As the first quarter draws to a close, LinkConnector has a significant and exciting milestone to commemorate—March 2019 marked LinkConnector’s 15-year anniversary.  In our industry, where change is constant, fifteen years is a very long time.

Reflecting back, we certainly have seen much transformation in our industry. For example, Google entering as an affiliate network and then leaving several years later.  Last click attribution, once the only solution available, is now one of the least popular forms of attribution.  Affiliate Marketing becoming Performance Marketing to try to separate from the early black hat days of our industry.  Now, some are trying to rebrand as “Partnership Marketing” and some affiliates became influencers overnight.  Due in large part to this constant evolution, entrepreneurship and innovation within our industry has changed how consumers all over the world find products, brands and services online.  How cool is that‽

One thing that hasn’t changed over the past fifteen years is how essential relationships are to our industry.  Make no mistake—networks are not simply technical tracking solutions.  Instead, they are the linchpin of creating and sustaining vital relationships.  Of course, the backbone of our industry is the relationship between the affiliate (or publisher) and the merchant (or advertiser).  Without this relationship, the performance marketing industry wouldn’t exist.  Both sides of this coin are equally important and, both sides heavily rely on each other to advance their business interests.

As a network, LinkConnector gets to personally interact with these core relationships.  We have had the pleasure of getting to know many, many of these affiliate and merchant partners over the past fifteen years and then getting to introduce them to each other where mutual ambition for new growth ignites.  As relationships are established, LinkConnector’s team members work passionately to grow and optimize each relationship not only through the use of technologies, but also with a human touch and empathetic energy creating an intimate experience not possible through automation.

Additionally, propelling this industry with so much potential, is the immense orbit around these central affiliate/merchant relationships.  Over the past fifteen years, LinkConnector has had the pleasure of collaborating with a wide variety of professionals ranging from OPMs to competitors to fellow industry advocates at the PMA—all working as hard as LinkConnector to elevate and advance our industry.

Thank you to our merchants and affiliates, both past and present for your trust and confidence. You are the reason we remain undeterred in our mission to be the catalyst for merchant brands and affiliate partners to develop trusted lasting relationships that achieve and exceed goals in ways once not thought possible.

We can’t express enough gratitude for LinkConnector’s employees (the heart and soul of our company) and our investors.  We have been extremely fortunate to have met and worked with so many talented people over the years and very much look forward to forging new relationships in the future.

The future is bright and we are excited to be a part of it.  If we haven’t had the opportunity to be a part of your affiliate marketing experience, our team would love to talk with you.  Reach us at [email protected].

As a final note, we are honored to achieve global recognition as a Performance Marketing Awards Industry Finalist (for the both the Industry Disruptor and the Publisher’s Choice of Network awards).  If you’ll be attending the Performance Marketing Awards ceremony in London on April 30th, we look forward to connecting in person.