Overplayed Marketing Acronyms and Cliches

Marketing acronyms and cliches are the worst. I'm as guilty of abusing them as the next person, but there are some that need to kick rocks.

Imagine the business-boosting potential if you could decode the jargon-filled world of affiliate marketing and small business growth, and make the most of Q4 opportunities – wouldn't you become unstoppable? Join us for an enlightening conversation with the savvy brain trust of Christen Evans and Nick Marchese, the affiliate marketing consultants who are shaking up the industry with their invaluable insights.

As we approach the final quarter of the year, small businesses are looking for strategies to maximize their Q4 performance. This podcast episode, titled “Decoding Affiliate Marketing and Optimizing Q4: The Business Booster Conversation,” brings together industry experts Christen Evans and Nick Marchese to share their insights on the subject.

What are Marketing Acronyms?

They are the best way to shave four seconds and sound smarter in conversations. I don't know who decided to start this smart guy trend, but I don't find it incredibly hard to read out marketing acroymns as real words.

Marketing acroymns start with a marketing term and shortening to several letters. For example, Conversion Rate is CR and Return on Investment is ROI.

What are the Most Popular Marketing Acroymns?

Here are 20 marketing acronyms along with their definitions:

• SEO: Search Engine Optimization – The process of optimizing a website to improve its visibility in search engine results pages, with the goal of increasing organic (non-paid) traffic.
• PPC: Pay-Per-Click – An online advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. Commonly associated with platforms like Google Ads.
• ROI: Return on Investment – A performance metric that calculates the profitability of an investment, often used to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
• CRM: Customer Relationship Management – Software and strategies used to manage and analyze interactions with customers, aiming to enhance customer retention and loyalty.
• KPI: Key Performance Indicator – A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving its key business objectives.
• CTA: Call to Action – A prompt that encourages a user to take a specific action, such as clicking a button, signing up, or making a purchase.
• CPC: Cost-Per-Click – The amount an advertiser pays for each click on their ad in a pay-per-click advertising campaign.
• CTR: Click-Through Rate – The percentage of people who click on an ad or link compared to the total number of people who saw it.
• CPM: Cost-Per-Thousand – The cost an advertiser pays per one thousand impressions (views) of their ad.
• B2B: Business-to-Business – Marketing and sales activities focused on selling products or services from one business to another.
• B2C: Business-to-Consumer – Marketing and sales activities focused on selling products or services directly to individual consumers.
• UGC: User-Generated Content – Content created and shared by users or customers, often used by brands to increase authenticity and engagement.
• PPV: Pay-Per-View – A type of online advertising where advertisers pay a fee each time their video ad is viewed.
• SERP: Search Engine Results Page – The page displayed by a search engine in response to a user's search query.
• CTR: Conversion Rate – The percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
• SMM: Social Media Marketing – The use of social media platforms to promote products, services, or brands.
• CPA: Cost-Per-Acquisition – The cost associated with acquiring a new customer or lead through a marketing campaign.
• MQL: Marketing Qualified Lead – A lead that has shown interest in a product or service and meets certain criteria, indicating a potential for becoming a customer.
• SQL: Sales Qualified Lead – A lead that has been determined to have a high potential to become a paying customer based on their engagement and fit with the ideal customer profile.
• ROAS: Return on Ad Spend – A metric that measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.

What are Marketing Cliches?

Ever been in a meeting and someone higher that you explains a concept with examples? The episode kicks off with a playful debate on the phrase ‘at the end of the day,' and whether it's become a hackneyed cliché. Jargon and clichés can often obfuscate the real meaning behind conversations in the business world. In this case, the speakers suggest that while ‘at the end of the day' might be overused, it often serves to summarize the main point of a discussion. However, they also point out that the overuse of such phrases can lead to them losing their impact over time.

Moving on, the conversation shifts to the importance of acronyms and social proof in business. The magic of acronyms, as discussed in the episode, lies in their ability to condense complex concepts into a single, memorable word. Social proof, on the other hand, is the persuasive power that comes from knowing that others approve or endorse a product, service, or idea. It can be a powerful tool for businesses to increase their credibility and trust among customers.

One of the most critical parts of the discussion revolves around Q4 and the practices that can skyrocket a brand's awareness during this period. The speakers highlight the need for businesses to start preparing for Q4 well in advance, suggesting that those who do so stand to reap substantial benefits. They also discuss the importance of regular audits of technical aspects to ensure that everything is running smoothly during this crucial period.

Furthermore, the episode dives into the concept of lifetime value (LTV) and how brands can boost their LTV by using exclusive codes and studying customer behavior. Understanding LTV can help businesses make more informed decisions about their marketing and customer retention strategies.

Here is the full episode on Marketing Acronyms.

Wrap it up Dustin.

In the final part of the episode, the speakers chat about the ups and downs of being a free agent and the importance of summertime relaxation. They also discuss the need for building a recognizable brand, reinforcing the idea that a strong brand can be an invaluable asset for any business.

