Facebook founder, Zuckerberg, informed executives in a meeting yesterday (Tuesday 8th November) that since Meta has lost two-thirds of its share value, it is unfortunately necessary to make this intense cut. 

Meta isn’t the only tech platform that has cut its number of employees heavily over the recent months, as just this week, we saw the news break that Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, will be cutting the platform’s 7,500-strong workforce due to a warning of a massive drop in revenue. 

In September, subscription platform Patreon laid off 17% of its staff ahead of the anticipated recession, and online homeware retailer, MADE has also been top of conversation as it enters administration, putting at least 500 jobs at risk. 

This response, which is extremely unfortunate and disappointing for those directly affected, is a direct response to a decline in growth for these platforms, contrary to the growth and attraction they gained during the pandemic. 

The partnership marketing space hasn’t fallen under the radar during this influx of employment cuts. This summer, we covered the news that major partnership marketing agency and tech platform, impact.com, would be laying off 10% of its workforce. 

David A. Yovanno, CEO, and Per Pettersen, Co-Founder of impact.com were very honest about the fact that earlier this year the impact.com leadership team set aggressive hiring and growth targets, to achieve exponential scaling of the company.

In hindsight, it seems the decision made to significantly increase investment in hiring was ‘the wrong choice’, as, in David’s words, they “could not have predicted the full effect of the macroeconomic conditions we are all experiencing right now.”

With even the world’s largest tech companies being affected by the current state of the economy, it seems as though job security is far from guaranteed.

The post Meta Follows Suit as the Latest Tech Platform to Slash its Workforce appeared first on PerformanceIN.

We adhere to the mantra of helping you ‘Build Profitable Partnerships’, which is why for the first time, PI LIVE Miami will kick off on Sunday with some fun networking activities to set you up for the conference. Influencer marketers, you don’t have to miss out either, as the event will close with an Influencer Marketing Show takeover, giving you a taste of what’s to come at IMS NYC later in 2023… 

To ensure that no one has to miss out on the chance to connect with changemakers, e-commerce-led brands, creators, and publishers at PI LIVE Miami, tickets are now available at a super early bird price, in limited quantities, to allow you to save your dollars ahead of the fast-approaching holiday season! 

Tickets will then be rolled out as follows… 

If you’re with a retailer, you may qualify for a complimentary ticket to PI LIVE Miami. Be sure to check our eligibility criteria.

Will you be joining us in The Magic City? If so, we look forward to seeing you at the Hyatt Regency from April 2-4 2023.

The post Join Us in The Magic City – Secure Your #PILIVEMIAMI23 Tickets appeared first on PerformanceIN.

Now fully settled into the event, it was great to see so many conversations taking place across the Networking Village, impact.com’s Prosecco Lounge, Webgains’ Sports Bar, and for those wanting a quiet space to finalise those all-important deals, the Nookery Zone was the hot spot.

Myself and fellow journalist, Sol Wilkinson, were busy throughout the day conducting interviews with speakers and attendees. It was great to be able to sit down with speakers after their sessions to dig a little deep into the insight they hoped attendees would gain. We also did some digging and asked about trends and predictions for 2023. Keep your eyes peeled, as we will be reporting these findings on our brand new publication, Hello Partner, in the coming weeks.

Some of the sessions you missed

Influencers, Live Shopping & Social Commerce: Affiliate is the Ultimate Conversion Tactic
As we become more privy to the convergence between influencer, affiliate, and performance marketing, and with 74% of shoppers making buying decisions based on social recommendations and this kind of behaviour is not to be ignored, the discussions that took place during this panel were a real sign of the times.

If influencer marketing is something that piques your interest, our sister event, the Influencer Marketing Show, will be hosted at Old Billingsgate tomorrow – and it’s not too late to grab a ticket!

Until then, here are some of the top learnings from the session: 

• If you’re considering implementing influencer marketing into your social shopping strategy, do it! But make sure you track each and every process, don’t wait until the end of the campaign to draw your reports. 
• When looking at influencers to partner with, don’t automatically go for the macros with millions of followers. Mid-tier and micro influencers who target niche areas are often going to drive the best results and engagement. 
• There are risks when working with humans rather than technology, you can’t treat an influencer like a billboard. But to ensure that you achieve what you want to achieve by allowing the influencer a sense of freedom, make sure those contracts are in place at the beginning, and thoroughly understood. 

Fireside Chat with Boohoo: The Value of Unlocking the App for Affiliates

The majority of affiliate campaigns continue to drive users to mobile websites, rather than apps, where the user experience is limited, engagement is poor, and conversion rates aren’t what they could be. Edith Batchelor, Senior Affiliate and Partnerships Manager at Boohoo, shared how the fast fashion brand worked with Branch to “unlock the app” for affiliates in order to properly track and credit app conversions, and turn their app into one of their highest-performing channels. 

