Robert Glazer is a pioneer in the performance marketing world. As the Founder and Managing Director of Acceleration Partners, Robert and his team work with companies like Target, Adidas and Reebok to create and manage powerful affiliate programs to promote their brands and profitably acquire new customers.
“Marketing partners should do well when the company does well,” Robert said. “If done correctly, performance marketing is a win-win model that people could get excited about.”
But he had a challenge. Despite its win-win nature, performance marketing has a mixed reputation.
The performance marketing world was a hotbed for get rich quick schemes, and Robert knew that there was a bigger opportunity in this model than people realized, if he could just get the message out.
He decided to write a book to set the record straight on his industry
Because of the mixed reputation of performance marketing, the business model wasn’t taken seriously enough as a profitable customer acquisition strategy by Fortune 500 executives.
Robert decided that a book was the best way to elevate the conversation to the VPs and C suites of the companies that could benefit most from performance marketing.
To do this, he needed to own the bad of the industry as well as the good. Most of what has been written about performance marketing (normally, under the name affiliate marketing) has been focused on how to earn quick, easy money.
Robert knew he needed to address these challenges if he was going to assume a role of leadership within the industry.
But, more importantly, most writing hadn’t explored what Robert saw as more important — the idea that performance marketing should be a major part of most businesses.
“We felt like we could bring the whole industry up a level and make it a safer place for the CMOs and other executives to want to get involved.”
Robert created Performance Partnerships, the definitive book for his industry
As a busy business owner, Robert knew the message he wanted to share but struggled to find the time to make it happen. He decided to work with Book In A Box to help him make the book a reality.
Right from the start, Robert was clear that he didn’t just want to create another book. He wanted to create a great book — one that people would read, learn from, enjoy, and recommend.
“Right away, the team helped me get the story out, get clarity on the message, and provide structure. Every person I’ve worked with has been better than the last. It’s clear that there’s an incredible high standard in [the Book In A Box] DNA.”
Working together with his team, Robert created Performance Partnerships.
The result was exactly what he had envisioned. The book is a fun, compelling read that pushes the envelope without rocking the boat. For people inside and outside the performance marketing world, the book clearly defines the narrative for his industry, as well as a path to move forward.
Right out of the gate, the book raised Robert’s profile within the industry
As Robert hoped, early readers gave him powerful, positive feedback on the book. As the reviews and testimonials poured in, he shifted his focus to how to spread the book to a wider audience.
To do this, Robert stepped into his role as a leader in the industry.
He was a guest on dozens of podcasts including the Andreessen Horowitz podcast and Entrepreneur on Fire, has booked multiple speeches including the Fortune ScaleUp event, and has been featured on mainstream TV shows like Dr Oz.
“A book is almost a prerequisite for the top tier of media and conferences,” he said. “If you look at some of these events, every single speaker has their book next to them.”
Opportunities began to roll in in ways that he didn’t expect. He’d speak to a potential client who heard about him from a colleague, who heard him on a podcast, who asked him to come on because of the book.
“It’s hard to keep track of, but it all starts with the book,” Robert explained. “When I work backwards and calculate things, I can easily point to over a million dollars in economic value added through the book’s impact.”
More importantly, the book helped raise the standing of the industry as a whole
Robert wasn’t just concerned with becoming a leader in his industry for its own sake. He assumed a leadership role so he could elevate the industry as a whole.
Before the book, Robert didn’t have trouble standing out as a key person in his field. His challenge was that media and conferences weren’t sure if performance marketing was a topic that their audiences would care about.
The reputation of the industry was holding him back from providing value.
At its core, performance marketing is about growth, but the term affiliate marketing constrained it to a niche of online marketers. Larger corporations ignored the opportunities in performance marketing because it wasn’t on their radar.
“The book isn’t about bringing me to a larger audience, it’s about bringing this whole form of marketing to a larger audience who can benefit from it.”
The industry is looking to Performance Partnerships as their definitive text
One of the challenges that stems from the mixed reputation of the performance marketing industry is that people in the field had trouble explaining their work.
“So many people in this industry feel misunderstood. I’ve had several people tell me that they were going to give the book to their parents so they could finally understand what they did.”
Individuals are giving the book to their friends and family to explain their work, companies are giving the book to new employees as an onboarding tool, and potential clients are having their marketing departments read the book to determine whether performance partnerships are for them.
Because it’s accessible, clear, and honest, Performance Partnerships is paving the way to help non-industry people learn about and appreciate performance marketing.
“That’s what I’m most proud of,” Robert said. “Most family or friends wouldn’t enjoy another marketing book in a field they don’t understand. But Performance Partnerships is a book worth reading. I’m constantly surprised how much people outside my industry have enjoyed it.”