The Free Toaster

Today, we continue to discuss the 4 levels of Operational Maturity in affiliate marketing for lenders. We’ll go deep on 301 and 401 levels and wrap up with some tactical things you can do to land at the 401 level.   Summary of the 4 levels:   𝟭𝟬𝟭 - 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹  We're focused on the volume of leads and the cost of acquisition. The rest of the operation looks a lot like affiliate programs in other industries. There's not much attention placed on the quality of accounts that we acquire.   𝟮𝟬𝟭 - 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 We learn that not all leads are created equal and not all lead sources are created equal. We pay more attention to what happens to a customer post-booking.    How much revenue are they driving?  What are the delinquency rates?  What are the loss rates?    We start to think about the relationship between LTV and cost of acquisition.   𝟯𝟬𝟭 - 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 We learn that when we make a change to our business, the affiliate reacts in a certain way, and that in turn has a knock-on effect on our business. We also start to overanalyze why volumes dropped and why applicant quality is changing. We often get distracted by a lot of these questions as there are often no actions we can take as a result of our curiosity.   𝟰𝟬𝟭 - 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 We learn that our success relies on delivering exceptional products and exceptional buying experiences for our affiliates' customers. Under this frame, we recognize that each affiliate's a little different. They all have different buying experiences, data assets, customer types, and integration capabilities. We try to reverse engineer our business to best fit each partner. We notice that we were overanalyzing the volatility in our programs, and conclude that our investigations were often unproductive.   Timestamps: (00:00) 301 Intro (04:20) 301 Strategy (15:55) 301 Challenges and realities (18:43) Recap of 101-301 (21:48) 401 Deep dive - becoming leaders (30:48) Model alignment (41:48) Wrap up   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   References: A written summary of the 4 levels of Operational Maturity: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-carlos-caro_operational-maturity-affiliates-activity-7204481122464907264-f_hC   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com.

Today, we introduce the 4 levels of Operational Maturity in affiliate marketing for lenders. We’ll go deep on 101 and 201 levels. The 301 and 401 levels will be covered in our next episode.   Summary of the 4 levels:   𝟭𝟬𝟭 - 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹  We're focused on the volume of leads and the cost of acquisition. The rest of the operation looks a lot like affiliate programs in other industries. There's not much attention placed on the quality of accounts that we acquire.   𝟮𝟬𝟭 - 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 We learn that not all leads are created equal and not all lead sources are created equal. We pay more attention to what happens to a customer post-booking.    How much revenue are they driving?  What are the delinquency rates?  What are the loss rates?    We start to think about the relationship between LTV and cost of acquisition.   𝟯𝟬𝟭 - 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 We learn that when we make a change to our business, the affiliate reacts in a certain way, and that in turn has a knock-on effect on our business. We also start to overanalyze why volumes dropped and why applicant quality is changing. We often get distracted by a lot of these questions as there are often no actions we can take as a result of our curiosity.   𝟰𝟬𝟭 - 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 We learn that our success relies on delivering exceptional products and exceptional buying experiences for our affiliates' customers. Under this frame, we recognize that each affiliate's a little different. They all have different buying experiences, data assets, customer types, and integration capabilities. We try to reverse engineer our business to best fit each partner. We notice that we were overanalyzing the volatility in our programs, and conclude that our investigations were often unproductive.   Timestamps: (00:00) Why maturity matters (04:36) The 4 levels (10:18) 101 deep dive (17:56) 201 deep dive (26:15) Wrap up and next steps   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   References: A written summary of the 4 levels of Operational Maturity: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-carlos-caro_operational-maturity-affiliates-activity-7204481122464907264-f_hC   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com.

Episode 005: Today, we discuss the marketing levers lenders have at their disposal to improve the performance of their affiliate marketing campaigns.   We’ll discuss levers in the following categories: Eligibility Impressions/placements Click-through rate Application rate Approval rate Funding rate CPA/Payouts   Timestamps: (00:54) Recapping previous episodes (01:50) A big misconception (03:02) Key levers (09:30) CTR (18:37) Application rate (21:35) Approval rate (27:09) Funding rate (29:49) CPAs / payouts (31:43) Conclusion and final thoughts   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   References: Click-through rates by ad rank/placement on Google: https://firstpagesage.com/reports/google-click-through-rates-ctrs-by-ranking-position/ Outline of levers discussed in the show https://medium.com/@newmarketgrowth/your-affiliate-marketing-levers-9f98092ab37b   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com.

