Will Influencers be Essential in a Post-Cookie World? – Nick Stamos, CEO of Rakuten Advertising Explores the Realm of Alternative Publisher Types

Affiliate marketing no longer needs to exist in a silo. With no shortage of challenges edging their way into businesses spanning many sectors, Nick chatted with Hello Partner about how utilising the tools we have around us, and expanding our horizons across the entire partnerships sphere can make our industry come out on top in a post-cookie world.

Rakuten Advertising is constantly looking to push the envelope and expand the horizons of what affiliate marketing can do for marketers and overall performance. This year, we have recognised that this is not just exclusive to the affiliate space for you, as you joined us at the Influencer Marketing Show as a headline partner. What is it that is exciting you about the influencer space?

To drive maximum growth, every affiliate marketer must look ahead to understand how their category and customers will evolve. The influencer space is growing at such a rapid pace that there’s so much to be excited about. When it comes to affiliate, influencers are an increasingly important publisher category for advertisers, and we’re only going to continue to see that trend grow.

Influencers have taken the authenticity and the contextual relevance of affiliate and brought it to a whole new level. Audiences relate to influencers as individuals. They see themselves in and even look up to influencers, creating a deep and strong bond that simply cannot be replicated with other publisher types. With the inevitable removal of the third-party cookie, advertisers will look to affiliate as a way to target and connect with their audiences contextually. I expect influencers to be an essential publisher type in a post-cookie world.

The cross-functional capabilities that come with influencer marketing will continue to strengthen. We’re already seeing this in motion today; brand and performance advertisers are collaborating on projects to leverage influencers to drive both awareness and sales.