Partnerize Chief Customer Operations Officer Greg Augenstein has had an article published in Multichannel Merchant, outlining his key traits to look for when hiring for your team. Among the five traits he discusses are retail experience and belief in the channel. If you’re looking for a new retail affiliate or partner marketing manager, here is an excerpt from Greg’s article:
Great affiliate and partner marketing leaders are in high demand, especially this time of year when retailers are seeking new talent to kickstart business. With the holiday craziness behind us, there’s no better time to bring in fresh blood. It’s always exciting to be able to dedicate new resources to one of your most lucrative channels. But don’t let the excitement blind you.
Taking the time to seek out what is important will do wonders for your team, employee retention, and your bottom line. I’ve been asked what the single most important thing to look for is, and while I think it’s impossible to narrow it down to a single quality, these are five traits that I think are integral for success.
Retail Experience
Running marketing programs, whether affiliate or any other, can feel akin to driving on the Autobahn in Germany: The landscape changes quickly, and the competition remains fierce. The team heading up affiliate and partnerships is constantly challenged to find new customers and drive incremental growth, while considering how to reach consumers across all of their devices seamlessly.
Bringing someone in who understands the nuances of retail product promotion and the path to purchase is a smart move. They don’t need to have decades under their belts, but someone with an understanding of how to leverage your retail brand across all types of partnership can help them go from zero to 80 quickly.
Belief in the Channel
As a starting point, you shouldn’t need to convince someone of the value of this channel. Retail investment in affiliate and partner marketing continues to grow year-over-year for good reason. That said, at some organizations there is still senior resistance to partnerships because they can seem complex and tough to understand.
Your ideal partner leader knows what this category can do and has the courage and tact to speak to power. To kindle passion and win over skeptics. Aggressive growth in partnership comes from aggressive people taking aggressive action to sell their ideas internally and put them into practice quickly.
There are several industry events held around the globe each year where you can find people passionate about affiliate and partner marketing. Now, I’m not suggesting you troll these events looking to poach from other retailers. You just never know where you might find the channel believer who also happens to love what your brand stands for, and that could be the start of something big.
Read the rest of the article in Multichannel Merchant.
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