By the end of this enlightening episode, listeners are equipped with a wealth of information to optimize their revenue while preparing for Q4 and beyond. Whether you're a small business owner looking to make the most of Q4 or a marketer trying to decode the jargon-filled world of affiliate marketing, this episode is a must-listen.

The podcast episode is a treasure trove of practical advice, insightful discussions, and actionable strategies for businesses of all sizes. Whether you're a seasoned business owner or just starting out, you're sure to find something of value in this episode.

Here is the full transcript of the episode:

Dustin Howes
Host
00:00
Folks, welcome to Affiliate Nerd Out. I am your host and Nurgurator, dustin Howes, spending that good word about affiliate marketing. You're gonna find me on Tuesdays and Thursdays doing LinkedIn live and anywhere you can find your podcast, so please consider subscribing today. My guests this is the first two-timers club. Kristen Evans is joining me from Spark Partnerships founder and overall badass. And then we have Nick Marchese Marchese, as I like to call him.
Nick Marchese
Guest
00:36
Who is?
Dustin Howes
Host
00:38
currently a free agent on the market and an incredible value to any association that is looking for a great business development manager. Nick Kristen, thanks for joining me in the Nerditorium and welcome.
00:54
Thanks for having us Great. Today. We are gonna be going over all things affiliate marketing, so if you have any questions, feel free to jump in. With the Q and A, we're happy to talk about them. As we know, we are not live from Affiliate Summit, as most everybody that is usually watches this program is probably attending right now, but they'll catch it on the recording a little bit later. But if you have questions, please jump in, but without further ado. Let's start with Kristen. Tell us about you, kristen.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
01:35
Hi, as you said, Dustin, I am the founder and CEO because I've decided that I've earned that title of Spark Partnerships. I would normally be an affiliate summit this week, but I had Taylor Swift tickets, so priority of course, and yes, it was fabulous good nails. Spark Partnerships is an incubator agency that helps brands who are primed for the affiliate space launch and grow their programs within the space. Our whole goal is to be like the hinge of affiliate marketing, so we wanna help brands really get ready, get set the foundation laid so that once they get too big for me and my resources, I can push them off to another agency or they can help hire their own in-house resources. I love to help people succeed and educate and empower brands as well as affiliates, so I also work with content partners, helping them optimize their content, anything that they might have that is available for affiliate links, really going through adding CTAs, stuff like that. So, in the true nature of partnerships, Spark Partnerships loves to help brands of all size, but especially small brands, get their footing and go.
Dustin Howes
Host
02:52
Fantastic. The SMB market is vastly underserved those that can't afford an agency for X amount of $1,000 a month. Great solution with Kristen and what she's doing. She's providing incredible value for those SMBs and super excited to have you, Nick, tell us about who you are and what you're doing.
Nick Marchese
Guest
03:15
Yeah, thanks, Justin, and also really quickly to piggyback off of you, and it's actually another good one, too, to piggyback off of you and Kristen. What Kristen's doing in the industry right now, I think, is something that is it's filling a much needed gap.
03:28
It's really easy for a brand to find find an agency to take over the program from top to bottom, but not too many are willing to start it off in hopes of helping it blossom and grow. So kudos to you, love what you're doing and looking forward to watching you take over the world.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
03:46
Thanks man For myself.
Nick Marchese
Guest
03:48
I have been in the affiliate marketing space since 2010,. Started off my career at ShareSL, working in business development agency management as well as overseeing the entire client success team there for a while. So there was a fun ride. That was about nine to 10 years, and then I moved over to Bracket Tending, Business Development, Applixie Agency, a couple of different agencies here and there Fiat Growth being another fantastic one and then most recently was with US News and World Report, and I had a unique experience where I got to be on the technology side, on the agency side, representing both agencies and, of course, brands, but also now, most recently, the publisher side.
04:31
So I have a unique perspective, I can kind of see things from all different angles, or at least I think that I can, and I'm looking forward to talking about some cliche content.
Dustin Howes
Host
04:41
Clichets are happening, marketing cliches that's our big topic of the day. We're gonna be talking top pet peeves here and the first one I have to bring up one of my all time favorites is at the end of the day. This is getting beat up out there right now and I think my buddy, rob Shob I'm gonna name drop him because Rob is the absolute killer of this thing and I would get on phone calls with him and tally up how many he did in a month. I never told him about it, but he's probably gonna listen to this and he's like damn it, pustin, but you know what? He might change his ways.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
05:36
Anybody doing the end of the day, I think we all have a couple of people that have some sort of tropes or cliches that they drop on a regular basis. I've got a couple of people that I've got bingo cards for on a regular basis Beautiful. It kind of sometimes becomes like a drug king game between a few of us.
Nick Marchese
Guest
05:59
I don't know if you guys have to find out if I personally use, at the end of the day, a lot.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
06:04
Because as you I did twice. At the end of the day.
Nick Marchese
Guest
06:09
I don't know what. I hear you say it. I'm like, yeah, okay, but what about the end of the?
Dustin Howes
Host
