StylePilot is a men’s lifestyle platform covering fashion, grooming, sport, watches, gifts and more. We aim at helping men who are looking for the latest lifestyle advice, or outfit guidance, by offering unique inspirational content. Our Essentials series hone in around specific men’s categories and provides easy advice e.g. shirts.
StylePilot is a great place for both the reader to read inspirational content, as well as for brands to communicate their message.
Ultimately, we want to make every man more stylish 24/7, by offering easy-to-digest style advice covering all sectors of menswear, as we believe that every detail matters.
How/why did you enter the affiliate marketing industry?
From day one, entering the affiliate marketing industry has been an obvious opportunity for us. This model was attractive to us for two main reasons. Firstly, this was a great starting point to engage and start conversations with hundreds of brands. Secondly, and most importantly, as it meant that we could instantly monetise the platform, thanks to the CPA model.
Finally, the affiliate marketing industry has been a facilitator for StylePilot to open doors to discuss and nurture collaborations as each affiliate platform has become a network of its own. This industry helps to connect people.
What have you learnt about the industry (good and bad)
The affiliate marketing industry is moving fast which makes it both challenging and exciting at the same time.
From a technical viewpoint, the payment models have kept evolving rapidly over recent years. Last click CPA was the most common method but now more brands are focusing around attribution and the full customer funnel. This is a clear benefit to our site who most commonly hit consumers at the top of the funnel still within the inspiration stage, meaning that we can be rewarded fairly for the hard work we have provided in converting the customer.
Form a person perspective, with a quite high turnover in this industry we constantly need to keep our contacts up-to-date to make sure we keep our relationships as seamless as possible with the brands. Readers like the fact that they can see brands grow on the platform and learn more over time, meaning we always encourage brands to run long term exposure, so a stable contact at advertiser side is always appreciated.
The biggest hurdle we have been facing is linked to stock availability. Most of our articles include specific product links that go straight through to the advertiser site. Sometimes the product goes out of stock which creates a negative experience for the reader. We strive to keep the articles as up-to-date as possible by switching to similar products but this is a very manual process.
Growth in 2019
Since the website has been redesigned at the very end of 2018, so far this year we have launched two new categories. ‘Grooming’ being the first one, as it is important to give men permission to be good to themselves. We’ve been exploring Fragrances, Skincare and Haircare Products to name a few. ‘Gifts’ being the second category, as we have sensed a growing interest for gift guides in recent years, especially around peak times such as Father’s Day and Christmas.
Another category that we have been keen on building out this year has been the Essentials (Shirts, Blazers, Footwear with more to come). We do feel that we have built some easy to follow evergreen guides that are relevant throughout the year.
Last but not least, by the end of this year another brand new category is to be launched: ‘Father and Son”. We believe that being stylish should apply to anyone no matter how old you are.