigns can make finance and accounting teams a little uneasy. How can a digital marketers look a CFO in the eye and confidently say, “Look, we won’t know the budget until after this campaign is over.” The Legends Brand CMO Nick Lamothe said it’s all about setting guardrails both marketing and finance teams can agree on, then providing visibility and clear reporting throughout campaign lifecycles.

Test (Then Test Some More)  

Testing components of affiliate marketing and direct response campaigns are imperative. Lamothe also advised ASW attendees to test something new every month and ask leadership for more budget to run different tests.

“Try new offers. Seriously, whatever works! Just try new stuff.” – Alex Brown, President and CMO, Truly Free

Don’t Forget About CLTV

Several sessions at ASW highlighted the importance of extending customer lifetime value, including a presentation led by our client and partner at Truly Free (formerly known as MyGreenFills). Truly Free’s President and CMO Alex Brown explained how the eco-friendly cleaning product company upsells auxiliary products, such as a laundry detergent carrier, to not only to boost average order value, but to also increase brand awareness and customer lifetime value.

“I don't think there's anything more important you can do for your business right now than focus on creating quality content and building communities.” – Kasim Aslam, Founder and CEO, Solutions 8

Reward Affiliates for Sending High-Quality Traffic  

Building relationships with consumers isn’t an easy task, so compensate the affiliates who send high-quality traffic your way. Provide bonuses to the affiliates sending high-converting leads to make sure these partners continue to support your business growth. Want tips for analyzing traffic quality? Check out our guide. 

Accelerating Affiliate Marketing  

Our booth was buzzing with great conversations and questions about sticky.io’s all-in-one ecommerce platform. If you missed us in the exhibit hall, you can still learn how we help shift direct response campaigns into overdrive and power partnership marketing. Dive in here.

Be sure to connect with us next year at Affiliate Summit East!