Activating New Affiliate Partners and Technology

The first step was a “grassroots” discovery and recruitment process in collaboration with impact.com. With new affiliates in mind, Rise’s team used impact.com’s Discovery tool and created a custom-targeted approach to find highly compatible partners. We determined the below key criteria to filter out and find the best possible partners:

• US-based audiences
• Experience working with health and beauty products
• Heavily indexed towards commerce content
• No requirements for single-use or vanity codes
• Minimal to zero tech integration required from the Ulta Beauty team
• Case studies with revenue/performance impact when possible

The teams then researched and connected with publishers and content creators easily—moving them through the onboarding process much faster than in the past. Next, we trimmed waste from the current affiliate portfolio: streamlining processes and focusing on partner performance. Detailed tracking metrics helped us allocate resources to talented, engaging partners. This way, Rise and Ulta Beauty could expand the top-earners list and build a broader partnership base. Finally, impact.com’s Partner Success team also used their own network to recruit from an even wider pool of potential partners. 

Throughout the process, we honed each step for ongoing improvements: 

• Discovery
• Recruitment
• Contracting
• Providing resources to partners
• Tracking partner performance
• Optimizing operations and boosting top performers

Collaboration played a major role in the success of Ulta Beauty’s affiliate program. By combining their drive and expertise, Rise and impact.com’s teams moved quickly and efficiently—saving Ulta Beauty time and money while knocking their goals out of the park. With Rise and impact.com on their side, Ulta Beauty’s team could now foster relationships with more diverse affiliate partners than ever before.