06:12
day. I love the end of the day.
Nick Marchese
Guest
06:15
I think the end of the day is a great time of day and it means you're accomplished off the goals and you know what? I'm gonna throw some salt at you for using this as the first one, because I think, at the end of the day, there's nothing wrong with the end of the day.
Dustin Howes
Host
06:32
Yeah, yeah, I mean it's just as valuable as closing time, as the last song at a bar, right Like you have a point.
Nick Marchese
Guest
06:44
Nick, I think it's wrong, that's not what I said.
Dustin Howes
Host
06:50
What were you saying, Kristen?
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
06:51
I was saying really getting into the nuts and bolts of it.
Dustin Howes
Host
06:54
Oh, that's a good move. Ooh, nuts and bolts fantastic, yeah, yeah.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
06:58
I think that anything where you're having to use some sort of trope or cliche as a part of communication just means that maybe you should be a better communicator. Okay.
Dustin Howes
Host
07:09
Okay, it's going, it's going way to Adam Shots fired, no shade there, shots fired, hey. Speaking of which, I think we're all guilty of using cliches at times, right, and this is all in fun and games, like, if we come across something like Rob, I'm sorry. I'm not sorry that I'm calling you out. We're trying to temper expectations on how we all use this and get a little better. I personally, I know my filler word of um drives myself crazy because I have to edit these videos and then I have to go through and hear that and it just makes me cringe every time. Nick, you, you were a little salty on that first one. Why don't you go ahead with this next one so I can burn it?
Nick Marchese
Guest
08:02
Yeah, no absolutely Absolutely so. Okay, so the first one that came to my mind when we started talking about this topic was kind of tying it back now to the affiliate space Over the years when I either managed programs or kind of selling to a brand the value of the technology. Most times the conversation of coupon affiliates comes in and or deal with the or some sort of the discount or any sort there are. There's no right answer. Whether a brand should be doing, you know, offering discounts, coupons or deals kind of depends on the brand themselves how many they should be. But the, the term or the phrase I should say that kind of.
08:41
Every time I hear that just kind of roll my eyes in my head a little bit. And again, I have probably used it. I'm sure everyone here has and everyone else will. So this is truly no judgment towards anyone who actually does. But we are a luxury brand or we want to be perceived as luxury brands, so therefore we don't offer a discount. I think that again, there's there's no harm in doing that. If that's a strategy that you're going to take, do it by all means. I think there's a lot of ways that you can say there's a lot of ways you can get that point across just by simply saying no. I think that when you have to put a reason behind it, it actually devalues the reason that you put behind it. So if I know that you're a luxury brand already and I'm in that market which, by the way, for everyone, I'm not in the market for luxury products at all I will break them or get hot dog stains or ketchup stains on my shirt.
09:32
Do not me and luxury things don't work out well, so maybe this is also because I'm in the wrong market for it. But if you know, if we're talking about that and we're getting to the point where we're saying you know we're a luxury brand, it should already be aware, I should already be aware that you're a luxury brand. You shouldn't have to tell me about it. Don't just say we don't have coupons, it's not part of our strategy, and the next topic is moving on.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
09:56
I would give back off that too. Like you can't really say you're a luxury brand and then have a discount welcome offer on your site, you know, like there's, there's a little something about that that's not quite conducive to one another. But even with luxury brands and I know that this isn't really staying in the topic of treps and cliches but even with luxury brands, like there's a cohort of your customers always wants to the best deal possible.
Dustin Howes
Host
10:21
So yeah, even I, who have traditionally said, hey, coupon and loyalty sites since I'm affraid of affiliate fraud, I won't work with them in my programs. Even I think that luxury brand statement is a little aggressive, like if you're going to close yourself off to everybody in the coupon space and not offer anything, I think you're losing a lot of potential at the end of the day. At the end of the day, um, kristen, what do you, what do you got to? Let's go with your big yeah.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
10:59
I have big shout out to Nate Beal for dropping this one in the comments on my LinkedIn post that synergies literally don't. Maybe you don't. I think you know there are so many different ways that you can show that you guys can work together. You know a brand and a partner brand. Alignment off the top of my head is you know one that works because it literally shows that you are aligned with the brand. Content alignment same thing the brand is aligned with your content. I think that synergies is one of those words that people like glommed on to and then just stuck to, and I'm really tired of seeing it and hearing it over and over again.
Nick Marchese
Guest
11:42
One of my first jobs out of college was a company I won't go into the full name of it, but it was synergy something and it was not spelled with the NASA was filled with the sea. No, synergy to the next level of synergistic opportunity. It was really, really fantastic yeah in like a bad way. Yeah.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
12:07
I think that you know synergies is also one of those phrases that you know what in my earlier affiliate summit days and a lot of those people who would be like, do you buy traffic? Be like, hey, let's meet and see if we have synergies, and so I think it added that extra bad taste in my mouth because I'm like, no, I get my traffic organically, but also like they're coming at me with that thing just to learn there were absolutely no synergies.
