Author: Joe Sanfilippo
What is Affiliate Summit West (ASW)?
Affiliate Summit West or ASW is probably the largest and most popular affiliate marketing conference in the United States. ASW is the best place for publishers, agencies, and brands to all come together and discuss the state of the industry, build relationships, and develop partnerships. If you have never been to an affiliate summit but are trying to crack into the affiliate industry it is definitely worth the investment.
Why Should You Attend Affiliate Summit West?
Again, there are countless reasons to attend affiliate summit west. For one it is the best place to network with affiliates, brands, tech partners, networks, and more. You can send all the emails you want but there is nothing like getting your pitch in front of somebody in person. It is so much more personal and can build lasting relationships that are necessary to help you expand your footprint in the industry.
How To Maximize Your Time at Affiliate Summit West?
When at affiliate summit there are numerous ways to utilize your time. You can attend sessions, set up meetings, or spend time plucking away at your laptop. We believe at Today’s Business the best way to maximize time at ASW is by allocating your time across meetings and sessions. The main purpose of ASW for us is to meet with the people who we have been pitching all year long. If you can get meetings set up with top publishers that is the best way to make sure they remember you for future editorial inclusions and other partnership opportunities.
What are the best networking opportunities at Affiliate Summit West 2023?
There are a lot of ways to network at ASW. One way not to do it is by wandering around the meet market. If you are trying to meet legit publishers you need to set up meetings prior to the event to make sure you can have time for structured conversations with the appropriate people. We recommend getting on the app and pitching the people who are relevant to your business to try to get meetings set up. If you are unique and invite publishers to dinners, breakfasts, or lunch at fun spots you are more likely to get a positive response.
What did Today’s Business do at Affiliate Summit West 2023?
Meetings, meetings, meetings…that was the overview of our summit which was great as this was our main purpose for attending. We wanted to get face-to-face with our partners in order to create a more personal touch to our relationships. There is only so much time in the day for people throughout the year, so ASW offers a great way to actually meet people in person and spend time getting to know each other. With that said, we still discussed a lot of industry insights and ways to build together which we’ve outlined below.
Affiliate Summit West Meetings
NY Post – This was a great first meeting to kickoff ASW 2023. We met the NY Post team, Ryan and Jackie, for breakfast. From an affiliate standpoint, we discussed in further detail the brands we represent, the initiatives that NY Post is focusing on in 2023, and how we can start to do more hybrid activations such as the ones we’ve done for State & Liberty and FOCO with the New York Post.
Penske Media – We spent a lot of time with our friends over at Penske Media. Jeremy from Penske Media is a former TB Affiliate Strategist so it’s always great to catch up with him! We had
PMA Brunch – The PMA Brunch was a great private networking event. Today’s Business has been a member of the Performance Marketing Association (PMA) for years and the investment has always been worth it! Not only did we enjoy a delicious breakfast but we got to connect with a couple of different agency partners, publishers, and network executives.
Forbes – The team over at Forbes is always so busy, which makes sense considering how much authority they hold in the space. Getting a meeting with Alexis from Forbes was tough but we were able to get on her calendar to introduce ourselves and our brands.
Trusted Media Brands – Trusted Media Brands is a huge affiliate publisher. They own brands like Reader’s Digest, Taste of Home, and The Healthy. We had a great meeting with their Commerce Manager, Megan, and she has been super helpful for getting our brand partners in front of the TMB editorial team!
Rakuten Rewards – Formerly eBates, Rakuten Rewards is a massive network of engaged loyalty shoppers. We have been running a lot of campaigns with Rakuten Rewards which have been very successful so it was good to connect with Vincent in person to discuss optimizations for our Organifi affiliate marketing program and others.
AWIN – One of our favorite affiliate networks, it is always a pleasure to meet with the amazing team at AWIN! We met with Ryan and Parrish to discuss platform improvements, new client onboardings, and so much more.
Inside Hook – We love working with Elisabeth from Inside Hook! We had a great meeting to discuss paid partnerships, organic inclusion opportunities, and possible influencer collaborations.
Impact – Impact is one of the best affiliate networks in the industry. If you aren’t meeting with Impact at ASW then you are missing out.
Reviewed.com – We’ve been working with USA Today Sports for quite some time but haven’t done much with their Reviewed.com property until recently. Meeting with the Reviewed.com team at ASW was an amazing opportunity to really pitch our brands which we would have not been able to do as effectively remotely.
NBA League Pass – The National Basketball Association was in attendance at ASW 2023 and we were lucky enough to get a meeting. So much great discussion was had and we look forward to keeping the conversations going.
Biggest Takeaways from Affiliate Summit West 2023
My biggest takeaway from Affiliate Summit West 2023 was that nothing beats the power of face-to-face human interaction. We spend half the year pitching the same people over and over but with thousands of other agencies and brands doing the same, it’s crucial that you connect with these people in person. The passion our team has for our brand partners is hard to display over a Google Meet or Zoom but when the TB team shows up in person it’s clear to see how much we truly love and believe in our brand partners.