Some of the key takeaways from the session included:

• Apps can benefit different brands in different ways. An e-commerce brand like Boohoo may make an app that has the same functionality as its website but with a more seamless process to conversion, whereas a fintech brand may develop an app as a companion to its web platform. 
• Excellent tracking is essential to nail when developing an app for your brand. When you can rave about your app’s tracking capabilities to your affiliates, this is what will keep them coming back. 
• If there is a tech provider that can train and advise you to develop the best app possible, take all the help and advice you can get!

Lessons from 2008: What’s Next for the Recession-Era Affiliate Marketing Industry

Each year, PI LIVE is the ultimate hub for forward-thinking and discussions about the industry’s future. In order to future-proof your strategies, sometimes it’s helpful to look back in time. In this panel featuring professionals brimming with knowledge, we took a look at how we can apply lessons from 2008’s rescission to the current economic climate.

I was able to grab speaker Ben Helyar, from NetRev after the panel to dig a little deeper into the learnings, so stay tuned for our interview. If you can’t wait until then, here are some of the session key takeaways: 

• We can expect to see an emphasis on the ‘lipstick effect’ as the recession looms. Consumers will still want to treat themselves to luxuries, but instead of investing in a Chanel bag, for example, they may instead go for a Chanel lipstick. So brands, make sure it’s the lipstick that you’re promoting.
• Even though it may seem like the most natural reaction to a decline in the economy, what you SHOULDN’T do is cut your investment in marketing. Those that keep on investing during testing times are those who remain strong and achieve lifelong brand value. 
• Making sure that you’re aware of, and present on review sites will encourage consumers to trust your brand. Just be sure that you have a plan in place to avoid fake reviews and bots.

Join us in Miami

PI LIVE London may be over, but open your diary and grab a pen, as we will be headed to the US for the first edition of PI LIVE Miami in Q1 next year! The show will take place from 2nd-4th April 2023, with the US Partnership Awards ceremony taking place post-show on the 3rd (you can now explore the entry kit to get ahead of the game).  

If you can’t wait until then, we would love for you to join us tomorrow at the Influencer Marketing Show, where there will be not two, but THREE stages with content covering all things influencer marketing and creator economy. 

Influencers and brands being our top two demographics in attendance, so you’ll be sure to find heaps of potential partners and countless opportunities to forge new relationships and nurture existing ones.

PI LIVE London attendees are entitled to a 15% discount on IMS London tickets, just use the code PI LIVE at checkout.

The post Here’s What You Missed at PI LIVE London Day Two appeared first on PerformanceIN.

As well as a great selection of keynotes, fireside chats, and panel sessions covering the two stages, the networking opportunities were, as always, a great highlight of the day. DJ Viv May was spinning tunes during lunchtime on the terrace, and post-show as attendees grouped together with their peers to share a happy hour drink pre-party at Proud Embankment. 

Brand new for this year is the Partnership Lounge – an exclusive space dedicated to hosting meetings that will strengthen profitable partnerships. If you didn’t get a chance to check out the lounge today, swing by tomorrow to access private tables and seating along with drinks and refreshments. Be sure to schedule your meetings for tomorrow using the Event Hub to get all of those all-important conversations solidified. 

Some of the sessions you missed

Brand-to-Brand Partnerships: The Ultimate Convergence of Brand and Performance

Panellists from brand, agency, tech, and publisher sides took to the pyramid stage to discuss the ever-growing ability to combine brand-building and consumer trust-lending, with trackable ROI. Brand-to-brand partnerships are no longer the new kid on the block!

Some of the stand-out takeaways included:

• Collaborative content created as a part of your partnership can be utilised across multiple channels to drive ROI long-term. 
• Tech has come a long way in regard to aiding brand-to-brand partnerships, but the desire for a human element will always be there.
• Large brands shouldn’t rule out partnerships with smaller brands. Smaller brands often have niche audiences that can drive better results.

AT YOUR OWN RISK! 30 Mins Inside the Mind of an Integrated Creative

Jo Arscott, an Awarding-winning Creative Director who has worked with global retailers including Coca-Cola, P&G, and Walmart, fuelled attendees’ minds pre-lunchtime. In her keynote, she opened the audience’s minds to how stepping away from the data, forecasts, research, and just being yourself, can bring surprising business opportunities, ideas and results.

Jo put a heavy focus on how technology doesn’t have to be a hindrance to the creative mind, but the power of humanity cannot be underestimated. She said, “The fact is, digital data runs the world, but imagination does too, and the two have to work together.”

