The earliest polls opened at 6:00 AM EST to kick off Election Day 2016. As you know, Affiliate Marketers for President, parts one and two have presented a thorough analysis of revenue resulting from affiliate marketing promotion by LinkConnector affiliates and merchants in each U.S. state (and D.C.). Leading up to week four of cumulative revenue data, neither the Affiliate party nor the Merchant party had achieved the 270 electoral votes needed to win the Affiliate Marketing Election. LC affiliates, however, have maintained a slight lead over LC merchants throughout the entirety of this race. The affiliates’ consistent campaign promotional efforts over the last four weeks have paid off, and have ultimately earned them bragging rights. Congratulations LinkConnector affiliates for a 299-239 win over LinkConnector merchants!
Let’s take a look at the notable contributors in the final week, and the striking parallels between the Affiliate Marketing Election and past Presidential Elections:
Merchants won the popular votes (51% to 49%) achieving the most U.S. revenue over the election period. However, based on the rules of the U.S. Electoral College system, LC merchants are facing An Inconvenient Truth that they won the popular vote but lost the election. In U.S. Presidential elections, this has only happened four times throughout history—most recently in 2000.
ShopAtHome, a loyalty affiliate, has been a solid contributor in Colorado since day one—a steady lead is new for this state when comparing it to recent elections. According to an article in The New York Times, Colorado was the tipping-point state that put President Obama over the 270 mark in both 2008 and 2012.
Affiliates have maintained a strikingly strong lead in Nevada over the last month. This state has a pretty even distribution of LinkConnector affiliates (Slickdeals as a leading example) contributing to the win. This result falls right in line with Nevada’s impeccable reputation of voting for the eventual presidential winner—which they have achieved in the last 25 of 28 elections according to The Skimm.
With a strong performance in the final week, affiliates achieved their victory by securing one of the most crucial battleground states, North Carolina, achieving 54% of the revenue. Crush Empire is one notable affiliate contributor in NC that helped affiliates come out on top in the final week. North Carolina is poised to be a key state as well in the Presidential Election in 2016.
Six states—Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico, West Virginia and Wisconsin—were extremely close experiencing a margin of victory of less than $1,000 in total revenue. Affiliates expanded their lead in the election by winning 24 of these 38 electoral votes.
LC merchants achieved the largest margin of victory in Minnesota (10) led by HalloweenCostumes.com. LC affiliates achieved the largest margin of victory in Texas (38) led by affiliate marketing industry giant, TriMax Media, with RetailMeNot a close second.
Congratulations again to LinkConnector affiliates for winning the 2016 Affiliate Marketing Election!