Dustin Howes
Host
12:36
Maybe that's the best part of synergizing. Well, no, that you figure out that there is no center center application available. I think synergizing has been around and cliche for a solid 10 years. I remember an account manager that I was working with and he brought it up in an ironic way like, hey, let's, let's, get the synergize going, like that's how we started the meeting, and I could just tell on his face like too many people were saying it to him in the conference. It was a good joke so. But you know, you know, in in synergization, users defense, I mean, it is a fun word to say If you, if you can pronounce it properly yes, absolutely Great. Yeah, synergies have got to go, but they've had a good run.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
13:48
They've got to see their way out.
Dustin Howes
Host
13:51
You know, partnering up is good enough. Synergizing, let's take it back, see.
Nick Marchese
Guest
13:57
Here's another crazy one that kind of ties into that. Okay, mutual benefit, isn't that just the same thing as synergy? Can we just revert back to that and say is there a mutual benefit here? I have something that's going to benefit you as well as when to benefit me, like it just a partnership, at the end of the day, should be mutually beneficial, so why Thanks? For that.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
14:20
Yeah.
Dustin Howes
Host
14:23
I don't disagree Christian Can't disagree on mutually beneficial. Yeah, that's. No more thoughts on that one. Actually, I'd like to get a little bit higher on the scale and go up to a 30,000-plus year. So that we can better understand. You know, let's take a step back right, zoom out 30,000-foot view. I don't know who came up with this originally this mastermind, but also it is. Some people are 10,000, some are 20, some I've seen 50,000.
Nick Marchese
Guest
15:08
I go 60,. That's my go-to. You go 60, 60's your yeah.
Dustin Howes
Host
15:12
Okay, I like to use it. Ironically and, like you know, Will Clark isn't in my background today, but I like 22,000-foot view just because it's my favorite number and whatever. What do you guys use this often? I'm guilty of it in an email.
Nick Marchese
Guest
15:32
Yeah, I think I probably use at the end of the day, more than I use 60,000-foot view. But for me I was telling you this a while ago the reason I'm actually kind of I like that one is my first role out of high school. I was in the Air Force and I was a jet mechanic, and every time I think of that I'm like, oh well, what goes 60,000 feet? Okay? Well, you too does. That's pretty cool, I can work on you too. That's pretty narrowly.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
15:58
All right, yeah, you know what?
Dustin Howes
Host
15:58
let's go to 60,000-foot view I like this it's better than 10,000.
Nick Marchese
Guest
16:02
Am I wrong? So why not go to 60,000?
Dustin Howes
Host
16:05
I can get that out on the mountain. I can climb a mountain Exactly Anyone can do that, bear with it.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
16:14
I think the opposite of that, too, is like granular, you know, so I tend to say that too much. It's like, you know, when, like if we're really getting into an affiliate program, you can't look at it too granularly and I do say that with frequency because it's one of those expectation management pieces with clients especially, you know, and which is true like if you're looking in an affiliate program, if you actually break it down like day by day or week by week, you're gonna get the worst view of it. So you do have to zoom out. I hate that one too and so it's like we're putting those all together. We've got to take it from the granular to the zoomed out view of the 30,000 to 60,000.
Nick Marchese
Guest
16:52
Yeah, which synergies are there for you?
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
16:55
Oh my god, I might throw up now.
Dustin Howes
Host
16:59
We should use that Alright well, let's put a pin in that one and come back to a little bit later. Nick, you're, what do you got? You want to hit social proof.
Nick Marchese
Guest
17:16
Yes, the first time I heard social proof, it took me a fair while to figure out what the guy was talking about and then I almost used it ironically, kind of how we use synergy. Now I use it ironically everywhere I could and of course it turns out I'm probably using it the way wrong and I own that. I don't care. I have to say that was before I actually got in the weeds and gotten very granular. Instead of the 60,000 view, foot or foot view.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
17:44
You want to hear time sing the forest through the trees there?
Nick Marchese
Guest
17:47
Yeah, exactly, that's exactly it. Yes, I now totally get this, and when people use it, I have this like warm feeling of like, yes, I understand you now. Oh, I feel important. I think it's important. I think what what social proof actually does is I thought the guy was just using it as another you know another phrase used to make him sound important, as people oftentimes do Turns out what he for those who don't know what social, social proof is.
18:17
somehow, at this point in the game, turns out that all he was asking for, or all he was telling us, is he doesn't need revenue attributed to this activity. He just wanted it to be out in the wild so that the world could see it doesn't matter if there was revenue behind it, it was just does it exist, and I think social proof is actually a good way to go about it.
18:38
I think when I first heard it, I'm like, oh, here we go, this guy's gonna be fantastic. And now, in hindsight, two or three years later, like, yeah, you know what that's, I use it regularly. It's not quite my go to or any conversation, but I like it.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
18:52
And I think with social proof comes brand awareness, which is also one of my favorites. Actually, directly after social proof comes brand awareness, and I think that that's, you know, a big piece too. That's one of those phrases that I love to talk about with partners, especially, you know, small emerging brands who are trying to, you know, find their foothold. Social proof and brand awareness are two of the best KPIs that brands can look for in the early days.
