Our ‘Profile: A Day in the Life of’ feature takes a look at some of the global professionals working across performance marketing. It aims to shed light on the varying roles and companies across the flourishing industry. This week we head to Glasgow to speak to Sean Mahon,  https://performancein.com/profile-hub/company/equator/affiliate manager at Equator.  

Name: 

Sean Mahon

Job title and company:

Affiliate manager at Equator.

In one sentence, how would you describe what the company does?

We provide digital strategy, design, web development, SEO, PPC, affiliates, strategic digital marketing and more for a whole host of clients ranging from across the globe to right here in our back yard of Glasgow, Scotland.

What are the company’s unique selling points?

We have an Avengers-style line-up of over 100 talented digital experts who all work in a collaborative manner to produce awesome results for our clients. It’s a great mix of personalities and skill sets that make for one of the most rewarding environments I’ve worked in.

Within the last six months/year, what stands out as the company’s major milestones? 

We recently celebrated our 15th birthday here at Equator and partied like it was 1999! Looking back we’ve grown from humble beginnings at our creative director’s then flat in Glasgow to our ever expanding headquarters and New York offices. Client-wise we’ve had a great year with the likes of Paul Mitchell whom we launched an award-winning website for back in August. From an affiliate perspective we’ve had some great success over the past few months with our hotel clients in particular including Macdonald Hotels, Malmaison and Hotel du Vin. As always, we have loads of cool stuff in the pipeline that I’d love to tell you about but it’s all very shush shush at the moment.

Duration in current role:

Knocking on for two months. My colleagues tell me it feels like I’ve been here for ages. I’m going to take that as a compliment and not dwell on it for too long…

Where are you based?

Glasgow, Scotland.

Previous performance marketing-related companies you have worked at:

I have over six years affiliate marketing experience exclusively in the online fashion industry ranging from the big high street brand names to smaller, more specialised menswear and sneaker stores.

What are your main job responsibilities?

I am responsible for defining and delivering affiliate strategies for all of our clients here at Equator. I also head up our affiliate team, overseeing the daily management of our various programmes and making sure the team is happy. As any affiliate manager will attest to, I also spend a lot of time on the phone.

Take us through what you get up to on a typical working Monday: 

I usually start the morning by spending a lot of time considering what trainers to wear to work. It’s a very serious business altogether and a task that I don’t take lightly. Once I hit the office I do the usual network-wide check on all our programmes to assess the weekend’s performance. In my previous roles client-side, Mondays were always about reporting. I thought I was going to escape that by joining an agency but alas it would appear that Mondays are universal reporting days. I also prep a lot of stuff ahead of our client catch-ups and internal meetings. I usually try and catch up with our guys at Affiliate Window, Webgains and Commission Junction too.

What top three websites can you be found browsing during your lunch hour?

Four Pins for the latest fire attire, Fightland for the latest MMA news and I usually try and recapture my childhood by scouring eBay for old GI Joe and WWF action figures.

What are your top three tips for someone looking to get their hands on a job like yours?

“We are in the business of relationships”, is what I tell people when they ask me what affiliate marketing is all about. I’m not sure how clear that is though as my parents back in Ireland still have no clue what I do for a living. Seriously though, it is a relatively small industry so it’s all about meeting people and building relationships. That’s why events such as the ones PerformanceIN run are so good for meeting new people as well as putting faces to names. I would also advise setting yourself up as an affiliate on all the main networks to get a feel for how the whole thing works. Lastly, I would say be prepared to step outside your comfort zone and approach everything with open eyes, especially when you’re dealing with a diverse range of clients.

Career-wise, where do you see yourself in three years’ time?

I would hope that I can continue to play a part in and contribute to the affiliate marketing scene here in the UK. I’m a retail guy at heart so would love to champion affiliate marketing within the menswear and sneaker industry that I came from. There are some great examples of affiliates out there doing a fantastic job currently such as thedropdate.com, and I’d like to continue to educate stores and brands alike on how affiliate marketing can work for them.

Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?

I have a big mouth so there’s probably not much I haven’t shared already. Hmm… I’m unnaturally good at making scrambled eggs?