Affiverse Founder, Lee-Ann Johnstone, takes a look back at AMPLIFY 2024 and shares her key moments…
The AMPLIFY 2024 summit was an incredible experience, and I wanted to share some key takeaways that resonated personally with me about the Affiliate industry and where things are heading this year – especially around the evolving landscape and key challenges we’re facing as a community working across the partnerships ecosystem.
After twenty years in this industry I’ve started to realise we’re growing up. As a community we are challenging the status quo and looking at how the channel will evolve and how we need to develop skills and upskill our teams to keep up with it!
Here are some of the key highlights I’ve taken away and ruminated over, this year:
Growing Pains and Missed Opportunities
AMPLIFY made it clear that the affiliate industry is still maturing. There’s a definite sense of fragmentation between relationships, suppliers and with advertisers struggling to optimise payments. Look, expecting affiliates to front campaigns with sluggish payouts just isn’t sustainable. Nobody can operate a successful business with long payment terms and inaccurate tracking. We need a shift towards finding better levels of efficiency – faster, smoother transactions, better payment times and accurate tracking methodologies and best practices will benefit everyone.
In our first panel of Day One, Revving.io CEO and Co-Founder Chris Pettit, shared some incredible statistics of how publisher cashflows are being negatively impacted by longer payment periods and how that has a knock on effect to the growth of our industry indirectly.
Fraud Fighters Assemble!
Another eye-opener was Rich Kahn’s (Co-Founder and CEO of Anura) panel on affiliate fraud. The numbers were shockingly high! This industry needs to get smarter about closing those tracking and data loopholes that fraudsters exploit. Collaboration is key – we need to share best practices and constantly refine our defenses.
Rich explained just how broad the market is when it comes to fraud. But the area that Anura focuses on is which is when somebody is trying to game the system using automated tools like bots, for example. These bots will get past your captures and basic recording software. Rich gives an example of how bots are being used by fraudsters and offers some enlightening insights into this issue.
The Customer Journey Revolution
The way people shop online has completely transformed. We’re no longer confined to a single channel. Customers bounce between devices, platforms, and touchpoints. It’s a multi-layered journey, and brands need to adapt. The future belongs to those who embrace experimentation and a “test and fail forward” mentality.
The Fusion of Lead Gen and Performance
AMPLIFY highlighted the exciting collision of lead generation (first-party data) with performance marketing in the panel that discussed the future of affiliate marketing and the deprecation of cookie tracking. This opens up a wealth of possibilities for targeted campaigns and audience insights. Lead generation and performance marketing will seek to collide as first party data become more relevant and brands need to address this and upskill their teams to ensure best practices when they do. Plus, brand-to-brand partnership swaps are poised to be a major growth driver in 2024’s performance programs.
Ryan Kliszat, Founder of BrandSwap commented on the fact that any e-commerce retailer can monetise their audience and create more value for their consumer and advertiser. He pointed out that Affiliate networks are like sleeping giants – they will definitely have more of an impact on retail media.
Assaf Dor, Founder and CEO of Cellxpert, highlighted issues surrounding cookie deprecation and what brands should be looking at this year in order to future-proof your business.
Why Learning is Your Superpower
Events like AMPLIFY and the upcoming ELEVATE summit in September are goldmines for affiliate managers. They offer a chance to get ahead of the curve, break free from siloed thinking, and see the bigger picture. It’s like gaining peripheral vision for the industry and learning how to leverage that to grow your program simultaneoulsy with the support of those who have gone before you!
Maximise Your Event Experience
Here’s the thing: to truly get the most out of these conferences, come prepared! Set specific goals, research the speakers, and identify the topics most relevant to your business. Network like crazy, connect with peers, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Calling All Early Birds!
Speaking of ELEVATE, mark your calendars! This exclusive summit takes place September 16-17th in London. We’ll release news of our EARLY INVITE list, soon!
Trust me, you don’t want to miss this one!
See You There!
AMPLIFY was a fantastic experience, and I can’t wait for ELEVATE. To catch-up on all of the insights from the two-day summit, purchase your on-demand ticket.
