Country spotlight is an ongoing series on the AP blog, where our team of local and global experts showcase what there is to know about key regions across the globe. This month, we shine the light on what the developing MENA region has to offer. Overview of the MENA region The Middle East and North Africa is a varied region of 22 countries, accounting for 6% of the total world population. MENA has grown in geopolitical importance and the region has undergone major social and economic reform.  The population is young, increasingly educated and digitally savvy, meaning digital channels play a large role in shaping opinions. Mobile devices have enabled digital growth across the region, allowing people to shop online and pay via a mobile device. Culturally, business… [Read More...]

If you’re like many marketers that we speak with – from those just entering the marketing workforce to established marketing professionals—you may have some questions, misconceptions and confusion around affiliate marketing. This is not at all uncommon. The affiliate marketing model is nuanced. In fact, many would agree that it can be downright complicated and confusing. While this blog post is not a panacea for explaining all things affiliate marketing, it is meant to be a starting point to help you better understand this unique and valuable marketing model. Here are some of the commonly asked questions marketers have about affiliate marketing. What is affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing is, first and foremost, a marketing model. What makes it unique is its pay-on-performance compensation structure and… [Read More...]

With climate change being referred to as “the defining crisis of our time” by the UN, and, the world’s governments, businesses and societies urged to take action to stem the irrefutable tide, it is no surprise that sustainability has entered the psyche of consumer consideration. In their “Pinterest 100 report” Pinterest revealed that conscious consumption was one of the top 10 cultural themes searched for on their platform and as a result, they have earmarked it as a key trend for 2020. In addition to this, a recent survey conducted by IBM found that 6/10 consumers are willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact and 8/10 indicated that sustainability is important to them. Many brands have already taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint and be more accountable. However… [Read More...]

Profile of a Growth Marketer is an ongoing series where we feature partner marketing industry leaders from around the globe. We sat down with Adam McLane, Vice President of Growth at True Botanicals, to learn more about how True Botanicals is utilizing affiliate marketing to drive scalable incremental demand. As the Vice President of Growth, how would you describe your role at True Botanicals? My role is to manage our growth marketing stack, which includes customer acquisition, retention and analytics. I manage a team of world-class growth marketers, analytics, product managers that help deliver our message in an effective way to provide the most value we can for our customers. From your experience, how has the affiliate marketing model added value to True Botanicals? Affiliate marketing… [Read More...]

We recently published an Incrementality in Affiliate Marketing 101 blog post that’s a must-read if you haven’t yet determined what incrementality means to your brand and your affiliate program. Once you ultimately do determine that, the next step will be to measure against that definition. In addition to looking at incrementality at the program level, it’s also important to view it at the partner level. Assessing incrementality at the partner level will help you determine which partners and partner verticals (e.g. content, loyalty, coupon, lead drivers, technology, mobile, etc.) are driving incremental value according to your unique definition. It’s also essential to share that data with your partners so that they can support further targeting or segmenting that will continue driving increased incremental rates (e… [Read More...]

“The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything close up.” I used this quote in one of the first pitches I did to a prospective client at Acceleration Partners.  It delighted me that the recipient commented this was the first time they had ever seen a Chuck Palahniuk quote in a pitch.  Chuck Palahniuk is the genius behind the novel Fight Club. Nearly three years later, this quote still sums up perfectly what we do at Acceleration Partners.  We’ve worked with leading brands to take a step back out of the day-to-day of running their affiliate programme and look at the bigger picture of what has been successful, what they are doing well, what they could do better. Why get… [Read More...]

Our team recently came together to find ways we could help our clients and their affiliate partners raise additional funds for charities focused on COVID-19 relief. We are fortunate to work with some amazing affiliates within our client’s programs that already donate a portion of their earned commission to charity. In the effort to bring creative solutions to our clients about how they could contribute during these challenging times, we reached out to a few of these affiliate partners about a collaborative giving initiative. Three partners in particular–Giving Assistant, iGive.com and CouponCause.com–all agreed to generously donate elevated commission increases they receive from our clients directly back to charities helping people and communities affected by COVID-19. Giving Assistant James Gray, CEO and Co… [Read More...]

COVID-19 has had a significant economic impact across the world with the global lockdown affecting the demand for goods and services and shifting consumer purchasing habits. The effect on marketing hasn’t gone un-noticed, a recent IAB survey of 400 US marketing decision-makers found that 1 in 4 had paused all Adspend for Q2 2020. But whilst some industries are feeling the pain, some are also thriving. A recent report from Similar Web showed that affiliate traffic was steady and, in some areas, had seen significant increases. The affiliate channel hasn’t been immune to its challenges, particularly in the hardest-hit sectors, travel and finance. We’ve seen clients reduce budgets and scale down affiliate programmes because their business has paused, or they can’t keep up with increased demand. Whereas other… [Read More...]

Helen Southgate, is Managing Director EMEA and APAC at Acceleration Partners Is it possible for performance marketers to be conserving budgets without affecting long-curated relationships? Helen Southgate: I’ve been reading a lot of forums where affiliates are highlighting reduced commissions or programmes being stopped. We need to take a step back and understand the different reasons why this is happening. It could be to conserve jobs because demand has fallen, or they have to scale back costs. We’re in a different world now, so there has to be an element of understanding that these are not normal times. As a brand, it’s an important decision to make. There’s going to be lots of factors involved, but if you’re honest and open about why you’ve made the… [Read More...]

This article was originally featured on PerformanceIN Expanding your business into the Asia Pacific (APAC) market can be an exciting and challenging time. With 48 countries in the region, it can often lead many to question where they should begin. Australia is proving itself to be the growing frontrunner in the region with increased affiliate talent and valuable brands expanding to the country in the last few years. Country overview Australia has a population of approximately 26 million people1 with an internet penetration of 88% 2. Year over year, e-commerce sales continue to rise, with 2019 showing a steady 17.2% increase from 2018.3 While this means digital marketing is a must for any brand nowadays, partner marketing is a standout since it is a pay for performance channel. Brands are catching… [Read More...]

Answering the question, “What is incrementality,” is like trying to define the word “warm.” In short, it depends on who you’re asking. Just as a person raised in Minnesota is likely to have a different perspective about what it means to be warm than a person raised in Singapore, so will one brand have a different point of view about incrementality than another brand. Instead of understanding incrementality as a term with a rigid definition, it’s far more useful to perceive it as a concept. The concept of incrementality is as follows: The ability to directly tie spend (or some other input) to a specific outcome in an effort to identify effectiveness of a marketing channel, a partner, and/or optimisation tactic. The process of… [Read More...]

Acceleration Partners’ Publisher Spotlight is an ongoing series where members of our Publisher Development team shine a light on innovative publishers from across the world. This month, Tim Bruderek, Publisher Development Manager at Acceleration Partners, chatted with Seth Beard, Chief Marketing Officer at Givling. How did Givling get its start and how did you get to be where you are today? Givling started in 2015 when our founder Lizbeth Pratt learned that student loans could not be dismissed in bankruptcy. Crowdfunding was growing strong during this time for verticals such as medical debt yet fundraisers for student loans were not effective. Lizbeth had the idea to gamify crowdfunding through a trivia game and thus Givling was born. Through a lot of trial and error, Givling grew and will… [Read More...]