Exactly one month before the U.S. Affiliate Management Days 2014 show, I’ve decided to poll speakers asking them to pick 3 sessions they want to attend, or are looking at attending.
Today I bring you their responses (with special thanks to those who have provided additional comments/rationale as to why exactly they have picked these particular sessions):
Wesley Brandi selected:
- 10 Things New Affiliate Managers Should Know by Martin Marion (Deluxe Corp)
- Hiring, Firing, and Compensating Affiliate Managers by Brook Schaaf (Schaaf-PartnerCentric) and CC Mullen (Compensation & Organization Solutions)
- Using Affiliate Forums and Blogs to Create an Online Reputation by Chuck Hamrick (Hamrick.biz)
Todd Crawford wrote:
- Performance Secrets of Amazon’s Success by Bryan Eisenberg — Every retailer competes with Amazon and I think it will be interesting to get more insights into how Amazon does what it does.
- The Value of Working with Different Affiliate Types, the Need to Diversify by Choots Humphries (LinkConnector) — This is a common concern among advertisers and will be interesting to see what Choots presents.
- Hiring, Firing, and Compensating Affiliate Managers by Brook Schaaf (Schaaf-PartnerCentric) and CC Mullen (Compensation & Organization Solutions) — “I do not think enough people in our industry understand how best to compensate a program manager and it is important information that doesn’t get discussed very often.”
Sarah Bundy picked:
- Performance Secrets of Amazon’s Success by Bryan Eisenberg — Everyone wants to understand Amazon’s secrets to success and I believe this session will have some great tips that will showcase some new opportunities yet to be explored by most merchants.
- The Development & Use of APIs for Affiliate Marketing by Ryan Hudgins and Sanarr McLaughlin (InterContinental Hotels Group) — APIs create incredible opportunities for affiliates and brands alike and this is still an area many people do not understand. I’d be interested to see how a hotel group uses theirs for ongoing success for themselves and their affiliate team.
- Turn Up the Heat: Engage & Activate Affiliates Who’ve Since Gone Cold by Jon Levine (All Inclusive Marketing) — One of the major challenges brands face is keeping activity rates high. An even greater challenge is how to get affiliates active if they have lost interest and have gone cold. A lot of effort goes into recruitment, so keeping those guys alive is key to ongoing success. I’m interested to see what strategies Jon recommends in this particular presentation.
Jennifer Myers Ward wrote:
- Affiliate Management: Grab Your Buckets & Let’s Go! by Jennifer Myers Ward (ebove & beyond) — I know it’s mine, but I honestly believe there is not only some valuable, actionable material that will be shared … it will be fun & memorable! Heck, what’s the point of doing it if I don’t think it’s something I would want to attend myself.
- The Value of Working with Different Affiliate Types, the Need to Diversify by Choots Humphries (LinkConnector) — This one did catch my eye as I think much of the time merchants focus too heavily on “couponers” or traffic volume affiliates and do not always even understand the various types of affiliates out there. I mean, if managed correctly, they can leverage content sites, review sites, bloggers, PPC, social media, email affiliates and even cart abandonment. Nice to hear this being brought to the forefront!
- 10 Affiliate Recruitment Strategies that Work (and a Few Bonus Ones Too!) by Sarah Bundy (All Inclusive Marketing) — I think this is a key subject as I think both merchants and even some novice affiliate managers lose creativity sometimes when it comes to recruiting. They stick with what they know and swim in a “shallow” pool of options, thus limiting the program and its success. Plus, Sarah always has juicy info to share.
The 3 sessions that have been mentioned most frequently were: (1) Bryan Eisenberg’s Performance Secrets of Amazon’s Success keynote, (2) Brook Schaaf’s and CC Mullen’s Hiring, Firing, and Compensating Affiliate Managers, and (3) The Value of Working with Different Affiliate Types, the Need to Diversify by Choots Humphries.
Which sessions would make your Top 3 List and why?
By the way, if you haven’t yet registered, there is still time!! The show takes place in San Francisco on March 19-20, 2014. If you register using the coupon code shown on the image (to the right of this paragraph) you will receive $500.00 OFF two-day and all-access passes to the show. Looking forward to meeting you there next month!