Dustin Howes
Host
19:21
Beautiful you guys. Kpis must be like the most overused acronym, like just thrown around from smart marketers out there that want to tell you all about how cool they are. But I can't go without, you know, talking about proof without it being in the pudding. I don't know who's eating this pudding, but I really don't like the taste of it. And every time somebody says this, I think of Jell-O and then I think of Bill Cosby. That's where my mind goes.
20:02
Whenever you say, proof is in the pudding, I can't help but like think of Bill Cosby.
Nick Marchese
Guest
20:10
And all because of you. Every time I say social proof, I'm now going to be talking about Bill Cosby, because of your disconnect, thank you.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
20:19
Well, now Nick's going to say the social proof is in the pudding.
Dustin Howes
Host
20:24
Social proof is in pudding.
Nick Marchese
Guest
20:29
That could be a million. If we were running a pudding program, that would work.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
20:33
I mean we should be like writing this down, kind of like the old Sheriff's sale board.
Dustin Howes
Host
20:38
Yeah yeah, sheriff's sale. Even better, guys, this is live and on the internet. Now All my Bill Cosby references will be here forever. Evergreen is what you're going to say. Evergreen absolutely always are Any other super cliches we want to drop in. We want to announce the world they should be dead before we move on to our other topics of like real value.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
21:15
Well, we're talking about KPIs, but what about those OKRs? Nick?
Nick Marchese
Guest
21:18
The OKRs and the CAC I mean really kind of all ties together in a synergistic way where one can piggyback off of another.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
21:25
To me that high ROAS.
Nick Marchese
Guest
21:28
Yeah, I think OKRs are fascinating. Whoever came up with that whole OKR program, I think really, what kind of OKRs are for the audience, please? I don't even know what it stands for Every single time I hear it, I tune it out. It's like, yeah, I genuinely don't care, I don't know. I just know that when someone says OKRs, all that means to me is that I have to come up with a project to do to make more money for the company.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
21:53
It's objectives and key results.
Nick Marchese
Guest
21:55
So I have to make more money for the company. It's goals and then it's goals. It's so easy Projects and goals. Projects lead to goals. Yeah, and then results.
Dustin Howes
Host
22:10
I remember a job interview like 10 plus years ago where somebody said what are some other KPIs besides revenue you think is important with the affiliate program? And I didn't know what KPI was. But I wasn't going to tell her. I'm not going to say I don't know what KPIs is, then I'm not going to get the job. So I'm like, oh nothing, nothing's as important as revenue. That was essentially my answer, but that was before my schooling and partnerships. Of course I could have said the intangibles of what we do as an affiliate manager are very difficult to put a KPI associated to for the future. The partnerships we're building today could help us out in two years and we never have like a visual KPI of what we do today.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
23:02
But I always We'll be in social, putting on that.
Dustin Howes
Host
23:07
True, only when you get to 60,000 feet. Yeah, acronyms I am as guilty as anybody using them out there and I hate doing it and I must always do the opposite. You know, in an article where you like say the whole world performance indicators and then you put KPI in it, and then you use KPI for the rest of the article, I do the opposite. Like, if I say KPI, if I do any acronym, then I explain myself for the first time after I use it. I don't know if you guys do the same. Like I just don't want anybody to go through that feeling that I had when somebody said KPI to me the first time.
Nick Marchese
Guest
23:49
I'm the exact same way, which is also why I explained what social proof was a few minutes ago. Everyone probably knows what it is, but I don't know that.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
23:58
For those that don't, yeah, there's always somebody that's going to have a question on it, so might as well explain it. You know, clarity is kindness, so be kind.
Dustin Howes
Host
24:08
Be kind, great words, thank you. All right, incorrect. All right, let's completely dig way here and get into Q4 best practices. It's given something relatively relevant. Q4 is around the corner for us.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
24:35
We're officially in August, so Q4 pitching is here. If Karen Garcia were on, she would be able to tell us exactly how many days until Black Friday. So you know that's always scary when you start hearing Karen countdown from like the hundreds you know. But yeah, the Q4 is here. It's right around the corner. As we've seen since, you know, really 2020, maybe slightly before the runway for Q4 is getting longer and longer every year. So, whereas you know, brands were really starting to set up their Black Friday, Cyber Monday goals in like September, we're really looking at like July as having to have those early conversations and if brands and affiliate managers aren't pitching Q4, like starting now, then you're losing the opportunity to get in on those gift guides and those various placements.
Dustin Howes
Host
25:28
Great. I think one of the best practices for merchant AMs is start asking in July or August for somebody's media kit, right yeah, any kind of representation you have with your companies of additional sponsorship or additional exposure. Your website has coming up in Q4. Let's get that out in the open and let your audience of affiliates know that you know we're open and willing to entertain all deals. So, nick, what do you think is best practice here to do with that media kit, like just to prepare for those brands that might be asking for it?
Nick Marchese
Guest
26:11
