MarTech Interview with Stephanie Harris, CEO and Founder at PartnerCentric

Stephanie, would you kindly share a brief overview of your professional journey that led to founding PartnerCentric?

During my junior year of university, I interned at Scholastic Book Publishing Company. They tasked me with founding their affiliate program in the early 2000’s. I loved the company and the emerging affiliate marketing industry so much that it became my first job out of college where I developed first affiliate marketing program for the now 100-year-old company.

I joined Schaaf Consulting as one of their first employees in 2006 and rose to CEO by 2015. I understood from the ground up where I wanted to take the business, what it could be capable of, and the opportunity to build an agency rooted in transparency and technology to empower our clients. In 2017, I bought out the founding partners, and PartnerCentric was born.

As a female leader in a male-dominated industry, how do you see your role in reshaping the narrative of women in leadership?

Women in the workplace often face a unique series of challenges, from advancing their careers in male-dominated industries to dealing with difficult office cultures and politics, to balancing job responsibilities with caregiving ones. With that said women have a unique perspective and set of skills to bring to the table, but are typically still underestimated especially in leadership roles. While initially it could feel that this undermines our capabilities, I have found it an advantage and try to lead by example. I can be unpredictable in the ways I lead my business and direct my teams. I have found that listening to my instincts, charting a unique course, and accomplishing feats that many might perceive as unattainable sparks my willingness to take risks – an integral component of successful leadership.

How does PartnerCentric specifically champion data-informed transparency within the partnership marketing industry?

Transparency and accountability have never been more important as the boundaries between marketing channels continue to blur. Over the years, marketers have been in the dark about which affiliate partners truly create incremental lift. PartnerCentric built the FUSE IncrementalityTM Index and patented FUSE technology to debunk affiliate marketing myths, offer clear data-driven views of each partner’s digital purchase pathway impact, and deliver actionable and automated commission opportunities across all channels of influence.

For example, the technology can dynamically evaluate affiliate partners’ propensity to generate new customers:

Who are the partners that are influential early in the purchase path and don’t require multiple touchpoints to close the sale?

How effectively are partners reactivating potential customers who fell off the purchase path?

With a cookieless future coming down the pike and the industry’s current struggle with the GA4 migration, everyone is looking for a bridge between first-party data and AdTech. Our FUSE Incrementality™ Index platform evaluates the incremental value of affiliate and content creator partners aligning with GA4 that effectively addresses two key problems: affiliate attribution and affiliate partner incrementality. As an example, agencies could walk into a completely new opportunity on behalf of their clients with a holistic understanding of the impact across the customer journey through this tech. They can ‘cut the cord’ with automated third-party toolsets.

What innovative strategies has PartnerCentric embraced to lead with data-informed transparency?

We are rooted in transparency and technology to put the power back in the hands of our clients. Budget-strapped marketers and the partnership marketing industry have lacked a unified standard to determine which affiliate partners, content creators, and publishers drive true incremental growth.

Beyond our patented FUSE technology and our FUSE IncrementalityTM Index, we launched the Incrementality Power Rankings, the first completely partner-agnostic data-driven reporting that pinpoints genuinely incremental partnership marketing expenditures and categories that move the needle.

How do you envision PartnerCentric’s efforts influencing the broader landscape for women in leadership roles within the marketing industry?

In an industry not typically known for transparency or flexibility, PartnerCentric was purpose-built to be different. As a CEO, founder, and mother of four, I had a firsthand understanding of the need for remote work to balance day-to-day life. I wanted to have flexibility and I think other people deserved it too. It not only strengthens the agency for client success but provides a foundation for employees to thrive, regardless of their location.
The company continually evolves its client service model, technological offerings, and employee programs to ensure stability, career growth, and holistic well-being. Because of this, 75% of our employees have over six years of tenure. Focusing on consistent improvement and listening to our employees ensures they feel connected and their voices heard. By prioritizing personal and professional growth, PartnerCentric nurtures a culture where its people, the core of the business, can flourish.

