GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 45 - October 2019

It made me smile, as it confirmed my sense that there has been a renewed interest in affiliate marketing in general. The industry is making a pointed effort to clean up, and it’s making positive strides to promote best practices. I mentor a lot of young people in our Affiliate Marketing Training Academy, and I love that I have the opportunity to help them start or improve their careers, develop their skills and discover best practices that will change the way the affiliate channel operates. At the event I made a point of asking them why they loved their job in affiliate management and what they were enjoying the most about working in their chosen vertical. They came from an array of industries: travel, finance, insurance, retail, iGaming and more. The most common answers were that the role provided variety and that it was incredibly challenging because no two days are ever the same. They were right. To do this job properly, it takes an incredible amount of skill. I have always said that being an affiliate manager is a life choice; it’s not just a job. It takes an inherent desire to continue learning every day on the job to be the best affiliate manager that you can be. The same can be said for affiliates, who live on the fringe of new developments and are constantly pushing the boundaries to deliver more. Why do I say this? Affiliate marketing is constantly changing, as technology and tracking develop better insight to what works and what doesn’t as markets mature. We now work across omnichannel environ- ments, not just across single platforms, and this changes the way we run our strategy and deliver results. Affiliate marketing is a constantly turning wheel, and that’s what makes this industry so exciting to be part of. I thought back on my years of working in this space and what I could perhaps share that would really help these young people develop and grow their own programs and relationships, and it boiled down to remembering just three simple things. Whether you are an affiliate or an affiliate manager, consider these points, which can be implemented on both sides of the business. They will help provide a positive end result. 23 G P W A t i m e s . o r g