Yeah, I mean, I think the first part that might go a little bit un contemplated is actually, as the publisher, getting started early, knowing what you're going to be doing. I mean, if you're, if you take this, this channel, seriously, by now, at this point in the game, you should already have it, at the very least a rough framework, built out. You might not have all your OKRs pinned down or with the KPIs associated with each OKR, but if there's a good synergy, no, if, if you're on top of it and if you know what you're actually going to be doing or you want to be doing, then you hopefully have this all kind of planned out and figured out from a high level thing.
26:50
Because when when a brand does reach out to you. You have this, just like with a publisher or with an affiliate manager reaching out to an affiliate. When a brand reaches out to you saying, can I have your media kit? You have that window of opportunity right now to be selling the hell out of what it is that you're selling. So I haven't already be prepared for it. But also tell, let let it be known, that whether you're you're, you can be flexible, or, if you're firm on what numbers are in there, if there are even numbers in there.
Dustin Howes
Host
27:20
Well, like if you're, if you're selling a media spot for $50,000, then let it be known right out of the gates.
Nick Marchese
Guest
27:25
This is flexible or it's not flexible, I know that a lot of folks will say, oh well, from the sales perspective I don't want to be giving out to farm implying that I can lower my fees. But you don't have to. You can lower your fees one way, but come up in another area and kind of diversify.
27:41
But that's for like obviously $50,000 for a somewhat larger publisher. Smaller publishers also need to be thinking about this stuff too. I would say almost especially smaller publishers, because that's really where, from a brand perspective, brands of course they want the kind of knots of the world you know, putting their content in every single piece of content they produce, or their brand and every single piece of content they produce. But the fact is that's really hard to get done. It's really easy to go to a smaller publisher and say, hey, we are this brand and we do this. I caught your, you caught my attention, we'd love to work with you.
28:15
If a small publisher has that, that awareness net, the ability to build their strategy out far enough in advance. They can really start to capitalize it now, start to create content, take their more organic approach, using SEO to drive traffic to their stuff now, so that when crunch time comes it's another good one too when crunch time comes, they can really start to churn out revenue and sales to the bar.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
28:43
Yeah, and I Back up on that a little bit Some of the other information that like for brands in particular, that's really helpful to include in media kits, especially if you're a smaller publisher any sort of conversion rate, anything that you can show like we have a click-through rate, we have a conversion rate.
29:02
You know, this is our percentage of engagement on our social posts. You know, really being able to show the brand that it's not just a brand awareness play or social proof, but it is a true path to conversion, especially during those key Q4 moments. That's really helpful. But then to also back up what you were saying, the longer runway you know you have with these brands where you can do the storytelling and the pre-selling Ahead of the key converting times. So you're kind of, you know, setting your audience up for no, these brands are going to be available during this key selling time. Here's what I love about them here, you know, is why you should purchase them. Then you're gonna have a much higher opportunity for conversion during that key sales period. And then brands same thing get it together early, really, what your Q4 offer is going to be starting mid-summer, don't be scrambling in September, october, to be like oh no, are we gonna do?
30:00
30% for Black Friday Cyber.
Dustin Howes
Host
30:02
Monday.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
30:03
Have a plan in place and so that your affiliate managers and your PR people let's not forget that PR is really big during this time year, your affiliate managers, your PR people and your influence or people should be able to start setting up whoever is going to be active in these campaigns by August. You know they need to have all of the information so that we can get our Marketing calendars locked and loaded and we're including you in pitches Non-stop. The other part of this is your affiliate managers and your PR team. They're likely thinking of very outside the box ideas. You know they're not just looking at like oh, your skin care brand, you should go in a skincare gift guide. How about a travel gift guide? How about a self-care gift guide? How about a gift guide for men, because men do skincare too? You know, really, considering all of the different ways that a brand can be included in a gift guide versus the most obvious way, Beautiful.
Dustin Howes
Host
31:00
One big part of this the being prepared part for publishers. Biggest reason to be prepared for that Q4 question that's gonna come from those merchants is being the first to say yes and volunteer your things. Because what's gonna happen is merchants are gonna have a Q4 budget of sponsorship for $10,000. Now whoever answers first is going to have the first Opportunity to cash in on that. And now if you say I've got this stuff over here for a thousand dollars, they might say yes immediately. And then Somebody else might say ten thousand dollars, but they already said yes to you and that budget has to go someplace else. So you get that to them as soon as possible, have that email template ready to rock when people ask about this, or even start sending it out in August to get it on the top of the merchants mind out there. So Great points from both of you. What else can Conmerchants or publishers do to prep for best practices in Q4?
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
32:03
