At AIM, we are always excited to engage with leaders who drive change and innovation in the affiliate marketing industry. Today, we’re thrilled to have Tara McCommons, VP of Sales and Marketing at LinkConnector, join us on the blog. With 20 years of experience, LinkConnector has played a pivotal role in shaping the affiliate marketing landscape by offering cutting-edge tracking solutions and a unique customer-focused approach.
In this interview, Tara shares LinkConnector’s journey, their award-winning technologies, and the collaborative efforts behind their recent US Partnership Award win. She also provides insights into their new AI-powered tools, program setup processes, and how they continue to empower merchants and affiliates in an ever-evolving marketplace.
Q: Welcome to the AIM Blog and congratulations on celebrating 20 years! We're thrilled to learn more about LinkConnector. Could you share a bit about your role and give us a brief overview of LinkConnector’s history?
A: Absolutely. In my role as VP of Sales and Marketing, I provide company-wide leadership with a key focus on strategy to support and advance network growth and LinkConnector’s market presence.
Since our inception 20 years ago, we’ve driven change in the industry with our low-cost, custom tracking solutions and nimble technologies to give merchants and affiliates more control to achieve program goals. LinkConnector (LC) was built to solve specific problems lacking available solutions in the marketplace (e.g., first-click attribution). Today, LC continues to set itself apart with a human touch focus on customer relationships and future-forward technologies that support a reimagined way for merchants and affiliates to build sustainable partnerships.
Q: Also, big congratulations on winning Silver at this year’s US Partnerships Awards at PI Live USA 2024 for the ‘Together, We Solved That!’ category! Can you tell us a little about that and what’s next?
A: Thank you! We were honored to receive our 2nd consecutive US Partnership Award this year following our Gold Award win in 2023. It’s always rewarding to be recognized for the meaningful work and dedication that we put into collaborating with our merchant, affiliate, and agency partners to achieve success. In this instance, we teamed up with our award-winning agency partner, JEBCommerce, to tackle several challenges within their client’s LC affiliate program, including diversification issues, coupon code restrictions, and budget limitations. We leveraged our AI recruitment tools, Naked Coupon Technology, and custom commission increases to achieve a 328% revenue boost with help from 4 previously untapped promotional segments. As we move forward, we will continue to work with our partners to implement innovative strategies, tailored around their individual needs and challenges.
Q: How about any recent updates or enhancements to your platform? Can you discuss anything that users should be excited about?
A: Yes, we have a powerful enhancement to LC’s affiliate recruitment tool for merchants. Our integration with Publisher Discovery (PD)* now provides seamless access to PD’s Monitor Module for select merchants. This tool empowers LC merchants to see the specific pages where their links are on an affiliate site (including sub-networks), and what their market share is compared to other merchants being promoted. This is a valuable optimization tool to discover growth opportunities and spark discussions around ways to capture greater exposure on affiliate sites. Additionally, for program migrations to LC, the use of this tool enables merchants to monitor migration efforts by showing affiliates exactly where their links are that need to be switched out, helping to insulate against overlooked links.
Q: That’s awesome! What about AI? With AI growing in the industry, how do you integrate emerging AI technologies into your platform to enhance affiliate marketing capabilities?
A: We’re pleased to have AI-enhancing capabilities already within our platform.
LinkConnector’s exclusive Publisher Discovery integration harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to show LC merchants the best potential affiliates on the network to recruit, ranked by how much revenue they have the potential to drive specific to their website and offer, as well as the relevancy of their content.
We would love to hear about some of LinkConnector's key features.
Q: Let's explore your platform's reporting and analytics capabilities. What features do you offer to help users effectively measure and optimize their affiliate campaigns?
A: LinkConnector’s comprehensive reporting provides a gateway to key performance metrics for affiliates and merchants to fuel optimization efforts. In addition to all the standard reports you would find in any network, LC provides many custom and multivariate reports you will only find in LC (e.g., EPC by affiliate type). Our reporting tracks granular performance data down to the product, coupon, browser type, operating system, device, region, sub-id, new versus existing customers, and more. Our reports are accessible based on our customer needs whether that be via our interface, scheduled email delivery, SMS, API, or FTP.
Q: What tools and resources does LinkConnector provide to support affiliates and advertisers in creating and managing successful campaigns?
