Tara McCommons gave a presentation on making affiliate programs better and standing out. She discussed 5 enemies of ordinary programs: 1) Not humanizing the program. 2) Not empowering affiliates. 3) Not diversifying marketing reach. 4) Not investing in organic relationships. 5) Not standing out and being noticed. She provided tips in each area like listening to affiliates, sharing best performing product categories and regions, and ensuring the program page is compelling.

1. #AMDays@TaraMcCommons@LinkConnector
5EnemiesofNormal
That Will Make Your Program
BetterTaraMcCommons
Affiliate Management Days
SanFrancisco
May 2017

2. The difference
between ordinary
and extraordinary
is that little
extra

3. 1Humanize
Your Program

4. IT STARTS
WITH You

5. 50%
18%
32%
My business
relationships
with affiliate
managers are
crucial
to my business.
SOURCE | AffStat 2016
Somewhat valuable
Irrelevant
Crucial

6. You can make more friends
in two months by becoming
interested in other people
than you can in two years by
trying to get other people
interested in you.
Dale Carnegie

7. LISTEN SURPRISEASK THANK
BE AUTHENTIC

9. Deliver a more effective and
personalized experience,
resulting in a higher
conversion rate.
Clicktale
CUSTOMER PERSONAS

10. FRANK
Role
Goals
Challenges
Company
Activities
Background
Shopping Preferences

11. CELEBRITY

12. SOURCE | Shutterfly

13. Empower
Your Affiliates2

14. The people who taught
me the most in my career
are the ones who pointed
out what I didn’t see.
Sheryl Sandberg

15. Items
Sold
Annually
by Category
Office Supplies 3,553,853
Bath & Body 1,477,419
Accessories 864,481
Seasonal 591,170
Footwear 469,037
Home Décor 296,495
Arts & Crafts 436,943
Toys & Games 411,251
Housewares 370,415
Health 358,488
Clothing 203,243
TOP SELLING CATEGORIES
EXCLUSIVE PRODUCTS?

16. New York
Los Angeles
Virginia
Florida
Texas
Maine
Dear Cindy,
First and foremost, thank you so much for your participation in our affiliate program! I wanted to
reach out with some brief updates on our program.
I am here to inform you that there is no PPC restriction for SEM affiliates on PharmCandy.com domain
name. There are 7 cities from where we get most of online orders from our customers. Below is the list
of those best performing cities, to help all of you and to focus your marketing efforts on city targets
whose inhabitants are purchasing Brand Inc. products at a healthy clip.
Michigan
California
As always, we're excited to help you optimize and improve the return that you're getting from our
program! Feel free to reach out to us at affiliates@brand.com and let us know if there's anything that
we can continue our early affiliate success!
Thank You,
Best regards,
John Alexander
Affiliate Manager
Brand Inc.
TOP
SELLING
REGIONS

17. PAYOUT
INCREASE

18. COUPONS
&PROMOS
more likely to try a new brand
after receiving an offer.
4x
SOURCE | Forrester
of online14%Only
Active buyers are nearly
buyers believe an offer received
directly from a merchant will be
the best offer.

19. February 17January 23 April 18
Tax Completion Breakdown
55% 20% 25%
DEMANDCURVE

20. Q1 - Q2 Sales Calendar
SEASONALCALENDAR

21. VIDEO
Enjoyment
of
ads increase:
139%
brand association
by
SOURCE | HubSpot
97%
purchase intent
by

22. 90%of users say that
product videos
are helpful in the
decision process
VIDEO
60%of marketers planned to increase
investment in video marketing in
2017.
More than

23. 3Diversify
Your Reach

24. Strength lies in differences,
not in similarities.
Stephen Covey

25. have3types of affiliates
driving about 90% of
merchant’s revenue.
loyalty
coupon
contentNORMAL
Do better.
programs

26. search social videooffline podcast
email loyaltyinfluencer mobile
couponcontent display biz devcomparison
How many with your competitors?

27. 4Invest In
Organic Relationships

28. LOYAL CUSTOMERS
of satisfied customers are willing
to refer products and services...
83%
29%actually do.but only
SOURCE | ReferralCandy

29. SOCIAL FOLLOWERS
of consumers93%
trust recommendations
from people they know.
SOURCE | Brandwatch

31. BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
PARTNERS

32. 5Stand Out
Be Noticed

33. TopFactorsDrivingMyAffiliateProgramSelectionsAre:
PRODUCT/SERVICE RELEVANCY
AFFILIATE PROGRAM REPUTATION
NETWORK/TRACKING PLATFORM
MERCHANT REPUTATION
BRAND AWARENESS
MARKETING TERMS & CONDITIONS
PAYMENT TERMS & METHODS
EPC
COMMISSION
AD AVAILABILITY & LANDING PAGES
COOKIE DURATION
IF I USE THEM MYSELF
COMBO OF ALL FACTORS
BRAND, TERMS & MGMT. TEAM
18%
16%
12%
10%
10%
7%
6%
6%
6%
4%
2%
1%
1%
1%
SOURCE | AffStat 2016

34. STRENGTHS
10,634
RANKING
AOV
$389

35. CAMPAIGN ATTRIBUTES
Private Coupons • Payout • SEM Allowance
Paid Placements • TM Plus Bidding
Mobile Tracking • Seasonal Offers

36. PROGRAM PAGE
Isitvisible? Isitcompelling?
Extraordinary

37. Extraordinary

38. Extraordinary

39. YOUDON’THAVEONE?!

40. BE
BETTER.
TaraMcCommons
VP of Sales & Marketing
LinkConnector
tara.mccommons@linkconnector.com
(919)468-5150 ext.3002
@taramccommons

41. AffStat 2016
https://issuu.com/affiliatesummit/docs/2016_affstat_final
How to Build Buyer Personas for Your Retail Store
https://www.shopify.com/retail/know-your-customers-how-to-build-buyer-personas-for-your-retail-store
AffStat 2016
https://issuu.com/affiliatesummit/docs/2016_affstat_final
4 Big Mistakes You Might be Making with Your Marketing Personas
https://www.shopify.com/retail/know-your-customers-how-to-build-buyer-personas-for-your-retail-store
The 6 Personality Types of Digital Shoppers
https://www.clicktale.com/academy/blog/how-can-understand-
ing-different-types-of-online-shoppers-personalities-help-your-business/
31 Video Marketing Statistics to Inform Your 2017 Strategy
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing-statistics#sm.00001lmdde59hlevzpl8ie1orrl59
Why Referral Marketing is Awesome
https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/referral-marketing-awesome-infographic/
21 Social Media Marketing Statistics You Need to Know in 2017
https://www.dreamgrow.com/21-social-media-marketing-statistics/
RESOURCES