Get to Know the Commerce Demand Team — Your Ally for Higher Affiliate Earnings

At Sovrn, our Commerce products are powered by the industry’s largest merchant network, comprising more than 50,000 retailers across every imaginable category. Selecting the right merchant partners is an important step toward affiliate success — and we provide the tools you need to make smart choices. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to leveraging our extensive merchant network.

When you’re ready to take your affiliate program to the next level, the Sovrn Commerce Demand team is here to help! This dedicated group of affiliate marketing experts is responsible for managing our merchant network and connecting publishers with advertisers — so you can drive even more value from your merchant relationships. The team’s members have extensive experience, and together manage 150 top retail brand relationships including Walmart, Wayfair, Marriott, Disney, and more. Here’s how you can tap into their expertise.

3 ways to increase affiliate earnings

Our Demand team currently offers three unique optimization programs to help publishers build deeper merchant relationships — and earn more revenue in the process. We’ll explore each of these in more detail later, but here’s a quick overview:

1. Sponsored content
   A sponsored post is designed to look like your typical editorial content, but it’s actually a paid placement by a merchant looking to promote their product or service. For example, retailer Alo Yoga placed this sponsored post on The Daily Beast website to promote a new line of yoga pants. Sponsored content can be structured as an article, an email, a gift guide, a social post, or whatever works for your publication. With our Demand team managing the process, sponsored content is an easy way and profitable to leverage your editorial space without creating new content of your own.
   
2. Exclusive merchant approvals
   Sovrn has relationships with thousands of merchants outside of our standard Approved Merchants list. These “closed” merchant programs are highly selective about their affiliate partners — and they pay higher commissions that reflect their premium status. As your affiliate program matures, you may have the opportunity to work with some of these exclusive merchant programs. Our Demand team can help to evaluate your performance and determine your qualifications. They can also help you navigate these programs’ unique approval criteria, which may include specific requirements around audience quality, site traffic, content, conversion rate, and more.
   
3. Rate negotiation
   The Demand team is in constant negotiations with our merchant partners, to proactively bring you the best possible affiliate commission rates — but those day-to-day rate negotiations are just one side of the story. They can also work directly with specific merchants on your behalf, to negotiate rate increases just for you. For example, if you recognize that a specific merchant is underperforming other comparable merchants in your affiliate program, reach out and let us know! The Demand team will engage that merchant on your behalf and encourage them to raise their affiliate rate to be more consistent with their competitors.

These affiliate optimization programs are open to any Commerce customer, but they’re best suited to publishers with a well-established track record — especially traditional content and media outlets, as well as publishers with premium inventory that can be offered in exchange for a CPA or flat fee. 

“The commerce demand team is working with advertisers in each corner of the affiliate space to bring competitive affiliate programs to our publishers. Managing effective rates, fixing links, and onboarding new network partners is time consuming, and the Demand team is here to take that on so publishers can spend more time doing what they love”
– Nick Baker, Manager, Commerce Demand

Meet our Demand Team

Put our Demand Team to work for you

Working with our Demand team is a great way to boost your affiliate revenue — and there’s no additional cost to take advantage of these optimization programs. In fact, we even waive our revenue share on sponsored content opportunities, so you keep the entire sponsorship fee. 

If you’re a current Sovrn Commerce customer, reach out to learn more about how the Demand team can help boost your affiliate earnings. 

If you’re not already earning with Sovrn Commerce, sign up for a free account! It only takes a few minutes, and once you’re approved you can start earning right away.