Situation
a360media needed to scale affiliate revenue
a360media is a publisher of over 150 print and digital publications, with an impressive portfolio that includes well-known titles with loyal readerships such as Us Weekly, Woman’s World, and more. With over 60 million monthly page views across publications catering to men, women, teens, and special interests, the company engages consumers in various demographics.
Under pressure to grow affiliate revenue immediately, the team sought to scale the program by optimizing their affiliate promotion strategy and streamlining operations. They hoped that better connecting brands with a360media’s target audiences would shorten the path from awareness to purchase.
The team needed to overcome a few key challenges to grow program revenue effectively:
- Gain more visibility into the buyer’s journey to optimize their monetization strategies
- Streamline the process of manually searching for products with the best commissions across affiliate networks
- Consolidate link generation in one place so they wouldn’t need to log into different affiliate networks
About a360media
a360media is a publisher of print and digital publications that cover topics such as health and wellness, food, entertainment, and hundreds of other special interests. With over 60 million unique monthly visitors and 100 million social fans and readers, it provides brands with extraordinary opportunities to reach audiences of all demographics.
“Trackonomics pulls in data from all the networks we need and puts it into basic terms you can understand quickly. It doesn’t require a lot of training like all the other networks and is very easy to use. Easy means efficient, which saves us time and, ultimately, translates to saving money.”
– Kara Kamenec, Sr. Director of Commerce and Affiliate Marketing, a360media
Solution
How a360media optimized its affiliate program to generate more revenue
a360media’s fundamental goal was to increase affiliate revenue. To accomplish this, the team used Trackonomics by impact.com to maximize the efficiency and efficacy of their program.
Working with Trackonomics ensured that a360media could create content that met its audiences’ needs while encouraging more conversions for its partner brands.
Low learning curve
Unlike other tools that can be complex and confusing, Trackonomics’ intuitive layout and design made it easy for a360media’s affiliate team to onboard quickly. Once onboarded, they seamlessly incorporated the platform into their day-to-day operations, allowing them to see results quickly.
Unified operations across affiliate platforms
Trackonomics provided all the tools to execute affiliate marketing tasks. Instead of logging into each affiliate network, Trackonomics’ Google Chrome browser extension automated affiliate link generation across networks. With Trackonomics, a360media’s team could create links in one place and automatically identify the best commission rates available for a product.
Insights into the buyer’s journey
Trackonomics’ detailed tracking capabilities gave the team deeper insight into the buyer’s journey. a360media could now easily identify top-performing content, web pages, and products, then iterate on the most effective strategies in all new and existing commerce content.
Data leads the way for experimentation
Using the wealth of tracking data that Trackonomics provides, a360media continually ran tests (e.g., link placements, product/content combinations, etc.) to increase conversions and affiliate revenue. It also armed the team with the data to communicate the most effective strategies and approaches to company leadership.
50%
increase in departmental revenue in first year
200%
bonus commissions increase in first year
35%
increase in departmental revenue in third year
Outcome
Easier work for better results
Since integrating Trackonomics by impact.com into its tech stack, a360media continues to scale its affiliate marketing efforts and cultivate the program as a significant revenue stream for the company.
a360media’s team streamlined processes so they could focus on adapting their program to match buyers’ journey insights. Since switching over to Trackonomics, a360media has seen significant improvements in total revenue and bonus commissions year over year (YoY):
| Years after platform implementation | Total departmental revenue increase (YoY) | Bonus commission increases (YoY) |
| First year | 50% | 200% |
| Second year | 28% | 31% |
| Third year | 35% | 17% |
Like what you see? Learn more Trackonomics by impact.com and other tools that are part of the impact.com for Publishers suite.