here. I think one of the things that we can really do, if we have ability as brands and as merchants to flex on CPAs, for Commission rates for For publishers and especially some of the smaller publishers during Q4. It's a great time to do that you can really activate and engage a lot of your partners by Reaching out and communicating like, hey, we would love to give you extra money during the holidays. Who doesn't want to hear that? Who doesn't want to try for that? You know? And if you're, if you're doing that on a commission basis in particular, or if you're doing it on a hybrid basis, where it's like hey, we want to give you a little bit up front, but we would also like to give you more on the back end. That's how you start building another one of my favorites brand affinity with your affiliates, so that you're able to kind of have these ongoing relationships that should last beyond Q4.
Dustin Howes
Host
32:58
Any thoughts on that?
Nick Marchese
Guest
32:59
Nick, yeah, no, I agree 100%. I actually would say the the one thing that I think that is really important, adding to that a little bit more, is kind of going back to the budget in itself, like yes, that's obviously important to consider the increased CPA, but you know, dustin, you mentioned, you know, $10,000 budget or $1,000 budget they have to have that budget in mind.
33:22
First, they have to be willing to actually spend it there. I almost feel like the the small to medium-sized brands are the ones who actually take this the most seriously, because I almost from what I've seen recently. It's not every brand, of course, but a lot of these large, massive ones. The big box brands almost go the opposite route and say, well, this is our chance to get free traffic, and so we're just not gonna.
33:47
We're gonna lower our commission rates. There was a brand Three or nine years ago who just turned off their program on every Q4.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
33:56
Somebody does it every.
Nick Marchese
Guest
33:58
Black Friday like, and, and at that point in time, all these publishers have their content pre-planned and pre-written. So it's it's almost unethical in a sense, unless there's an actual valid reason. Of course, if there's like an actual budget, core or economical issue why you can't, then it's a different story. But having it be prepared from a, from a brand perspective, is really important and you can do it in different, a couple of different ways. Obviously, you can figure out your your flat rate content Budget.
34:27
You can figure out your your commission rate increased either across the board or you can get more dynamic and have it be based off of Customer behavior and not just, like this affiliate 10%. This affiliates 2%. But you can do something along the lines of like well, this customer used their exclusive code and their their transaction was over $400 and they were a new customer and just adding all these different criterias, because they're not really thinking. I feel like a lot of brands these days aren't really thinking about the LTV of an actual customer anymore. They're always looking at like that first single interaction.
35:03
The new customer, yeah, they lose money on that first customer or that first transaction. And yes, you do, because you have a good product and if you have a solid remarketing tool, then that's going to be an infinite amount of money later on. Well, maybe that infinite, because that's not the definition of LTV, but you get it.
Dustin Howes
Host
35:23
It seems really ridiculous that I have to put that as a best practice of don't shut off your program in Q4.
Nick Marchese
Guest
35:29
It's so true, I mean, it's so true.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
35:33
Trisha Meyer is one of my favorite people to talk to about this because, like she every single year, you know, with Sun's Shine Rewards and Helping Mom Is Connect she is one of the first people who will red flag almost any program that does this, whether it's a significant commission decrease you know we've seen some programs go down to like 0.5% from like 10% or whatever, which is insane or completely shut off a program. And what I think a lot of brands don't consider when they do that, this is not just that, like you know, they might be saving budget, but they're really, really hurting relationships. And they're not just hurting relationships with customers, they're hurting relationships with their own personal like marketing machine. You know I've had brands do that to me when I was an affiliate and I never worked with them again. Yeah, okay, that can be a death knell for a lot of affiliate programs.
36:21
Like you might still get some of those partners who you know do a lot of automated whatever that you know will run your program, but if you're really looking for those true partners that are like media partners or content partners, that's going to hurt you more than it's going to help you. And if, like, if you have to take a drastic, drastic measurement, do what Nick indicated and look more dynamically. You know you can do everything from product level commissioning to, you know, customer status to. I mean. There's a million different things that you can do if you have the right tools. Rather than break something, adjust it pivot.
Nick Marchese
Guest
36:58
Can I add one more thing to talk about this? No, I'm sorry. All right, nice to have you guys. See you later. This is something that I think that both the advertiser and the publisher should be doing. So it's a technical audit, making sure that, first off, if you're a brand, that you're going into a code you're not doing anything different.
37:15
You're not removing the pixel, you're not modifying the pixel but, before that, preparing to make sure that you, your tracking is working, make sure that you have every update, every parameter, every your, your ICP compliant, everything that you need. This is the time, right now, to be starting it and wrapping it up within a few weeks, like get it all done, even if that means that you have to hire a developer or a contractor to help out with this.
37:40
Get it done now, because when that time comes, if you have an affiliate program that gets shut off not because of budget, but everyone thinks that they're tracking sales or they should be tracking sales and they're not, you're going to have a lot of really upset affiliates.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