In navigating challenges within the partnership marketing industry, what strategies has PartnerCentric employed to maintain a leadership position?

With deep expertise in partnership marketing, PartnerCentric acknowledged the challenges their clients wrestle with every day: misattribution, overpayment of commissions, and a lack of incrementality measurement.

We have excelled by strategically enhancing our advanced technology stack to tackle these profound obstacles to outstanding affiliate performance. The patented FUSE technology, lauded for revolutionizing partner commissioning accuracy based on clients’ analytics, was shortlisted for The US Partnership Awards Most Innovative Technology. We then launched the FUSE IncrementalityTM Index, a client-centric solution for evaluating the incremental value of affiliate and content creator partners. This technological advancement, coupled with a remarkable 200% year-over-year growth in new business, highlights our success in navigating industry challenges and being a leader in partnership marketing innovation.

Based on PartnerCentric’s journey, what future trends and key takeaways do you have for the evolution of the partnership marketing industry?

Heavier Weighting Towards Content: With more advertisers beginning to embrace multi-touch attribution, content sites will see more days in the sun. Costs will increase due to higher demand, but with better insights from solutions, such as FUSE, it will mitigate redundant and wasted media spend.
Content Creators Will Seize The Day: With more time spent on YouTube and TikTok, influencers will continue to garner more eyeballs. Affiliate marketing will be an innovation game, providing them with more ways to monetize their audiences and more ways for marketers to scale their influencer marketing investment.
Insights Can Differentiate: Marketers who have deployed better solutions to turn data-backed insight into action will be well-positioned to win the game over their competitors in the face of a cookieless future.
Blurred lines: Transparency and accountability have never been more important as the boundaries between marketing channels continue to blur. As an example, the convergence of media pitching and content that is very editorially driven is pushing traditional PR Agencies towards needing to provide and prove traction. Trackability is a really important KPI across ALL departments in the marketing mix to understand value and performance.

As we conclude, any final thoughts or personal reflections on your role in shaping the future of partnership marketing and leadership?

Regarding partnership marketing, brands with existing programs may experience a bit of tunnel vision, because that’s how it “has always been done” – making them unable to impartially assess the current program/strategy to date.

In working with multiple clients, as agencies do, we have the luxury of seeing successes, upcoming trends, and unique opportunities that may not be readily visible to brands.

The fresh perspective an agency can bring is based on best practices tested dozens of times across various verticals. It allows us to understand the opportunities and partners to help move programs forward to the next level.

In regards to leadership, remember, you don’t need ‘permission’ to speak – a good idea is a good idea. I believe in fostering a culture from the top that acknowledges contributions no matter where they come from which cultivates an environment that allows for out-of-the-box thinking. Consider folding in other aspects of the business to make yourself more well-rounded and feel informed in various scenarios i.e. if you are from a traditional comms background, educate yourself on the financial side to arm yourself with the ability to run a P&L.

Could you kindly share concise advice for aspiring leaders, especially women in male-dominated industries, aiming for transparency and innovation?

Bet on yourself.

Men have an easier time taking risks. Women see other leaders and doubt themselves. Women say to themselves: “I can never do that,” “I don’t know how they accomplish that,” “They’re much smarter than me,” “They understand technology better than I do,” or “They understand things that I could never understand.”

We all have unique abilities. For women who are ambitious and think that they’d like to go further, I say, push yourself. There are heads of every organization who have impostor syndrome. Men are better at pushing doubt aside and taking more risks, and often think, “If I fail, I fail.” Women are more worried about failing and not getting the opportunity again.

If you fail, the opportunities are what you make of them. That’s a piece of advice that I give people in the business: “I expect some amount of failure.” It’s what you do with failure, how you learn from it, and what you do with the next opportunity that matters. If you’re not failing, then you’re not putting yourself out there.

For more expert Interviews, articles and industry updates, follow Martech News