When Automation Becomes Dehumanisation (And How to Stop It Before You Lose Your Best Partners)

If you're using AI to manage your affiliate program but wondering why engagement keeps dropping, this episode explains exactly what's going wrong. Leanna Klyne, Affiverse's Agency Director with 18 years in the trenches, joins Lee-Ann to dissect the hidden cost of over-automation. They explore why AI-approved partners sometimes include your competitors, how content creators are being misrepresented by tools that don't understand context, and why the human touch still drives the partnerships that actually convert. This conversation offers practical guardrails for using AI responsibly without sacrificing the relationships that make affiliate marketing work.

Talking Points Include:

• The approval automation trap that declined a top publisher because AI couldn't distinguish between a media buyer and a content site, costing the program a valuable winter sports partner during summer dormancy
• Why segmented outreach beats mass emails every time and how investing four extra hours monthly to tailor content by partner type builds the micro-trust relationships that drive long-term revenue
• The compliance blind spot that could make you legally liable when faceless accounts and user-generated content creators slip through automated vetting without legitimate contact details

Listen to Find Out More About:

• Why being transparent about AI use in outreach emails actually increases response rates and adds humor that builds rapport instead of destroying trust
• The specific data you should never put into public AI tools like ChatGPT because it becomes open source and violates client confidentiality
• How to write program terms that clearly define acceptable AI usage for partners while protecting your brand from deepfakes and unauthorised voice replication
• The exact compliance risks that emerge when automated approvals let unverifiable partners into regulated verticals without legitimate contact information
• Why boring consistency often outperforms fancy AI implementation, and how simple calendar reminders maintain partner relationships better than sophisticated automation
• Lee-Ann's personal policy on LinkedIn messages and why every response comes from her, not a chatbot pretending to be her

Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct:

[18:08] The segmentation strategy that achieves industry-leading open rates by speaking directly to six or seven partner types instead of mass-blasting generic content

[27:00] How to use AI for trend spotting within partner data to identify optimal booking windows that increase performance 7% above industry mean while cutting wasted spend

[37:09] The essential ethical guardrails that preserve humanity while enabling innovation, including the perspective shift that changes how you evaluate every AI decision

Call to Action

Huge thanks to Leanna Klyne for sharing the real-world AI frameworks she implements daily across Affiverse's agency clients. If this episode helped you see where automation enhances relationships versus where it destroys them, subscribe to the Affiliate Marketing Podcast so you catch every practical insight that helps you build programs partners actually want to join. Share this with another affiliate manager wrestling with AI adoption, and let's raise the standard for ethical partnership management across the entire industry.

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Why Your Clicks Are Down But Your Impact Might Be Up

If your affiliate traffic feels fragmented and you're wondering whether to panic about AI search, this episode cuts through the noise. Ewen Finser, CEO of ScaleVisible, shares battle-tested insights from managing over 100 websites through Google's algorithm upheavals and into the AI era. Lee-Ann and Ewen discuss why Reddit threads now outrank traditional reviews, how zero-click searches create hidden value for brands, and why YouTube might be your smartest investment right now. This conversation reveals a counterintuitive truth: the scariest disruptions often create the biggest opportunities for those willing to adapt strategically.

Talking Points Include:

• The payment partnership that signals where AI search is heading and why PayPal's integration with Perplexity matters more than most affiliate managers realise for the future of attribution
• Why your editorial placements are already providing AI value and the exact framework for describing citation impact to justify budgets when traditional clicks decline
• The three-platform strategy that influences multiple AI engines simultaneously from YouTube rankings in ChatGPT to Reddit dominance in Google's AI Overviews

Listen to Find Out More About:

• Why some de-indexed spam blogs are suddenly ranking in ChatGPT and what that means for content strategy in the short term versus long term
• The exact correlation overlap between top 10 Google rankings and ChatGPT citations (hint: it's shockingly low at around 15 percent)
• How ReddVisible pivoted from affiliate publishing to Reddit reputation management to AI visibility strategy through three distinct market disruptions
• Why query fan-out matters more than individual keywords when optimizing for AI search engines that personalize every response
• The specific metrics Ewen tracks to demonstrate AI visibility impact when traditional attribution falls short
• How trust signals accumulate across Reddit, YouTube, and third-party blogs to influence AI recommendations without generating direct clicks

Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct:

[16:03] The real-world shopping journey example that illustrates search fragmentation across Which, Google, YouTube, ChatGPT, and Amazon

[20:43] Why PayPal's Perplexity partnership signals the zero-click future and what affiliate managers should watch for next

[32:39] Original content versus AI-generated spam: what works now versus what will work as AI engines develop their own web spam teams

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Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review."