A: LinkConnector offers a range of innovative tools and technologies for our affiliates and merchants. Affiliates benefit from features like sub-id tracking, auto-applying to relevant campaigns, integration of their conversion pixel, and private coupon codes. Additionally with LC’s Naked Coupons, where a click or a cookie isn’t required, affiliates are empowered with promotion abilities in channels unfriendly to affiliate links such as Reddit, Instagram, Podcasts, and TV.
Merchants leverage our AI-powered affiliate recruitment tool to email and recruit relevant affiliates into their programs. LinkConnector provides custom solutions for program optimization, including clickstream data, coupon code compliance, product-level commissioning, and influencer marketing tools. Plus, reduced fees for migrated and externally recruited affiliates encourage reinvestment into affiliate relationships.
Both affiliates and merchants benefit from comprehensive reporting tools and LinkConnector’s greatest resource – support from our experienced team to drive collaborative success.
Let’s dive into launching an affiliate program on a platform like LinkConnector and how an agency can help with the process.
Q: When collaborating with a new brand and an agency, who is responsible for each aspect of the program setup?
A: Having a well-thought-out strategy and execution when setting up the program to align with the merchant’s overall goals is key. With that at the forefront, LinkConnector leads with a team management approach to provide collaborative, hands-on support throughout the program setup (and beyond) with our agencies and their LC merchant clients.
The agency and merchant provide the value proposition including any custom commissioning needs (such as payout based on customer type, product type, etc.), program terms & conditions, and collateral assets.
LinkConnector’s team provides the tracking code and integration instructions which the merchant is responsible for placing on their site and completing a test sale to ensure all is tracking properly. Our team is hands-on to assist with any questions or troubleshooting as part of this code integration. We review the program setup and ensure all is ready to go for launch (the best part!).
Q: On average, how long does launching a new program on LinkConnector take? And once it's live, how long does it typically take for the program to gain traction and start growing?
A: On average, it takes around 10 business days to launch a new program on LinkConnector, though this timeline may extend if custom setup requirements or technical constraints arise. Once live, programs typically begin gaining traction within four to six months, though this varies based on factors like the diversity of affiliate types a merchant is willing to work with. The broader the range of affiliates, the more effective the program is in driving brand visibility and conversions. LinkConnector’s diverse affiliate network is a key factor in accelerating growth for many merchants.
Another notable strength of LinkConnector that contributes to program growth with agencies is our direct relationships with our (diverse and trusted) affiliates. We champion the promotion of agency-managed programs with relevant affiliates to ignite new effective relationships.
Q: Do you find that working with an agency offers significant advantages when launching a program on LinkConnector? If so, could you explain?
A: Most definitely. The expertise and attention of our agency partners can be instrumental in helping to launch a program that is set up for lasting and sustainable success in LinkConnector. An agency brings a wealth of tactical and strategic knowledge to ensure the program includes (and conveys) a competitive value proposition for affiliates aligning with the merchant’s goals – a higher payout for new versus existing customers as an example. Also, the agency’s expertise educates the merchant about the importance of providing the tools within their LC program to empower affiliate success – coupon/promotional offers, product feed, seasonality peaks, ideal customer interests or demographics, etcetera. And, an agency helps their client to leverage LinkConnector’s technologies for program optimization and to tap into new affiliate audiences (e.g., cookieless tracking for influencers and content creators).
To wrap up…
Q: This has been wonderful and insightful, thank you. In closing, how can businesses and affiliate marketers get started with LinkConnector? What advice would you give to those new to affiliate marketing?
It was such a pleasure gaining insight into the innovative solutions and unique approaches that have positioned LinkConnector as a leader in the affiliate marketing space for over two decades. From advanced AI-powered tools to a strong focus on fostering meaningful partnerships, LinkConnector continues to shape the future of performance marketing.
As the industry evolves, having a partner who combines cutting-edge technology with a human touch is invaluable. Whether you’re a brand looking to launch an affiliate program or an affiliate seeking new opportunities, LinkConnector’s expertise and commitment to collaboration can help drive sustainable growth.
Thank you again to Tara and the LinkConnector team for sharing their journey with us!
*As a special offer to AIM clients LinkConnector is sponsoring a three-month free trial of this advanced access to Publisher Discovery for their LinkConnector merchant clients (a $456 monthly value). After the free trial, you may continue using this functionality at a significantly discounted amount of $150 monthly.
