Unveiling LOOKFANTASTIC’s Affiliate Marketing Triumph in Southeast Asia with Skimlinks

We’re delighted that we got the chance to welcome Aria Li, Senior Marketing Executive – Asia at LOOKFANTASTIC to talk through their affiliate marketing strategy and commerce content partnership with Skimlinks.

Could you tell us a bit of background about you and your role at LOOKFANTASTIC?

With three more years of marketing experience, currently I lead the Asia affiliate team, overseeing the performance of all affiliates. All country leads primarily focus on executing affiliate communication for their respective regions, taking into consideration language and other relevant factors.

I find Affiliate Marketing particularly intriguing as it allows me to gain a comprehensive overview of the entire Asian market, facilitating a deeper understanding of business dynamics.

My role involves collaborating with diverse networks, providing a constant stream of interesting and challenging work. This diversity allows me to engage with various products, services, and target audiences.

Creativity and innovation are integral to developing effective strategies in this field. The nature of Affiliate Marketing encourages me to think outside the box, experiment with new ideas, and stay ahead of industry trends.

Navigating the dynamic digital marketing landscape requires continuous learning and adaptation to changes in algorithms, platforms, and consumer behavior. This environment promotes not only personal but also my professional growth.

Where does affiliate marketing fit into your ecommerce strategy?

Affiliate marketing is a versatile and cost-effective strategy that aligns well with our e-commerce objectives, offering opportunities for growth, increased visibility, and expanded customer acquisition.

1. Expanded Reach: Affiliate marketing allows ecommerce businesses to tap into new audiences by leveraging the networks of their affiliates. 
2. Cost-Effective Advertising: As a performance-based model, affiliate marketing is usually compensated based on their performance. 
3. Performance Measurement and ROI: Businesses can track the success of their affiliate campaigns by monitoring clicks, conversions, and sales. This data-driven approach allows for effective analysis and optimization, ensuring a positive ROI.
4. Strategic Partnerships: Building strong relationships with affiliates can lead to long-term collaborations, helping to establish trust and credibility in the market.
5. Customer Trust and Recommendations: When an affiliate recommends a product or service, it can carry more weight than traditional advertising. This trust can lead to increased conversions and loyal customers for us.

How has your affiliate strategy evolved in recent years?

Focus on Content Quality: High-quality content has become increasingly important in affiliate marketing. 

Diversification of Affiliate Partnerships: Diversity of affiliate partnerships helps in reaching different audience segments and markets.

Transitioning from mainly the Chinese market to the broader Asian market, would not only provide a comprehensive understanding and drive the performance of the entire Asian market but also significantly contribute to global marketing initiatives.

How has Skimlinks helped LOOKFANTASTIC since the partnership started?

We work with Skimlinks, enabling publishers to earn commission from working with us and drive performance with their commerce content. 

Skimlinks has the expertise and the tools to power commerce strategies on every channel from website, mobile, social and more in order to maximize the exposure and conversion opportunities of our brands. They also help us to find more publishers that we can cooperate with, optimize our ongoing performance with top publishers, and bring more insights on how to work with top-performing publishers and informative industry guidance too. 

You’ve been able to build great relationships with publishers through Skimlinks, what value has that brought? 

Skimlinks gives us more useful insights for publishers and the industry. They help us drive the performance by commissions and other events. They enabled us to build a great relationship with publishers and helped us to reach more audiences.

Affiliate marketing is still very nascent in certain countries in APAC. How did you approach the market, as a lot of retailers here may not have affiliate programs yet in those countries?

We are mainly focusing on the growing markets currently, but would like to approach other countries in the future to see if there are any opportunities. 

The E-commerce landscape and consumer behavior have changed post pandemic, how do you see this will evolve and affect your business? Are there any trends you are excited about this year?

Remember to stay updated with the latest industry news and consumer behavior studies to adapt your strategies accordingly. Additionally, monitoring how your specific business niche evolves and staying agile in response to changing trends will be essential for long-term success.

What are your plans for 2024? Are there specific events you’re focusing on?

We aim to attract new customers and expand our customer base. Also we’d like to discover more potential/trending brands, strategies and potential partnerships to enhance our offerings. Additionally, we are looking to onboard more publishers in the market to amplify our reach. In our pursuit of growth, we would like to see more offline opportunities to further broaden our presence and engagement in the market.

Any advice for publishers who would like to work with you?

Clear and effective communication, provide high-quality resources, incentives, regular update publishers, performance tracking and reporting, responsive support, educational resources from competitors/industry etc.

What do you love most about Skimlinks?

Skimlinks already has a mature resource system with worldwide top publishers/networks. It helps us to increase visibility with publishers as well as expand the customer reach and revenue growth.