We’re kicking off the 11th season of the Affiliate Marketing Podcast with special guest Rick Magennis. Rick has been in affiliate marketing for over 12 years and is the founder and president of Bearcat Media, an affiliate marketing agency that specialises in growing eCommerce brands.
Lee-Ann will be quizzing Rick on all things affiliate marketing, from building concrete relationships with partners to creating a well-rounded bank of affiliates. Listen in here for all the insights.
With Rick’s extensive experience in affiliate marketing, there was a lot to discuss when it comes to the changes in affiliate marketing, and how to develop an affiliate marketing partnership. Read on for the highlights of this week’s podcast.
A lot has changed in affiliate marketing
The affiliate marketing industry isn’t quite as new as someone from the outside looking in might imagine. Even the wild west of YouTube had its shoutouts and brand deals as part of the affiliate marketing business.
Rick said: “Back when, uh, when I started, it was the content producers and the influencer space, it wasn’t nearly as big as it is. So, a lot of the focus was on like the coupons, cash back, loyalty. There were content sites out there, but they were not as prevalent as they are now. And the evolution of the industry now, where content producers or content creators are in the forefront. And that’s primarily where I see the industry headed is towards that.”
What big changes can we expect in the industry?
We’ve had a lot of speculation in the early months of 2023, and throughout the AMPLIFY Summit, on where affiliate marketing is going in the future. So, of course, we had to ask what he thinks is waiting around the corner…
Rick says: “It’s a trend that’s been happening for actually a little while, but it’s a majority of the brands that we work with and that we talk to. They don’t want to deal with the coupon sites anymore. So they want to cut them out and they want to provide those coupon codes or those deals to the content producers, the ones that are driving the high-quality traffic to their site.”
Why building relationships with your affiliate marketers is important
Relationships are obviously a big part of affiliate partnerships. It’s right there in the name. It’s an industry of give and take. But like a lot of other relationships, it can be quite fickle. We asked Rick how we should navigate affiliate partnerships for optimal results.
Rick said: “What we preach is building relationships and making sure that your, your partners and your affiliates are taken care of. The affiliate model is primarily a performance-based model, but over the years it’s been getting interwoven into the flat fees and things like that. But affiliate marketing’s still a relationship-oriented business, and you have to build those solid relationships from day one with your affiliates and during any period of time, whether it be a good economic time or a bad, as long as you have those relationships, you’re going to be okay and you should be able to weather the storm because the trust that’s been built. They’re not just a number or just not just a revenue generator. They’re, they’re a partner or an extension of your team and treat them like that.
And further on, Rick goes on to say: “We also look at it like the diversity too. Because if you rely on one type of affiliate and they go away, your program’s done.
“Because if you have a diverse program and you lose a couple of affiliates, you might not feel it as much as if you had one content producer as your only type of affiliate, and a couple of those go away, you’re going to feel it.”
If you would like to hear more on diversifying your affiliate base, listen to Rick share insights on his podcast The Rick Magennis Show.
If you are interested in more affiliate and social media marketing insights, take a look at our blog for all the latest news and advice. Or for a more personalised approach, book a free call with a member of our team.
Or, for the very best advice from industry peers, register to gain access to our Amplify Action Day. Taking place in January 2023 doesn’t mean you’ve missed it. Amplify aims to bring you the latest affiliate, performance, and partner marketing insights from across the globe and it’s all available to stream from our website.
Listen to find out more about:
- The evolution from coupons and codes to modern influencer marketing
- The importance of educating your affiliate partners
- An interesting gardening analogy for affiliate marketing?
Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune into go direct
[10:00] – Building relationships with affiliate partners through communication
[15:00] – Transparency between affiliate partners when it comes to data
[20:00] – The importance of diversity in your affiliate partners
[35:00] – Where does Rick see affiliate marketing going in the future?
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