This is how you do affiliate 📣 #10

Hey friends 👋!

In this week's edition of the RBL Flywheel, we dig into the archives of my affiliate knowledge and it’s a doozy.

The good news is that this case study is more relevant now than ever.

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Core topics covered in this case study 🔎:

• Mature large scale affiliate program management
• Debunking affiliate as lower funnel conversion only channel/tactic
• Affiliate Marketing application to E-commerce, marketplace, vehciles/parts, blogger, influencer, and enthusiast communities

When you see what eBay Motors was able to do with BringATrailer, you are going to aim to implement it for all brands you work on.

The principles you'll see go beyond DTC e-commerce and can be applied to many other business models, one that comes to mind is SaaS.

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Challenge 🏋️‍♀️

eBay Motors shifted their strategic emphasis from vehicles to parts due to margins and to diversify their partner program.

The eBay Motors team was needed to make that shift go smoothly and were frequently looking for creative ways to unlock growth via Affiliate Marketing.

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Solution 🧪

(note: BAT = BringATrailer)

In close collaboration with an existing growing affiliate partner, BringATrailer (automotive enthusiast site), we came up with a creative plan to raise awareness of auto parts on eBay Motors and deliver quality traffic and revenue.

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The Plan 👇

We worked with BAT to develop a blog series using their community to crowdsource parts and accessories.

BAT sourced a 1965 Corvette stripped it down to nothing, then asked the BAT community to rebuild and reimagine the classic car utilizing ONLY eBay Motors parts.

eBay Project Car page (take it for a spin, sweet, right?)

From the first post, hundreds of comments poured in linking to Corvette-compatible parts and stirring discussion within the enthusiast community.

This plan included a monthly call review with eBay Motors-BAT team and in person discussion and collaboration.

eBay compensating BAT in flat fee and % of revenue structure (common best practice in affiliate marketing)

eBay internet marketing, eBay motors, and BAT collaborated closely to ensure BAT had the information, resources, guardrails, and content needed to build the '65 Corvette into a dream car and post about the progress periodically.

The results were a match made in affiliate marketing heaven..

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Results 📈:

• A ton of high quality original enthusiast content 20 engaging on brand content pieces touting eBay Motors Parts
• High interest & Engagement: 279 comments on post #1 alone
• Exceeded revenue expectations: Well over 7 figures in eBay Motors Parts GMV driven from the blog series alone.
• Full Funnel: Achieved goal of full funnel increasing awareness of eBay Parts while also delivering parts conversions an revenue
• Long Term Collaboration >2 year collaboration

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Here are 3 ways you can use this to your advantage and be like eBay 👊:

1. Think Big: Partnerships can go beyond one influencer post or a product unboxing, so don't be afraid to put together a bigger swing like this one. (Bonus: you'll be able to acquire amazing content for brand marketing efforts)
2. Think Win Win: You can view affiliates as one-off levers not to be trusted or you can treat them as partners. Which do you think performs better? So when you are putting together your next partner-focused activation, include them and make sure they feel like they are being heard so they are as bought into the success of the program as you are.
3. A Story Worth Telling: Who are you serving here ultimately? Your Customer. In this case, automotive enthusiasts and auto parts buyers. Partner with affiliates and influencers and empower them to tell a story that excites your customer and their audience! This amplifies the message that you are trying to get out there in a way that feels more human and doesn't have the same level of scrutiny from the consumer as a paid ad might.

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Conclusion ✌️

This still is by far my favorite example of what Affiliate Marketing is capable of!

Use it to your advantage and implement a more creative, branded, full-funnel approach to affiliate marketing that “drives” (see what I did there) excitement and engagement in both partners and customers.

Let's go!