Episode 004: Today, we tackle two simple, but important questions. The first: “What affiliates should I partner with?” And the second, “Where should I host my targeting model?”   We cover: How to build a list of potential affiliate partners Why “getting in” isn’t an easy as you think How to build a pitch for potential partners Where to host your targeting model Guiding principles for targeting model development   Timestamps: (00:43) Outline of today's episode (04:25) Building a list of potential partners (09:25) Why getting into publishers isn't easy (14:15) Crafting your pitch 18:18 Hosting your targeting model (18:18) Hosting Your Targeting Model (22:20) Targeting model platforms (36:56) Guiding principles (41:45) Wrap up / final thoughts   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   References: Credit Karma Lightbox https://www.creditkarma.com/about/commentary/credit-karma-welcomes-team-bitmatica Monevo https://www.monevo.com/us Eagle Data https://www.eagledata.biz/ https://medium.com/@carlos.ny/a-chat-with-travis-broad-ceo-at-eagle-data-a6409c6683a7 MoneyLion https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/moneylion-inc-nyseml-q1-2024-earnings-call-transcript-1299056/   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com.

Episode 003: Today, we tackle a big, foundational question. “Why should I bother promoting my lending products in affiliate channels?”   We cover: Size of publicly traded affiliate networks How many consumer loans are opened per year on affiliate networks Why your CMO, CPO, CRO, and CFO should care A 60-second elevator pitch for your CEO Timestamps: (00:43) Why Invest in Affiliate Marketing? (01:22) Affiliate Channel Scale From Public Filings (05:08) What % Of Acquisition Volume Comes From Affiliates? (06:14) Convincing Your Org to Invest in Affiliate Marketing (08:01) Benefits for Different Departments (13:06) Selling into your CPO or Strategy Head (14:44) Selling into your CRO (16:42) Selling into your CFO (18:15) Building Exceptional Buying Experiences (20:42) Conclusion and Summary Pitch   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X References (affiliate marketplace public filings):   Credit Karma https://investors.intuit.com/_assets/_719de469f18090d69a0faddc62c8f705/intuit/news/2024-05-23_Intuit_Reports_Strong_Third_Quarter_Results_and_1188.pdf Experian https://www.experianplc.com/content/dam/marketing/global/plc/en/assets/documents/results-and-presentations/2024/experian-roadshow-jan-to-mar-2024.pdf NerdWallet https://investors.nerdwallet.com/news-releases/news-release-details/nerdwallet-reports-first-quarter-2024-results Lending Tree https://investors.lendingtree.com/static-files/6091a1b9-f0c2-4d4e-b6c0-990085edb7a5 QuinStreet https://investor.quinstreet.com/static-files/726eb814-7f4e-47ee-9d01-5a200817a027 MoneyLion https://investors.moneylion.com/news/detail/122/moneylion-announces-first-quarter-2024-results   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com.  

Episode 002: In this episode, we describe affiliate marketing for lenders with tangible examples. From there, we talk through the dynamics of the affiliate game and how affiliate partnerships are structured. This provides a baseline 101 for anyone unfamiliar with the topic, and a recap for those who are more familiar with this space.   Additionally, we discuss: What mindset to bring to the game Our super-lever: approval rate Notes for performance marketers new to affiliates Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction   (01:04) Exploring Affiliate Coverage In Google Results (03:15) Behind the Scenes of Affiliate Marketing (05:49) Affiliate Deal Structures and Dynamics (10:40) Optimizing Conversion Rates (17:09) Our Super-Lever: Approval Rate (24:00) Cautions for Performance Marketers (26:55) Recap and Final Thoughts   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions you'd like me to address in a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com.

What we learned about brand marketing from New Balance's turnaround.   TL;DR - For 15 years, New Balance watched its revenues decline. Consumers saw its sneakers as “dad shoes”—safe, comfortable, but uncool. Traditional direct-response marketing wasn’t reversing the trend. In April 2020, a new CMO, Chris Davis, arrived with a bold idea: flip the marketing mix from a 70% reliance on direct-response ads to a brand-led approach. It was a big gamble that took nearly 19 months to pay off, but when it did, New Balance emerged as a revitalized global brand.   Written version: https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/how-new-balance-s-cmo-turned-around-a-15-year-decline   About Us: The Free Toaster is a newsletter for at the intersection of marketing, lending, and fintech. We deliver news, data, and insights (like today's episode) to help you acquire more customers. Sign up to get it shipped weekly to your inbox.   www.thefreetoaster.com   This show is produced by Ghostmode.co, a media production studio for B2B Newsletters & Podcasts. To discuss how we can help with your show, contact us at nick@ghostmode.co.