The Affiliate Marketing Podcast

Why Human-Centred Marketing Beats Every Algorithm

Lee-Ann Johnstone - Founder of Affiverse Season 23 Episode 4

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


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