This presentation is from Affiliate Summit West 2017 (January 15-17, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada). Session description: Learn tools and tips for negotiating win-win deals in the affiliate space from an award-winning OPM. Whether you’re a merchant, affiliate, or an agency, you’ll find valuable information.

1. Persuasion and Negotiation
in the Affiliate Marketplace
Shaughn O’Neill
Strategic Account Manager / Publisher Development Manager
AffiliateManager.com
@soneill06

2. Summary
● Success Stories
● Tactics We Use
● Takeaways
○ Affiliates
○ Merchants
○ Agencies

3. Success Stories

4. Pursue Non-Traditional Affiliate Arrangements
● Players: Menfluential Media and
Sunglass Warehouse
● Publisher accustomed to doing paid
placement marketing
● Convinced publisher and client of a
hybrid approach--20% less up front and
double our average commission
● Ran the numbers to determine what it
would take to get them to break even
● Deal was signed and placement (banner,
blogpost, and email blasts) went live

5. Convince Reluctant Affiliate Base to Test
● Essential oils client
● Due to product mix
(cannabis-based oils), traction for
client was slower than average
● Found pet blogger/product
reviewer
○ Affiliate outreach focused on products
related to pets
● Affiliate saw benefits, posted
review, and became lifelong
customer

6. Craft Traditional Deal Site Placement
● Slickdeals placement-Sunglass
Warehouse
● Negotiated with client and affiliate to
find right deal (% off category)
● Free test turned into a huge success
○ One-day sponsored (paid)
placement saw second sales
bump
● Testing off-season was even more
successful

7. Be competitive with Amazon
● Afrotechmods.com (and
associated YouTube site)--site
for maker community
● Joined Arrow.com program
through AffMgr Biz Dev Manager
● Base commission rate is lower
than other brands and Amazon
● We offered to match Amazon in
exchange for placement; Affiliate
accepted and tested link on
homepage (displacing AdSense)

8. Tactics

9. Persistence
● Determine soft no’s from hard no’s
● Work around or through roadblocks
● Keep trying until you get an answer!

10. Being Data-Driven
● Placement trackers
● Historical expectations
● Break-even or ROAS models
● Year-over-Year or Month-over-Month
goals

11. Flexibility
● Hybrid payment model
● CPA vs. CPM vs. CPC
● Trial request--asking for a time frame

12. The Right Fit for the Right Brand
● Demographic focus
● Deal-centricity
● B2B versus B2C

13. Using spend/budget responsibly
● Controlling marketing spend for
rev-share clients
● Obtaining a budget when we don’t
control marketing spend

14. Takeaways

15. Takeaways for Affiliates
● Merchants can be open to testing alternative models of revenue generation in
the affiliate channel:
○ Awareness for popularity of flat-fee placements is high
○ Be open to suggesting mixed/hybrid models
● Utilize the in-network placement marketplaces.
● Find savvy in-house program managers and agency partners.

16. Takeaways for Merchants
● Just like for affiliates, awareness that CPA is not the only way to do affiliate
anymore is crucial.
● Bloggers and content site owners are finding they are doing better via other
means and are less open to CPA-only trials.
● Maintaining a healthy affiliate program (high conversion rate and commission
rate, resulting in a high EPC) will help keep you competitive.

17. Takeaways for Agencies
● Due to our unique position in the marketplace, we are (or should be) very
responsive to what we’re hearing from affiliates and merchants.
○ Connecting the right client to the right affiliate(s) is why we’re hired to do what we do.
● Convincing both parties of a win-win deal is as crucial now as ever.
● Knowing where you can push is the biggest part.

18. Thank You!