Alex Foaie: The Affiliate Managers Program Is a Hyper-Innovative Element in the Affiliate Ecosystem

As we said exactly a year ago, at launch, the dedicated Affiliate Managers program is for anyone who knows marketing and wants to earn money alongside the stores in BusinessLeague.

Among them, Alex excels. Although CashClub actively works with multiple affiliate marketing platforms, BusinessLeague, he says, is the only place where "an additional layer of Performance Marketing has been built."

What may not be visible in the statistics is that I also managed to grow affiliates, even though this is not the stated purpose of an Affiliate Manager. I negotiated higher commissions for top-performing affiliates; in our portfolio, almost all of the top 5 affiliates for the stores we manage have personalized commissions.

The Affiliate Manager role is exactly that: a job. One that anyone can access—whether they are a BusinessLeague player or a marketing professional willing to prove their skills and knowledge.

Read the full interview with Alex Foaie below.

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With what expectations did you start your role as an Affiliate Manager in BusinessLeague, and to what extent have they been met?

Although I went through the entire description and the qualification and certification process as an Affiliate Manager, at the time of launch I did not have very high expectations. Since it was a new feature on the platform, I wanted to explore and understand how I could work more closely with the stores and how I could help them grow.

Along the way, this expectation was met—as an Affiliate Manager, you can help stores grow, and your contribution is directly reflected in the stores' affiliate results. However, I also discovered other elements: you can create a risk-free source of income, meaning you do not risk your own capital, though it requires a significant contribution of knowledge and time.

What does the help you offer to stores consist of, in concrete terms? 

The support varies depending on the store's stage of development, the sales volumes generated inside and outside of affiliate marketing, the store's category, and the resources allocated by the stores for affiliate marketing.

After an initial analysis, I come up with a series of recommendations aimed at growing sales volume and the affiliate base, as well as optimizing existing processes (automations for commission processing, setting payment thresholds, accessing existing bonus systems in BusinessLeague, modifying terms to encourage affiliate base growth, organizing challenges, etc.).

In the operational process of the stores in affiliate marketing, I take over their campaigns throughout the year, communicate them to affiliates via newsletters, add banners and promotions, add product feeds where applicable, and handle everything related to the stores' presence on the BusinessLeague platform.

Another important direction is affiliate management and growing the affiliate community, both qualitatively (increasing volumes with existing affiliates) and quantitatively (attracting new affiliates). We communicate 1-on-1 with existing affiliates, and I make sure that all invitations available in the stores' subscriptions are sent out. 

For stores backed by a history and a relevant brand, I do a lot of affiliate relationship management, especially with top affiliates or those relevant to that specific category. I even created influencer campaigns for a few stores in our portfolio. I have also organized affiliate challenges for almost all the stores in the portfolio.

For newer stores, I focus a bit more on developing the affiliate base and communicating as much as possible so that stores at the beginning of their journey benefit from brand awareness among affiliates.

Give us examples of a few shops that have grown alongside you in your capacity as an Affiliate Manager. 

In our company, we have a mindset and strategies oriented exclusively toward growth, and that is what I brought into my collaboration with the stores in my Affiliate Manager portfolio. 

I brought Editura Corint from Freelancers to Companies and we continue to grow volumes with them; Otter, as far as I know, is having its best year in affiliate marketing since they started in 2015; I significantly increased volumes for Minunea Naturii, Regata, and Eumed; I brought Petmart back to growth; and I have solid growth plans with Editura Gama, Shopika, Micul Meserias, BabyNeeds, and absolutely all the stores I collaborate with. We also had the courage to take on new stores, growing Koken from Newcomers to Start-Ups.

What may not be visible in the statistics is that I also managed to grow affiliates, even though this is not the stated purpose of an Affiliate Manager. I negotiated higher commissions for top-performing affiliates; in our portfolio, almost all of the top 5 affiliates for the stores we manage have personalized commissions.

In addition, almost all technology affiliates are part of the portfolio of stores we manage. Thus, we manage to grow the entire ecosystem and establish long-term relationships.

Do you prefer stores from specific categories, or are there other criteria that lead to success?

Naturally, I prefer stores that can generate relevant volumes. I look at all categories, and I actually prefer as diverse a portfolio as possible so that, on the one hand, we are not affected by seasonality in generated volumes and, on the other, we dilute some of the operational workload. I currently collaborate with stores from almost all categories, with the goal of also adding a store from the Beauty category and one from Pharma for a diverse portfolio.

What can you promise from the start, and what can you not promise? 

I can promise to provide all my know-how and the time needed to establish a lasting relationship and a growth strategy; beyond that, I do not promise anything because it also depends on the store's openness to implementing recommendations, as well as how suitable the store is for affiliate marketing. And here I am referring to the niche the store belongs to, as well as how presentable the store is in front of affiliates and buyers—whether everything is properly set up from a customer journey perspective.

Do you give homework to the stores? What is the process through which you ensure that shops "help themselves if they want to be helped"?

I actually give them quite a lot of homework, but nobody has complained so far because it also brings results. The speed and willingness to implement vary depending on all the criteria mentioned above, but those that were open to my growth recommendations are also the ones with which I have the best results. With many of the stores, we went as far as holding individual calls with certain affiliates to make sure the model is understood and the information reaches the right place within the stores' organizations. 

What reservations or reluctance do you notice in the initial phase of collaboration, and what do stores need to hear to put themselves in the hands of an expert?

Probably those who were open to this type of collaboration are also among the most open in general to discussions, recommendations, and collaborations. So I have not noticed reluctance; on the contrary, I noticed an unexpected openness and a level of trust that helps achieve results.

I have extraordinary communication with almost all the stores in the portfolio; if I notice hiccups from this point of view, I try to clarify things quickly and refresh the portfolio where communication does not work.

How would you describe the dedicated Affiliate Managers program? What do you feel would make it better or more efficient?

The Affiliate Managers program is a hyper-innovative element in the affiliate ecosystem. Although we actively work with multiple affiliate marketing platforms, BusinessLeague is the only place where an additional layer of Performance Marketing has been built.

We feel super motivated by the performance-based incentive model, just like affiliate marketing itself. We look forward to seeing as many affiliates as possible qualify and perform alongside us as Affiliate Managers. We see no reason why an affiliate with a minimum of experience should not try this model.

We believe it is particularly well-suited for those motivated by growth and with strong communication skills. An Affiliate Manager must communicate and have a solid communication structure because they will need to maintain and develop relationships with stores, affiliates, and the 2Performant team. One element that should be kept in mind is that not all affiliates speak Romanian.

The program would probably become much more popular if certain figures became visible to affiliates, following the BusinessLeague model, so they can see that the potential is there. On top of that, as an Affiliate Manager, I would like to have access to the Analytics module just as I do as an affiliate.

I believe a critical element for our success—and that of the stores and affiliates—is the 2Performant representatives. We actively work with the stores' account managers, the affiliate representatives, and the technical and support teams to overcome small hurdles and develop the business of the stores we manage. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at 2Performant—communication is critical to the success of this program.