This week in our Meet the Member series, we speak to Sarafina Wolde Gabriel, Chief Strategy Officer at Rightlander, one of our founding members. Sarafina talks all things Rightlander, why they’ve joined The APMA as one of our Executive Partners and what trends she thinks will be important in 2024.
In the next few months we’ll be launching The APMA’s Accreditation Project, that Rightlander has been leading. Sign up to the newsletter to here more about what it is and keep up to date on when it launches.
Tell us a little bit about Rightlander
Rightlander is a leader in affiliate marketing compliance. Our technology monitors millions of digital content and images across websites, social media platforms and cloud based instant messaging. Its primary aim is to identify campaigns that fail to adhere to marketing regulations or brand guidelines. In addition to providing marketing compliance, Rightlander’s proprietary technology Intel, enables affiliate and marketing managers worldwide to analyse a website on the go for traffic insights, potential compliance risks and marketing opportunities from their browser.
What do you feel you bring to the affiliate mix?
As an automated compliance monitoring and reporting platform, we bring confidence to the affiliate mix by providing transparency and insights into the marketing practices of affiliates and other third-party marketing partners. We do the heavy lifting to find any potentially risky or non-compliant content advertised so affiliate and brand managers can efficiently remedy issues found and scale their affiliate programmes with confidence.
When you speak to your clients, what is their general feeling towards the affiliate and partner marketing channels?
Affiliate marketing is generally seen as a valuable long-term acquisition strategy built on trust and relationships. Another common sentiment echoed is that it has a low barrier to entry for both affiliates and advertisers, and as a result is a cost effective way to grow and scale a business worldwide. We also hear that affiliate marketing can be challenging to keep on top of and requires commitment and dedicated resources to successfully grow a programme.
What could The APMA be doing to help build closer relationships with them and secure bigger budgets?
The APMA is a resourceful body that can help connect businesses, educate stakeholders and demonstrate the value of affiliate marketing. It can also help affiliates gain the insights they need to be successful as well as help Affiliate Managers meet with other like minded professional to share tips, useful tools and successful practices to build and grow profitable affiliate programmes.
Why did you want to become a member of The APMA?
We wanted to join and support the launch of the APMA because we value its vision and dedication to the affiliate marketing channel. We also see the need for a body that brings together performance marketing professionals and stakeholders across the ecosystem to learn, share, problem-solve, and network so there can be common standards and practices in the industry.
Are there any specific APMA projects that you want Rightlander to be part of?
Yes, as leaders in marketing compliance, a project close to our heart is the Affiliate Accreditation project, which we are happy to lead and leverage our technology. We are also very open to participating in other projects where we can add value.
What is the number one topic you think the industry should be tackling in 2024?
Transparency. It is important that the industry maintains a focus and a high bar on transparent affiliate relationships. Brands and advertisers need the support of their networks and technology partners to ensure adherence to their respective partnership agreements, Failure to do so could result in compromised affiliate programs, negative brand reputation, high fines – all of which taint the perception of affiliate marketing. Topics like sub-affiliates disclosing the originating source of their traffic or affiliates revealing the different ways they generate and drive traffic to an advertiser’s websites or the content they publish, particularly with the popularity of ChatGPT. Transparency in these areas as well as others will help to create a authenticity, consistent customer journey, build brand trust and create a more sustainable affiliate marketing environment.
What other trends are you anticipating will be front of mind?
With a strong focus on protecting consumers and enforcing more honest marketing, we anticipate stricter marketing regulations particularly around consumer consent, data privacy and disclosure of gains obtained from a brand. The demise of third-party cookies, GDPR, FTC guidelines and the like will continue to influence how the performance marketing world functions.
Thanks to Sarafina, if you want to find out more about Rightlander, please visit their APMA profile.
