What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Not when it comes to the lessons that the JEBCommerce team was able to take away from the Affiliate Summit West event. In January 2020, JEBCommerce sent a team of representatives to the ASW conference. When setting out on the event, our primary goals were as follows:
- Improve relationships and build new ones
- Catch up on industry trends
- Educate the industry about our experiences
- Bring value back to JEB
When I asked the attending team if we met these goals, they responded with a resounding “YES!”
“Affiliate Summit West 2020 was the most valuable show I’ve attended in many years. I spent my time meeting with industry partners I have known for years, learning about new technologies and building a strategy for how JEB will approach 2020. My greatest takeaway was admiring how the industry continues to come together to support incremental growth within the channel. Let’s all work together to achieve success for the marketing channel world that we live in every day! ”
– Jamie Birch, CEO
“ASW was exciting this year. I always enjoy the opportunity to see old industry friends and make new ones at this event. I had the opportunity to present, for the first time, sharing how to leverage publisher payouts to drive additional revenue through the affiliate channel. (If you missed my presentation – you can check out my blog post about it HERE.) My greatest takeaway from this year’s conference was excitement about all of the innovation and new technology in the space to continue to target customers along the path to purchase.”
– Stephen Robinson, Director of Affiliate Marketing
“ASW 2020 was all about quality. Quality attendees, quality educational content and quality events. The JEB team was able to make new connections and strengthen existing industry relationships at every event that ASW put on this year. My biggest takeaway is to remind future teams to take advantage of every networking opportunity. If you don’t go outside of your circle of comfort, you’ll never meet new people and learn about new opportunities.”
– Thomas Henderson, Director of Business Development
As for me, ASW 2020 was my first Affiliate Summit. I found it valuable to finally put faces to individuals I have been working with for almost two years now. Not only was I able to strengthen my existing relationships by having in-person conversations, but I was able to gain valuable insights about the day-to-day lives of my partners. I spoke with one partner who confessed that they got well over 800 emails a day…yikes! As a result of that knowledge, I am working with the affiliate team at JEB to make sure we streamline our publisher communications to be even more efficient. We’re all busy, and no one wants to resent a partner for abusing their inbox. The most important takeaway I had from the event was to remember to ask the right questions. It’s easy to talk about yourself, talk up your advertisers and pitch why a closer relationship between partners is absolutely necessary for continued revenue success. But the true value lies in asking the right questions and really listening to people’s answers. Then, when you learn something valuable; act on it.
Some additional lessons I’d love to pass along to any first-timers at ASW include:
- Prep at least three weeks in advance when it comes to meetings. Everyone’s calendars fill up fast – and it makes life so much easier not to stress about last minute meetings.
- Fill up your calendar! There are some quality partners at ASW, if you don’t take advantage of the ability to meet new people and partners – you’re not getting a full ROI out of the trip.
- Be flexible. Yes, plans will change. Have as many cell numbers and emails in advance so you can make adjustments to your calendar in advance.
- Finally, be comfortable! Comfy shoes, snacks and H2O on hand will make for a better experience overall. There’s no sense in running yourself ragged if you won’t be present enough to take advantage of your meetings. You will likely not have a chance to go back to your hotel until evening.
What does all this mean? Yes, you guessed it – JEBCommerce will be back at Affiliate Summit West 2021! JEB would like to formally thank everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to meet with us, all of the event sponsors, and especially, the Affiliate Summit Team who put on such a beneficial and well managed event. Thank you!
Did you miss us at the show? That’s okay – shoot me an email and I’m happy to hop on a video call to connect our teams and chat about partnership opportunities. Just reach out to morgan@jebcommerce.com.
See everyone again soon!