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Why Trading Programs That Move Fast Break Everything (And How Slow Growth Built a 115-Country Empire)

If your affiliate program chases explosive growth with aggressive spend and flashy campaigns, this episode reveals why you might be building on sand. Yana Ivanova and Nir Iter from Exness share how they scaled from 18 to 115 countries not through brute force marketing, but through something radical in trading: patience. Lee-Ann and her guests discuss why daily payouts matter more than commission rates, how localisation means hiring humans who actually understand regional nuances, and why the Latin American market demands emotional connection before transactional relationships. This conversation reveals a counterintuitive truth: sometimes slow and steady really does win the race.

Talking Points Include:

• The payment infrastructure breakthrough that built trust faster than any marketing campaign and why waiting until month-end to pay affiliates destroys credibility in emerging markets
• Why treating LATAM as a single homogeneous market is the fastest path to failure and the exact localisation strategy that transformed passive content into community engagement across culturally distinct countries
• The team structure that prevents cannibalisation when 11 account managers chase global traffic and how individual KPIs combined with team goals create collaboration instead of internal competition

Listen to Find Out More About:

• How Exness structures team KPIs to prevent account managers from fighting over global affiliates while maintaining healthy competition
• The buddy program that integrates new team members without creating hierarchical friction in an 11-person global team
• Why the company prioritises quality over quantity now, deliberately slowing growth to ensure sustainable partnerships
• The specific data points Exness analyses constantly to identify which markets deserve localised attention versus broad global treatment
• How mobile measurement platforms become essential tools for LATAM affiliates where phone traffic dominates
• The real reason trading affiliate programs traditionally used CPA models and how Exness diversified beyond that constraint

Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct:

[08:17] The long-term mindset explained through hotel guest analogies and why three-year plans beat quarterly targets

[16:29] Daily payment implementation and the risk mitigation strategy that made it viable without enabling fraud

[20:34] Team scaling from a handful to 11 professionals and how specialisation by region prevents global chaos

[33:03] Honest advice for newcomers: pick your niche, build community, trust your data

Latin America: The Opportunity Ahead

For affiliates considering Latin America in 2026, both guests offered clear direction. Yana's focus centres on local communities, as the region values authentic, community-driven marketing over impersonal automation. Nir emphasised mobile optimisation, noting that with young, mobile-first audiences, ensuring your tracking, creatives, and user experience are optimised for phones is non-negotiable. Tools like AppsFlyer or other mobile measurement platforms are essential.

Send me a text with your questions

Guest: Katie King, Author of AI Strategy for Sales and Marketing: Connecting Marketing, Sales and Customer Experience

If you've been treating AI like a search engine or worrying you're falling behind, this episode cuts through the noise. Katie King, who's been tracking AI developments since 2019 and advises major brands like O2, Arsenal, and Virgin, joins Lee-Ann Johnstone to reveal why 80% of AI success depends on people, not tools. She shares the strategic frameworks that turn scattered experiments into measurable business impact, explains why board-level resistance creates organizational AI imposter syndrome, and demonstrates how affiliate marketers can build competitive advantage through ethical implementation and agile adoption.

Talking Points Include:

Why AI projects fail without frameworks – how creating AI champion groups, weekly strategy meetings, and clear codes of conduct transforms random tool adoption into systematic competitive advantage

The ethics gap that threatens customer trust – why transparency, attribution clarity, and responsible governance must be designed into affiliate programs before regulation forces it

Strategic agility over early adoption – how building continuous learning and due diligence into your operations prepares you for agentic AI and quantum computing without burning out your team

Listen to Find Out More About:

• The exact prompt engineering techniques that teach AI your brand voice without requiring technical skills or expensive custom models
• Why Circle and Mighty Networks platforms fail for community building while simple weekly Zoom calls succeed, and how this same principle applies to AI tool selection
• The six-month AI implementation roadmap Katie uses with clients that balances quick wins with sustainable capability building
• How affiliate marketers should approach AI differently than other marketing channels because of the trust dynamics and partnership relationships at stake
• Why China leads in AI patents, Europe leads in ethical frameworks, and what that geopolitical split means for international affiliate programs
• The specific metrics beyond sales that reveal whether your AI adoption creates genuine business value or just impressive-looking dashboards

Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct:

[12:35] Why you don't need technical skills for AI success, and the hospitality management principles that make AI adoption feel natural instead of overwhelming

