Robbins and Tonkin

1. Content Affiliate Recruitment,
Onboarding and Optimization
Affiliate Management Days – San Francisco
May 16, 2017
Stephanie Robbins – Robbins Interactive Wade Tonkin – Fanatics

2. Wade Tonkin – Fanatics
 18 years in the affiliate industry
 Run a team of 4
 Manage 30+ affiliate programs
 Top programs include
Fanatics.com,NFLShop.com,
MLBShop.com, NBAStore.com,
Shop.NHL.com and more.

3. Stephanie Robbins of Robbins Interactive
 20+ years in online marketing
 8+ years affiliate marketing experience
 OPM focused on the health and
wellness merchants
 Programs run between 80-100%
content affiliates

4. Content Affiliates – Who are we talking about?
Blogs
Social Media Pages
Forums
Newspapers and
media sites
Instagrammers
Pinterest Marketers
Content niche sites
Common Thread – not necessarily traditional affiliates

5. Why do Content Affiliates Matter?
 Trusted position with shoppers
 Great branding with grass roots fans
 Highly incremental
• Low incidence of contacts
with other channels
• First Click/Last Click Same
Session ~85%+ per Omniture
 Content affiliates are what
companies are asking for

6. Why YouTube?
 Easy to work with
 Great SEO if you optimize properly
 Easy to embed videos in blog, etc.
 Easy to organize by topics into
playlists

7. 3 Minute Recruiting Video Background
Addressed a need
Saved time
Recruited, Trained and
Activated in one video
400 affiliates acquired
2.7 mm in revenue since
2014 directly tied to
affiliates recruited with
video

8. Recruiting with Resources – the 3 Minute Video

9. Resource Example – YouTube Page

10. Sourcing your videos
Networks often have
some solid tutorial videos
Shoot your own based on affiliate
requests (if you get a question more
than 2x, make a video)
Assign production to junior team members –
the best way to learn is to teach
Use with Triggered emails to address needs of specific affiliate niches
(best tools for bloggers, social affiliates, forums, etc.) with a set of
videos that addresses their needs and challenges to quick ramp up.

11. Why Facebook?
Better visibility/reading rates
than email newsletters
Easy to set up
Can control access to affiliates
with closed or secret groupsAffiliates are there
Community support
Conversational – great mechanism for
feedback on program issues as well.

12. Facebook Group Examples: Jane.com

13. Facebook Group Examples: Fanatics

14. Instagram
If your affiliates are there, you should be too Soft outreach for recruitment and activation

15. Affiliate Resource Center
 Getting Started
 Best practices
 Testimonials
 3rd party resources
 SEO tips

16. Why Create An Affiliate Resource Center
Onboarding
Activating smaller affiliates

17. Product and Brand FAQ

18. The Brand Story
Video Key brand selling points Bullet points only

19. Campaign Asset Pages
 Promotion details
 Key selling points
 Product details
 Social media recommendations
 Disclosure policy
 Images for campaign
 Additional Assets

20. The Right Images
 Instagram
 Blog posts
 Facebook
 Mobile

21. Event Triggered Emails
 Go Beyond the Welcome Email
• Campaign specific
• Niche specific
 Integrate your resources into all emails

22. Educate and Connect
 Go where your affiliates are
 Basics are needed
 Optimize your resources and
communication

23. Benefits
Faster onboarding Increased diversity in
affiliates
Increase sales from
existing affiliates
Control the brand
message

24. Thank you!
Affiliate Management Days
May 16, 2017
Stephanie Robbins – Robbins Interactive Wade Tonkin – Fanatics