A Shopify Podcast To Grow Revenue And Loyalty
Struggling to Find Marketing Channels That Deliver? Drowning in Rising Ad Costs? There’s a Better Way.
You’re not alone. Many e-commerce brands are feeling the squeeze of rising ad costs and cutthroat competition. Finding profitable ways to reach new customers is getting tougher.
Today, we’re talking with Michael Cole, the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Everflow, a company behind a powerful partner marketing platform that empowers brands to track and scale their affiliate programs effectively.
Michael brings a wealth of experience to the table, particularly from his early involvement with Shopify and BigCommerce. He deeply understands what makes these programs tick and how to leverage them for maximum impact.
Episode Sponsor: GLADLY
This episode is sponsored by Gladly, the AI-powered Customer Service Platform that’s changing the game for how brands connect with their customers. Tired of fragmented conversations and duplicate tickets eating up your team’s time? Gladly brings all customer touchpoints—chat, email, phone, and social media—into one seamless conversation. Your agents get a complete view of each customer’s history, so they can deliver personalized service every time.
Trusted by over 300 top brands like Nordstrom, Warby Parker, and Crate & Barrel, Gladly’s innovative approach puts people first—not tickets.
Leverage Gladly’s AI-powered platform today!
Episode Summary:
Affiliate and partner marketing is a proven strategy for driving billions in revenue, but it needs to be managed effectively to avoid common pitfalls. In this episode, we dissect the landscape of affiliate marketing for Shopify merchants and share actionable strategies for building profitable, sustainable partnerships.
Key Insights:
- Diverse Affiliate Types: Understand the spectrum of affiliate partners, from traditional coupon sites to influential publications and passionate brand ambassadors. Each type offers unique benefits for your marketing mix.
- Leveraging Agency Expertise: Consider starting with an affiliate agency to tap into established relationships and jumpstart your program. Once affiliates are generating revenue, you can manage relationships directly.
- Click-to-Conversion Time Analysis: Use this metric to differentiate between high-value affiliate partnerships driving new customer acquisition and those simply intercepting existing purchase intent.
- Seamless Tech Integration: Everflow’s API-first approach allows for easy integration with your existing Shopify store, marketing tools, and payment solutions, creating a cohesive ecosystem.
- Scaling Paid Media: Utilize Everflow’s ability to pass rich attribution data directly to ad platforms like Google, Facebook, and TikTok, optimizing campaigns towards truly valuable customers rather than just conversions.
- Transparent Partner Marketplace: Access a curated marketplace of potential partners to quickly diversify your affiliate program and find cornerstone affiliates that align with your brand goals.
- Long-Term Value Tracking: Go beyond initial purchase attribution to understand how different channels and partners contribute to customer lifetime value, repeat purchases, and brand loyalty.
This is Michael’s story:
Michael Cole has been immersed in the world of partner marketing for years, and has been instrumental in the early days with Shopify and BigCommerce. He deeply understands what makes these programs tick and how to leverage them for maximum impact.
Michael’s approach is rooted in data-driven insights, a deep understanding of the e-commerce landscape, and a passion for helping brands achieve sustainable growth. He believes that by focusing on the fundamentals, optimizing ad spend, and creating compelling partner relationships, any Shopify brand can achieve success with partner marketing.
Key Takeaways:
1️⃣ Embrace Partner Marketing: Explore affiliate and partner programs as a proven alternative to combat rising ad costs and diversify your revenue streams.
2️⃣ Strategic Partner Selection: Prioritize relationships with affiliates that align with your brand, cater to your target audience, and drive incremental value beyond coupon code distribution.
3️⃣ Invest Wisely in Infrastructure: Scale your affiliate efforts by transitioning from basic tools to a robust platform like Everflow to manage partnerships, track performance, and ensure accurate attribution.
4️⃣ Prioritize Product Market Fit: Ensure you have product-market fit before launching affiliate programs, as affiliates need to see quick results to justify their time and investment.
5️⃣ Master Attribution: Implement a balanced attribution model, giving first-touch credit to partners driving brand awareness and last-touch to those facilitating immediate conversions.
6️⃣ Nurture Authentic Relationships: Cultivate meaningful connections with micro-influencers to leverage their authentic voices and reach targeted audiences effectively.
7️⃣ Automate & Optimize Continuously: Streamline payments, prevent fraud, integrate with existing tech, and optimize your campaigns based on real-time performance data.
Links Mentioned
Support the Show & Grab Your FREE Guide!
Hey founders and marketers! I’m Steve Hutt, your host here at eCommerce Fastlane. Over the past 8 years, it’s been my goal is to bring actionable strategies and expert interviews to help you scale your Shopify business and build a thriving brand.
If you’re finding value in the show, here’s how you can support me and get a free guide in the process:
- Leave an Honest Rating/Review: Share your thoughts on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
- Follow & Subscribe on YouTube: Get notified about new episodes on YouTube.
- Email for Your Guide: Send an email to steve@ecommercefastlane.com with the subject line “Podcast Feedback” so I know where to send your guide!
Learn more about eCommerce Fastlane and access more resources at eCommerceFastlane.com.