AOV, EPC, Vlookups, oh my! That was my general thought after my first day as an assistant affiliate manger. Venturing into a new career in this industry, too? To help combat that overwhelm, here are a few things you can expect in your first three months of working in affiliate marketing:
- New lingo – First and foremost, you’ll be inundated with a new vocabulary of technical terms, abbreviations and acronyms (CR, AOV, EPC, etc). Getting up to speed on this industry lingo will be one of the first (and most important!) things you do. Now, learning to calculate the terms is a whole different story…
- Discovering what a great affiliate looks like – In the first 90 days, expect to go through hundreds of affiliate applications. Over time, you’ll learn how to spot a great affiliate. This also helps in the recruiting process. Learning which publishers best fit your brand’s needs is vital.
- Getting to know your clients – In the first couple weeks, it is crucial to set up client introductions to start building the foundations of a strong relationship. This is also a time to learn about hot button issues, key metrics and their goals. Are they focused on month over month or year over year growth? What quarter normally performs the best?
- Getting to know the networks – More than likely, all of your clients won’t be on the same network or platform. This means the first three months consist of navigating your way through each one, figuring out what reports you can run in the network, and how to compare data.
- Learning to be:
- Curious – Asking yourself, what am I missing? Because you will be analyzing metrics daily, you’ll be the first to notice if a program is up or down. And it’ll become your job to figure out why!
- Flexible – Plans change on the fly in this industry. Whether it be an unexpected sale or a technical issue, sometimes your to-do list will look completely different by the end of the day.
- Patient – Building relationships with both clients and affiliates takes time. It’s important to remember to be patient.
- Reports – Attention to detail is key here. Clients rely on weekly and/or monthly reports to receive updates on the state of their program.
- To make mistakes – Any new adventure comes with trials and errors. Expect to make mistakes, and learn from them!
- And… if your office is anything like JEBCommerce, expect the occasional game of friendly (ish) Foosball.
I hope this article helps answer some looming questions about beginning a career in affiliate marketing. Still wanting more? You can find additional resources here and here. I am also happy to connect to answer any questions about my experience at JEBCommerce. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