[18:51] The reality check on organizational AI maturity: why even brands with impressive case studies struggle with board-level adoption and what that reveals about implementation gaps

[27:42] Ethical AI requirements for affiliate marketing specifically, including transparency obligations, attribution clarity, and avoiding black-box decisioning that erodes partner trust

[34:20] Katie's final advice for marketers who haven't started their AI journey: why strategic agility matters more than early adoption, and how to build frameworks that prepare you for what comes next

Send me a text with your questions

If your affiliate program has hundreds of inactive partners gathering dust, this episode reveals exactly how to bring them back. Alex Hitt, an affiliate marketer who built thriving communities of hundreds of active members, shares the hotel management principles he uses to create loyalty that goes far beyond commission payments. Lee-Ann and Alex discuss why most programs accidentally kill engagement, how to scale personalisation without burning out, and why one 30-minute weekly call does more for retention than any email campaign.

Talking Points Include:

• The hospitality industry secret that made one hotel number one in the world – and how offering affiliates something valuable for free at exactly the right moment transforms transactional relationships into genuine partnerships
• Why community platforms often fail but weekly Zoom calls succeed – where real engagement actually happens and how to structure drop-in events that affiliates want to attend
• The white-glove onboarding process that keeps new affiliates active – from putting the calendar invite directly in their hand to following up before their first event

Listen to Find Out More About:

• Why Alex refuses most one-on-one meeting requests and what he offers instead that closes more deals with less pressure
• The exact metrics Alex tracks to identify super-inviters versus super-producers in his community (and why these are two different people)
• How to enforce group chat boundaries without alienating members when conversations drift into birthday wishes and grocery shopping updates
• The six critical mistakes that kill affiliate communities before they launch, and how to plan strategically before investing time and resources
• Why getting each affiliate to refer just 1.1 other people creates exponential program growth over time
• How to scale personalization by using mass email for announcements while reserving WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and Facebook for genuine relationship building

Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct:

[01:15] How getting laid off from a dream hotel job in Hawaii on day one forced Alex into entrepreneurship and eventually affiliate marketing

[18:55] The efficiency math explained: one 30-minute Zoom call with 50 people versus trying to schedule 50 separate one-on-one meetings

[27:00] What Alex tracks to measure community health beyond sales: last login time, external business growth, and engagement patterns

Huge thanks to Alex Hitt for sharing his community-building strategies with us. If this episode sparked ideas for transforming your own affiliate program, subscribe to the Affiliate Marketing Podcast so you never miss practical insights like these. Share this episode with another affiliate manager struggling with retention, and let's raise the standard for how we treat our partners.

Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

"I love the Affiliate Marketing Podcast." <– If that sounds like you, please give us a 5 Star rating here! Taking the time to do that helps us support more people in our community to access affiliate marketing insights, expert-led learnings, and allows us to share the latest tactics that help affiliate programs and businesses grow.

Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review."

Send me a text with your questions

In this episode of the Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Lee-Ann Johnstone sits down with search industry veteran Colin Jeavons to unpack one of the most significant shifts in digital commerce since Google's CPC revolution. 

With 25% of global search queries now bypassing Google in favour of AI-powered answer engines, affiliate managers and publishers face a crossroads: adapt to emerging channels or risk becoming obsolete. Colin, whose career spans from the Yellow Pages era through to building semantic search technology for defence and intelligence, brings rare historical perspective on what's actually changing—and what isn't. 

This episode is essential listening for affiliate managers questioning their channel strategy, publishers wondering if SEO is dead, and any e-commerce brand trying to understand where consumer discovery is headed.

Talking points include:

• From Yellow Pages to Answer Engines: How search has evolved from browser distribution monopolies to AI-driven discovery, and why Google's 2002 business model is facing its BlackBerry moment.
• The 75/25 Rule: Why traditional search still commands three-quarters of queries despite rapid AI adoption, and how to balance legacy channels with emerging opportunities.

Beyond Traditional Affiliates: How CPA models are expanding into apps, creators, influencers, and AI search—creating entirely new verticals for performance marketing.

Listen to find out more about: 

• How browser distribution, not search quality, created Google's monopoly—and why that same moat is now crumbling.
• The specific verticals where CPA commerce is experiencing explosive growth: apps, creators, influencers, and AI search.
• The "fail fast" philosophy that's kept Colin relevant through 25 years of continuous technological disruption.

Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct: 

[11:45] The case for not abandoning traditional search.