37:54
That aren't and it's not going to impact you just in Q4.
Nick Marchese
Guest
37:57
That's going to have a long-term impact on you. Kristen, just like you mentioned, like you've stopped working with brands completely when they do, that.
Dustin Howes
Host
38:05
On the flip side publishers.
Nick Marchese
Guest
38:06
Make sure that you know how your links work. If you're a smaller publisher, make sure you understand this all. Make sure that you're auditing who you're driving traffic to. Whether you want to be driving traffic to the Amazon Associates account which is fine, especially if you're using like Rob's tool, that's fantastic. Do it, you can get an increased CPA. Go for it. If it's better to be converting directly at the brand site, make sure that you have the right links. You're in the program. You've got the right terms, the right contracts, the right offers from the impactor, whatever the network is having pushed to you, and start the dialogue now with the brand.
Dustin Howes
Host
38:43
Collective Collective, Even better, like a reason. You brought up the tech freeze that's going to happen the week before Black Friday, Cyber Weekend, whatever you want to call it. A lot of companies are going to go out there and do it. It just means you have to be more prepared than the week before to get these deals settled in before they go and do that. Go ahead, Gerson.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
39:10
I think that Nick had a good point is as you're doing those audits reach out to your affiliate managers.
39:17
Affiliate managers should always be reaching out to you, whether it's through a newsletter, one-on-one communication. If you ever have a question about your program and you really do want to promote a brand during Q4, go ahead and reach out to the brand. How responsive they are might be an indicator of how well run their program is. If you're not receiving a lot of responses, then that could potentially be a red flag. But also just reach out to the brands and be like hey, I'm starting to get ready for Q4. Here's where I promoted you on my site so far. Do you have any feedback? For me, that is going to create a level of engagement with that affiliate manager and you're going to be top of mind for them going forward with that kind of communication.
Nick Marchese
Guest
39:57
No one does it. The smaller publishers don't do it. Big publishers do, of course, if there's always a constant conversation. But a smaller website who is just doing this as a side project or just starting off full-time on this, they never think to do that, having managed programs. If someone reached out to me, of course there's the candidate, there's the immediate instinct of oh, you're a small publisher but then reality kicks in and yes, you're a small publisher. Let's make you a big publisher. Let's see how we can help you.
40:31
If you're a good affiliate manager that's the way that you approach this, which is what Kristen does. Everyone work with Kristen, thank you.
Dustin Howes
Host
40:42
Fabulous points. Thank you for all those best practices we were talking about Speaking of, which. Let's talk about that sponsor, the Dayo. Who should I pick? I don't know. Let's go with performance marketing management Everything we've been talking about today. As an affiliate manager, I teach in my course you do Join my community, that's right All of these important aspects and intricate parts of being an affiliate manager in my course Performance Marketing Manager. Go check it out Over at performancemarketingmanagercom. I want to thank you guys for being here today. You guys have been such amazing guests. On Thursday, I'm going to have my buddy, Todd Weizmann, show up. If you would like to join me on affiliate nerd out, go to dustinhousecom or hit that QR code right above here Dustinhousecom slash nerd. If you guys have any last things that you want to talk about, any events that you're coming up, any parting words for this audience? Now is the time for it.
Nick Marchese
Guest
41:59
I would say that we've reached the end of the day.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
42:04
It's time to shore up the deals.
Nick Marchese
Guest
42:08
In the lockstep and call it good.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
42:13
As far as events, I am speaking with Wade Tonkin and Christina Nolan at E-Tail on behalf of the Performance Marketing Association. E-tail is a large brand conference that's happening in Boston. It also happens in, I think they have a Canada event and Palm Springs in the spring. It's really a super fun conference. We're talking all about performance marketing and the PMA Really excited for that one. Wade is a friend of the show, of course. Christina Nolan from DLI has been doing this for a long time. I'm super excited to be able to pick the brains of super smart people. We just have Q4 coming up.
Dustin Howes
Host
42:59
Get prepared folks. Fantastic. The last thing I'll say is if anybody wants 15-minute call with me, go to dustinhousecom, slash explore, happy to help you for 15 minutes and point you in the right direction. It gets you the help you need. Kristin is an invaluable person that I send a lot of folks to, since a lot of times I don't want to do the work. Nick, all the best to you in your venture to find a new role here. I can't wait to see who snaps you up and brings you on on the BizDub team. It's a shame that you're on this free agent market right now. It won't last long.
Nick Marchese
Guest
43:43
I'm just getting stuff done, just relaxing and enjoying the summer. It's fantastic.
Dustin Howes
Host
43:49
You should go to that beach behind you, wherever that is. Looks pretty desolate, hi.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
43:57
Thank you so much for having us on again, Dustin.
Nick Marchese
Guest
43:59
This was super duper fun I always yeah, yeah, for sure To be in your format, but fine, yeah, no, these are always great.
Christen “Bigtime” Evans
Guest
44:08
I love it.
Dustin Howes
Host
44:10
Awesome Thanks for coming For everybody out there. Keep on recruiting, we'll see you out there. Take care folks. Bye guys, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye.
Nick Marchese
Guest
44:17
Bye guys.