Welcome to our Department Spotlight Series, where we shine a light on our brilliant teams and the people within them. Within this series, we’ll give you a sneak peek into life at Webgains, as well as an insight into what makes our affiliate network and technology platform stand out.
For our seventh instalment of the Department Spotlight series, we talk to the Marketing Team and discover the scope of their role within Webgains, the exciting and dynamic trends within the marketing sphere and their recent successes.
Rob Atkinson – Digital Marketing Manager 
Rachel McDonald – UK Office & Events Manager 
Sophie Williams – Digital Marketing Executive
What role do the Marketing and Events Teams play at Webgains?
SW: The nature of marketing is incredibly varied, not only does it couple creativity with lateral thinking, but at its core, it’s about connection. Through the power of language (whether that’s written or visual), connecting with our colleagues, associates and clients is integral to delivering the end goal of the business.
Marketing also moves at an astronomical rate, and it requires you to have a strong sense of intuition and a keen eye for trends and opportunities, as well as, the ability to pivot and act quickly. To provide a platform to raise the profile of our clients is incredibly fulfilling. We’re always looking for ways to educate and inform our audience on affiliate marketing and its benefits.
“Marketing also moves at an astronomical rate, and it requires you to have a strong sense of intuition and a keen eye for trends and opportunities, as well as, the ability to pivot and act quickly”
RMcD: Events are very much a way we can showcase not just what we do but who we are. It’s a great way for us to reconnect with our clients and our industry and allows us to make those smarter connections. Whether this is a speed networking session with our Publisher Team, a roundtable with our partners, or a thought-provoking fireside Q&A, it’s a great way to get to meet the team and learn more about Webgains and our industry.
What motivates the Marketing Team?
RA: The growth and opportunities within the affiliate channel are truly exciting and make it a great place to be. Being a part of that and watching it evolve and prove its worth against better-known channels is certainly a source of motivation for our team.
In addition, we are lucky to work with some brilliant companies on both the Advertiser and Publisher side of affiliate transactions. Very often the marketing team have the opportunity to follow those brands from first joining the Webgains network through to launching, building and growing their affiliate programmes. The work we do internally, with the Business Development Team, Publisher Team, Product Team and Account Management, helps those clients on their journeys with Webgains.
“The growth and opportunities within the affiliate channel are truly exciting and make it a great place to be. Being a part of that and watching it evolve and prove its worth against better-known channels is certainly a source of motivation for our team”
How can the Marketing Team help Advertisers and Publishers on Webgains?
SW: As mentioned earlier, we love providing a platform for our Advertisers and Publishers to raise their profiles and find the right connections for their programmes. When you join the Webgains Network, we offer various methods of collaboration and opportunities to our Advertisers and Publishers through blog features, networking events and panels, as well as promotion on our social media, video content and dedicated newsletter. We always encourage our colleagues to share the content created to ensure that our customers get the visibility they deserve. We’re open to collaboration and are always interested to hear how we can work together to create content that is engaging and informative.
“We love providing a platform for our Advertisers and Publishers to raise their profiles and find the right connections for their programmes”
What trends in marketing are interesting to you at the moment?
RA: I recently hosted a panel session as part of Webgains Transform Series 2. We mainly talked about how the continued emphasis on data privacy is changing the way the internet works and therefore how marketers operate. While we may not be looking at the ‘Death of Google‘, we are undoubtedly in the midst of change and the big tech players are already making big adjustments. For example, Apple recently updated Safari and iOS to block third-party cookies. As a result of legislation changes, consumers are starting to understand their value in the food chain. New software like Brave Browser, which enables complete privacy and offers users the ability to take a slice of the pie when exposed to advertisements, is gaining traction.
SW: It’s the rise of the metaverse and its explosion into the mainstream that has us pretty excited. I’m not sure to what extent this channel would be used by our team at Webgains. However, it will become a big part of affiliate marketing as brands and publishers alike will get on board.
Affiliate marketing has been maligned, what is the perception today?
RA: This is an interesting one. It is indeed true that affiliate marketing has been perceived in a negative light or with a deal of scepticism. Despite the fact that as many as 80% of brands have affiliate programmes in 2022 (Mediakix), ‘affiliate’ is sometimes still considered to be a dirty word. For example, Linkedin’s ad platform operates a blanket ban on advertisements promoting affiliate marketing links and even services. Whilst it is understandable that Linkedin would ban affiliate links in ads, banning affiliate services like networks and technology is surely a step too far.
We hope that, by continuing to tell stories about the channel’s success through our clients and also by debunking myths as we did here, we can speed up the inevitable paradigm shift towards affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is often seen as a closed community. How do we get fresh faces and perspectives into our industry?
RMcD: I personally don’t see affiliate marketing as a closed community, but perhaps one that is massively on the up and not quite as well known as other channels yet. Having been in the industry for nine years, it’s been interesting to see how it has evolved and gained recognition from other communities. Almost all big name brands use affiliates to attract customers and media coverage of our industry has ramped up massively.
“I personally don’t see affiliate marketing as a closed community, but perhaps one that is massively on the up and not quite as well known as other channels yet”
To help get more fresh faces and perspectives into the affiliate space we need to continue to showcase ourselves thought leaders within it. We also need to attend events outside of our immediate industry to reach new people and educate about affiliate marketing and its place in the mix. With our Academy, training, outstanding customer service and leading platform UI, Webgains is perfectly set up to be the go-to network of choice for those who are looking to start off in affiliate marketing and of course to drive increased sales to their web stores.
It’s an exciting time for affiliate marketing and Webgains at the moment. Tell us about some recent successes your department has experienced.
SW: Affiliate marketing was once considered to be somewhat of a ‘dark art’ outside of the industry. Fortunately, attitudes are starting to change and as a result, there are a myriad of opportunities for us to add to the conversation using our knowledge and expertise. I would say that a couple of our recent successes were the our two Transform events and Accelerate 2021 campaign. Where Transform lead with far-reaching topics such as the future of work, leadership and change, Accelerate was more focussed on actionable tricks and tips for affiliate marketing.
RMcD: Our Advertisers and Publishers love our Play it Forward series. Created in partnership with Publishers on Webgains, it comprises of short, digestible videos. Exposure for the Publishers and helpful information for Advertisers looking for commercial opportunities.
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About Webgains
We’re the high performance affiliate marketing company because we combine cutting-edge technology and world-class expertise that put our clients — from blue chips to start-ups — at the top of their game. Our market insight leads the field and we believe in sharing this expertise with you. We’re motivated by your success and coach you every step of the way — wherever we can add value. We don’t think of ourselves as a supplier – we’re on your team. This means when you win, we win too.
Webgains was founded in 2005 and since 2006 we’ve been part of the ad pepper media International N.V., which is listed on the stock market.
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