In this episode, Nancy Harnett, Head of HubSpot’s Affiliate Marketing Program, shares how they transformed their strategy to achieve 2x ROI. By shifting from a broad partnership model to a highly personalized, one-on-one approach, HubSpot was able to build stronger collaborations and drive better performance. She highlights the importance of prioritizing key partners, offering tailored support, and using data-driven testing and rapid iteration to optimize the program. Instead of flat-fee structures, HubSpot focuses on performance-based incentives and treats partnerships as strategic investments, similar to marketing or HR functions. Nancy also discusses the company’s powerful tech stack, including HubSpot CRM, Impact, PartnerStack, and AI tools, while emphasizing the need for compliance, fraud prevention, and a customer-centric approach. She explores underutilized partner opportunities, outlines a realistic one-year timeline for building a successful affiliate program, and shares valuable book recommendations such as Nudge and Atomic Habits.
What is Always Be Testing?
Your guided tour of the world of growth, performance marketing, customer acquisition, paid media, and affiliate marketing.
We talk with industry experts and discuss experiments and their learnings in growth, marketing, and life.
Time to nerd out, check your biases at the door, and have some fun talking about data-driven growth and lessons learned!