Adtraction UK at Affiliate Huddle

The event was curated this year to focus on welcoming new voices to the stage. There were nine panel sessions, interspersed with networking slots and quick-fire ‘innovation pitches’ from new emerging partners. With no keynote sessions there was certainly a feeling of equalness, and the panel format encouraged more of a conversational tone, allowing the audience to hear the speakers’ opinions and experiences in a more authentic fashion.

Key themes from Affiliate Huddle

If there was one overriding theme from Affiliate Huddle 2022 it was how diverse the channel has truly become. It is clear that retailers and advertisers are looking to utilise their existing, traditional affiliate programs to now work with a host of different partners, in particular marketing technologies, content creators and media publications.

We saw big ecommerce companies who have run long-standing affiliate programs take to the stage, such as the Expedia Group and Ocado to talk about how their programs have evolved over the last few years to welcome a varied set of partners. Equally media partners such as The Telegraph and LTK (formally rewardStyle and LIKEtoKNOW.it) talked about how the affiliate channel now forms an integral part of their strategy and a consistent revenue stream to their business.

Perhaps one theme of note was how ingrained innovation in the UK industry is with technology partners at present. Many of the innovation pitches were from companies who offer services which support an advertiser to improve their onsite website experience. These companies are offering a cost-effective way to trial UX and conversion strategy onsite.

The talks were inspirational and encouraging, though perhaps the unspoken challenge still remains, for a channel founded by performance metrics and CPA payments, how are relationships with more diverse partners nurtured with mutual benefit to both businesses and without a detrimental impact on ROI?

Our favourite sessions from Affiliate Huddle

Adtraction works with a number of ethical commerce businesses and we also enjoyed the session that brought this topic to the fore. The session discussed how shoppers are focussing more than ever on the business practices of the sites that they buy from, and this now forms a fundamental part of the decision making process for many online consumers. We also learnt how companies such as Topcashback are now supporting ethical commerce with their own Green Cashback initiative.

We were really pleased to see a people-focussed session kick off the day, with founders from Caribbean Elective and More Talk More Action sharing their views on how to encourage and support young people to find careers in the industry. It’s always useful to attend sessions at industry conferences that focus on the people behind the industry, and this session provided plenty of food for thought when it comes to how and where employers can source new talent.

Networking at Affiliate Huddle

The event was closed with networking drinks; a chance to catch up with familiar faces, meet new ones and discuss the current trends, challenges and successes. One thing is certain, businesses, large and small are invested in the channel and retailers are willing to be creative with cost structures for partners they see inherent value in.