What Happens at ASW Should Not Stay At ASW

The start of the year can often be synonymous with the winter doldrums, holiday withdrawal and never enough sunlight. So it’s the perfect time to gather affiliate marketing professionals from all over the country in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada for the Affiliate Summit West conference. I have been attending for years and it’s always a great place to catch up with colleagues, clients and folks who are happy to discuss all things affiliate marketing.

In the past I have had the honor of both leading and moderating sessions but this time I was glad to have an audience member’s perspective. And something felt different. The conversations my team and I were having with brands were not surface level. They wanted to go deeper and express their concerns around incrementality and attribution, two terms that we are not only passionate about, we’re proactive. 

Here are three takeaways from this excellent show that apply to the opportunities many of us face every day:

1. Efficiency and scale are challenges that we have to tackle every day. But there are solutions.

In Alicia Lyttle’s session on “Mastering AI Content Creation,” she demonstrated how AI can transform a single piece of content into hundreds of variations suitable for a variety of marketing channels. She emphasized that if used correctly, AI can make content more accessible and relevant to different audiences instead of feeling robotic or stale. This ensures that the content is authentic and personalized, so it reaches your intended audience. 

Widespread adoption of AI might still be in its infancy but when used and harnessed properly, it should allow teams to work smarter and not harder, without losing brand voice and intention. 

1. There is always a need to find new and creative ways to expand the affiliate channel

Conversations around innovation were in no short supply at the show this year. Whether it was finding ways to work effectively with Amazon, Walmart and Target through the affiliate channel or discussing how creators can do more with performance marketing, I was inspired by all of the discussions and that everyone is aligned on expanding the channel to its fullest potential. 

1. The market is poised for success in 2024

Dustin Engel , US Director for WY Partners, was on a panel discussing the outlook for M&A for 2024 and it was a positive discussion that focused on best practices for identifying and attracting significant opportunities and preparing for seamless transitions. A lot of consolidation has happened in the affiliate space and there are even more opportunities for 2024.

If you heard about our Fuse Incrementality ™ Index at the show, check out our insights dashboard here. And if you attended the show, I would love to hear your thoughts on it in the comments!

#ASW2024 #affiliatemarketing #partnerships