[13:57] The 10-month revolution: how AI answer engines captured 25% of search volume at unprecedented speed.

[29:13] Colin's advice for publishers and affiliate managers: always ask for help and don't fear failure.

Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here.

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In this episode, Lee-Ann Johnstone sits down with Dennis Yu, CEO of BlitzMetrics and co-author of bestselling books on Facebook and TikTok advertising. With a billion dollars spent on social ads and clients including: Nike, Starbucks, and the Golden State Warriors, Dennis brings battle-tested insights on what actually works when technology threatens to commoditise every tactic. 

This conversation is essential listening for affiliate managers navigating the tension between bringing capabilities in-house and maintaining profitable partnerships, as well as performance marketers seeking sustainable competitive advantages in an AI-saturated marketplace.

Talking points include:

• User-Generated Content as Affiliate Strategy: Why authentic customer content outperforms professional creative and how to activate non-traditional affiliates
• The Conversion API Advantage: How brands controlling conversion data can outperform traditional affiliates in paid social campaigns
• Relationship-Driven Marketing in an AI World: Why genuine connections represent the only defensible moat against algorithmic competition

Listen to find out more about:

• How to identify and activate non-traditional affiliates from your existing customer base who create more authentic content than professional marketers
• Why controlling conversion data through proper API implementation gives brands a decisive advantage over traditional affiliates in paid social campaigns
• What Dennis learned spending a billion dollars on social advertising for brands like Nike, Starbucks, and the Golden State Warriors

Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct:

• [01:30] Dennis Yu's background: From Yahoo! search engine engineer to spending a billion dollars on Facebook ads
• [06:38] Why user-generated content from actual customers outperforms traditional influencer marketing
• [14:00] The uncomfortable truth about affiliate margins as AI and algorithms become more sophisticated

Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here.

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What happens when passion meets persistence in affiliate marketing? 

George Sullivan turned repeated program rejections into fuel for building The Sole Supplier—a content-first publisher that now drives millions in sales across Europe's biggest fashion retailers. In this candid conversation with host Lee-Ann Johnstone, George reveals the brutal early days of building an affiliate business, the moment everything changed, and why the industry's future belongs to publishers who can make people feel something.

This episode is essential listening for affiliate managers who want to understand what life looks like on the other side of the partnership—and for aspiring publishers who need proof that starting with nothing but conviction can lead somewhere extraordinary.

Talking points include: 

• The psychological impact of program rejections on early-stage publishers (and how managers can turn gatekeeping into guidance)
• Why putting a human face to your brand remains the most powerful growth lever in an AI-saturated landscape
• The shift from siloed marketing departments to integrated teams—and what it means for partnership budgets

Listen to find out more about: 

• Why George believes purely transactional affiliate models face existential risk from AI—and where the sustainable opportunity lies
• The specific moment when The Sole Supplier's revenue scaled beyond George's recruitment salary (and why he still waited to quit)
• How treating affiliate managers as friends rather than vendors creates compounding advantages over time

Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct: 

[03:03] The backstory: from ten failed jobs to founding The Sole Supplier at 22

[13:28] The post-COVID shift that killed top-of-funnel budgets—and why brands are reversing course now

[26:10] The five things every affiliate manager needs to hear about building genuine partnerships

Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here.

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In this essential episode, we sit down with Florin Simovici, CEO of TrafficManager and author of the industry's most comprehensive guide to building and managing affiliate programs. With 15 years of experience across multiple verticals—from iGaming to e-commerce—Florin shares the hard-won lessons that separate scaling programs from struggling ones.

Florin pulls back the curtain on what actually drives sustainable growth, revealing why most networks fail before they even begin and how the industry's smartest operators are positioning themselves for the seismic shifts ahead. 

Whether you're managing your first program or your fiftieth, this episode will challenge your assumptions and equip you with actionable strategies to thrive in an increasingly competitive market.

Talking points include: 

• Why 80% of your revenue comes from just 20% of your affiliates—and how to structure your team accordingly
• The critical onboarding mistakes that doom new networks from day one
• How AI is fundamentally reshaping affiliate marketing (and why you need to start preparing now)

Listen to find out more about: 

• How to identify and protect the core affiliates who drive your network's growth
• The automation tools that free affiliate managers from repetitive tasks so they can focus on relationships
• The emerging "waves" in affiliate marketing—and how to position yourself to ride them rather than get swept away

Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct: 

[00:52] Background on TrafficManager and Florin's journey from affiliate to network owner to SaaS provider

[02:00] The story behind writing a 519-page book on affiliate program management (without AI assistance)

[30:52] Final advice for affiliates: Give up the ego and communicate your needs

Want to dive deeper into Florin's proven strategies? His comprehensive guide covers everything from post-back integration to fraud prevention to affiliate relationship management. Purchase How to Build and Manage an Affiliate Program or Network here.

Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here.

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What if everything you've been taught about promotional content is backwards?

In this explosive Season 23 opener, host Lee-Ann Johnstone welcomes Saurabh Singh, co-founder and CEO of Flickstree and Zanopy AI, who drops a truth bomb that's making affiliate managers and content creators rethink their entire strategy: for every promotional post you publish, you should be creating six educational ones. Yes, you read that right—six to one. This isn't armchair theory. Saurabh has studied hundreds of thousands of successful brands worldwide, built an AI platform that's produced 47,000 videos this year, and personally grew an Instagram account from zero to 40,000 engaged followers in under 12 months using this exact formula.

If you're an affiliate manager battling with partners over content guidelines, a creator watching your conversion rates flatline, or a brand drowning in a sea of AI-generated noise wondering why nothing's sticking, this episode hands you a data-backed blueprint that flips conventional wisdom on its head.

The kicker? Most brands are doing the complete opposite—and wondering why their audience keeps scrolling past. Lee-Ann and Saurabh break down why content has become the only way to build trust in digital commerce, which content hooks make people stop mid-scroll, and how AI tools are levelling the playing field for marketers who can't afford £300-per-video agencies. Buckle up—this one's a game-changer.

Talking points include: 

• The 1:6 Formula: Why posting six educational pieces for every one promotional post outperforms traditional sales-focused content.
• Trust Through Content: How content has become the only reliable way to build customer trust in an era where buyers never see you face-to-face.
• AI as Amplifier: Using artificial intelligence to scale content creation without sacrificing authenticity or breaking the budget.

Listen to find out more about: 

• How to structure landing pages that increase conversion rates by keeping visitors engaged for 8-10 minutes before sending them to brand pages.
• Why building your own community protects against algorithm changes and platform account suspensions.
• The specific content types that consistently go viral across industries (and which promotional content belongs in Stories, not main feeds).

Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct: 

[05:27] Breaking down the secret 1:6 content formula with real-world examples.

[09:20] Content hooks that stop scrolling: myths, facts, secrets, and step-by-step guides.

[26:19] Rapid-fire insights: Will AI outperform human content? 

Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here.

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After eleven episodes dissecting partnership dynamics from every conceivable angle, this season finale doesn't just recap — it crystallises the precise tactical moves separating forgettable affiliate relationships from decade-spanning strategic alliances.

Industry veterans have shared frameworks that actually work in the trenches, not theoretical models that collapse under real-world pressure. Their insights reveal how data transparency reshapes power dynamics, why treating affiliates as vendors guarantees eventual churn, and the micro-moments that compound into sustainable competitive advantage.

Who should listen to this episode?

This wrap-up serves affiliate managers tired of surface-level networking advice and operators questioning why their partnership retention resembles a leaky bucket.

If you've built programs that plateau after initial wins, or wonder why competitors maintain relationships you can't seem to sustain, these consolidated lessons expose what's missing from your approach. Program directors evaluating their 2026 strategy will find tactical adjustments that don't require massive budget increases — just sharper execution on overlooked fundamentals that compound over time.

Talking points include: 

• Data as the New Trust Currency: Why visibility into metrics, transparent tracking systems, and real-time reporting have evolved from nice-to-have features into non-negotiable foundations for building sustainable affiliate partnerships that withstand market volatility.
• From Vendor to Strategic Partner: The mindset shift required to transform transactional affiliate relationships into co-marketing alliances where both parties actively contribute to strategic planning rather than executing predefined promotional calendars.
• The Retention Blueprint: How leading operators moved beyond acquisition metrics to build comprehensive player lifecycle strategies, recognising that understanding traffic source quality determines long-term profitability more than initial conversion rates.

Listen to find out more about: 

• How Leanna Klyne's "five P's" flywheel transforms social media profiles into partner acquisition engines that consistently attract aligned affiliates without cold outreach.
• Why Tero Paivarinta's approach to nurturing smaller, high-growth affiliates delivers better long-term results than chasing established "whale" partners who demand disproportionate attention
• The specific tactical adjustments affiliate managers can implement within existing programs to shift from transactional relationships toward the strategic partnerships that weather market changes and platform policy shifts

Our thanks go to Mate Affiliates as this season's sponsor. Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here.

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