State of the Industry: 2022 Affiliate and Partner Marketing Trends

How do advertisers and agencies feel about the affiliate and partner marketing channel? The IAB conducted an insightful report about the current state of the affiliate marketing industry and presented the results today at PI LIVE. Some of the key learnings that really stood out were that:

• The most popular choice of affiliate model to grow revenue over the next year amongst survey participants is editorial/content, closely followed by influencers.
• The main reservation participants said they have when investing further into the affiliate channel is the lack of publisher diversity.
• Survey participants believe that during the cost of living crisis, the affiliate marketing channel will be significantly more important and valuable than it was previously.

Day two of PI LIVE London kicks off tomorrow with breakfast and coffee at 8am (much needed after tonight’s after-party!) leading into another day of not-to-miss sessions featuring speakers from Boots UK, TikTok, Buzzfeed, and many many more huge names…

The post Here’s What You Missed at PI LIVE London Day One appeared first on PerformanceIN.

PerformanceIN has always been dedicated to building a community in the performance marketing space, whilst facilitating industry debate, providing education, and rewarding innovation. Now, our aim is to bridge a gap. 

The barriers between marketing channels are breaking down. The performance, affiliate, and influencer marketing spheres are no longer siloed, but instead, converging under the umbrella of partnerships. 

This is why PerformanceIN and our sister publication, Talking Influence, are merging together to create one powerhouse – Hello Partner. 

Why will Hello Partner benefit you?

With its roots way back to 2001, PerformanceIN has been the leading global performance marketing publication since 2011. For the past 11 years, PI has been dedicated to shedding light on the most important matters and trends in the measurable side of marketing including, but not limited to, all things affiliate, biddable media, and data-driven marketing.

More recently, particularly over the past year, PerformanceIN has noticed how influencer marketing has been filtering into the performance space, and this has been reflected in our content. 

Whereas performance marketers and brands who were solidified in their performance marketing strategies may have previously been apprehensive about the rise of influencer marketing, the increasing professionalism of the influencer and creator economy means that it is no longer an entirely separate marketing channel. 

Hello Partner will not only allow previous PerformanceIN readers to continue digesting the latest in the performance space but will also open your eyes to the world of influencer marketing and ultimately, how broadening your approach to partnerships will see your ROI skyrocket. 

Be a partner throughout this journey 

We hope you’re as excited as we are about this brand-new venture into the partnerships space. We understand you may have some questions, which is why the Hello Partner team will also have a stand at PI LIVE London and the Influencer Marketing Show next week where we will be happy to invite you over for a chat. 

We can’t wait to have you on board as a partner on this exciting journey, with the official rollout of the publication happening in November.

The post Hello Partner – Join Us On Our Brand New Venture appeared first on PerformanceIN.

Both traditional affiliate programmes and influencer marketing campaigns strive to build brand authority and drive conversions based on your goals, whether that be clicks, downloads, sales, or something else that can be achieved by engaging consumers. The two industries, affiliate and influencer marketing – which arguably both sit under the industry umbrella of partnership marketing – are converging now more than ever. This is because as the influencer space matures, affiliate marketers are realising how it can be viewed and utilised through a performance-based lens. 

When worlds collide

Global affiliate marketing agency, Acceleration Partners, has been putting a heavy focus on developing an influencer programme management service. AP believes that investment in the maturing channel is essential for top-of-funnel brand exposure across paid and owned channels, which is discussed in detail in its latest report. 

impact.com, is also among the big industry names that are dedicating teams and resources to elevate their influencer marketing offerings. For the second year in a row, impact.com is a partner of the Influencer Marketing Show London, as well as PI LIVE London. The team will be raising conversations about how their multifaceted approach to elevated partnership programmes benefits from the implementation of influencers. San Sareen, impact.com’s Director of Influencers and Creators, will be taking to the IMS stage specifically to hone into how to correctly compensate your influencers to beat the competition.

What about trackable metrics? 

SaaS and tech are also becoming increasingly more prominent in the influencer marketing space, with similar tools becoming available to those that have been harnessed and solidified in the affiliate space for many years. Platforms such as LTK and Metapic allow brands and influencer affiliates to earn an income from sharing fashion recommendations, and the likes of Captiv8 and Influencity allow brands and affiliates to identify content partners and seamlessly run end to end campaigns. 

The growth of SaaS and tech platforms in the influencer space that provide services similar to their traditional affiliate counterparts such as Afise and Partnerize shows that influencer marketing isn’t just posing with a product on Instagram, but is a channel that can be tracked and measured efficiently. 

Ultimately, putting a focus on influencer marketing as a part of your affiliate programme is a great way to expand the type of audiences you can reach, therefore escalating your potential for excellent outcomes. Affiliate marketers, it’s time to invest time and energy into understanding the true value of a creator’s influence.

The post The Increasing Focus on Influencer Marketing from Affiliate Marketing Companies appeared first on PerformanceIN.

Here’s Neve Fear-Smith with how brands can make conscientious decisions when forging partnerships in these turbulent times…

The post How to, and How Not to Approach Brand Partnerships in the Recession appeared first on PerformanceIN.