Success Story: Managed Affiliate Program Service helps Jiggerbug increase affiliate sales

"With PartnerCentric our affiliate program really took off. Their recruitment efforts increased our active affiliate base by 25 percent in four months. Today, our program is the top 7-day EPC in Commission Junction's audio book category. Thanks, PartnerCentric."
- Byron Shirley, Jiggerbug

Challenges

• Needed to increase exposure for fairly new program in competitive audio book niche
• Wanted to devote more resources to developing the program but had limited staff and time
• Eager to boost program by recruiting more active affiliates
• Aspired to entice inactive affiliates to become more connected and responsive to the program
• Hoped to increase campaign performance but unsure how to do it given the challenges

Solutions

• Aggressively promoted the program to affiliates via e-mail and through the PartnerCentric blog
• Assigned a team of pro affiliate managers and strategists to further develop the program
• Targeted affiliates who specialize in audio books
• Educated affiliates as to the finer points of the program and how it could benefit them
• Created more short-term coupons to increase sales during the holiday season for affiliates

Results

• Jiggerbug is now well-positioned in the niche and has special offers that stand out
• Time and staff are no longer and issue with the support of the PartnerCentric team
• Active Affiliate base grew 25% in four months
• Program now boasts a very active group of top-performing affiliates
• Program now ranks as the No. 1 7-day EPC for audio books in CJ network

Jiggerbug.com offers consumers an audio book rental and download service. Users can build a queue of audio books and, for a low monthly fee, can receive as many as five books at a time. With the popularity of similar services such as Netflix (movies) and Gamefly (video games), Jiggerbug.com is a well-positioned brand in its niche. Where the company needed help was in developing a strong online sales channel through affiliate marketing.

The Jiggerbug.com affiliate program slightly more than a year old. Prior to signing with PartnerCentric, the company's affiliate program was given very little attention with few active affiliates. With limited resources dedicated to the program, increasing program performance was seen as a very difficult task that would require an additional financial and resource investment. Jiggerbug.com decided to outsource their affiliate program management to PartnerCentric.

PartnerCentric was careful to warn Jiggerbug managers that the task of rejuvenating the program would not be an instant turn-around. However, the program quickly gained traction, and the revenue started coming in as a result.

Tara Watson, PartnerCentric's program manager for Jiggerbug, said recruitment was a main focus from the very beginning, "We made an effort to educate the affiliates about Jiggerbug.com, how it works and the advantages of promoting it. To help with this, we created an affiliate resource page to give the affiliates all the tools and information they needed to get the campaign up and running." The results were staggering. The Jiggerbug.com program quickly saw its affiliate base grow by 25% in the first four months. Jiggerbug.com is now rated as the top 7-day EPC in the audio book category of Commission Junction’s Account Manager and listed as the number two 3-month EPC in the audio book category.