Marina Kostkova works on scaling affiliate performance across the Balkans and the former Yugoslavian region through CJ VIVnetworks and the CJ.com affiliate platform. In this interview, Marina reframes affiliate marketing as an “Olympics” of disciplines that an e-shop must master across the full customer journey.
From acquisition and awareness to conversion and retention, Marina explains why affiliate marketing is not just a secondary channel, but an omnichannel cooperation model where brands pay commission only for confirmed sales. You will also get a preview of Marina’s BES26 session and why regional connection is key to building profitable partnerships.
Marina, the topic of your presentation at the Balkan eCommerce Summit in Sofia is “Marketing Olympics: To the Trophy with Profitable Affiliate Heptathlons”. This is not a very standard way to speak about eCommerce. Can you explain to us why you are comparing the performance of sales channels to an athletic performance like the Olympic Games? What do you mean by the “Trophy”?
In my session, I will present e-shop as a real “athlete” competing in today’s intense digital arena. Just like in the Olympics, success requires mastering multiple disciplines.
An e-shop must solve all eCommerce challenges:
- bringing new traffic
- increasing brand awareness
- promoting specific product or service features
- reducing cart abandonment
- expanding reach
- increasing conversion rate and selling stock
- targeting specific customer groups
- bringing customers back after they leave the site
This is what I call the affiliate heptathlon.
If an e-shop does not cover all the points where a customer appears on the conversion path, it is very likely that a competitor will approach that customer at the right moment – and win this customer.
The solution I will present is affiliate marketing – a true omnichannel cooperation model. Through CJ VIVnetworks and the CJ.com affiliate platform, the most widely used affiliate platform globally, brands gain access to publishers who cover all disciplines of the customer journey.
And the most important part? The e-shop pays commission only when a confirmed sale happens. That’s affiliate – performance without risk.
Many eCommerce brands still underestimate affiliate marketing. Why do you believe it should be a core revenue channel rather than a secondary one?
Through affiliate cooperations eshop can have all channels integrated, this is very important when eshop wants to expand its business to the new market, so affiliates will help as it covers the full conversion path- from awareness to consideration to conversion and retention. If you don’t show up at one of those moments, your competitor will.
And unlike many other marketing investments, with affiliates there is no upfront risk. Brands pay only for confirmed sales.
That’s why affiliate marketing should not be treated as secondary. ECommerce shops can test different kinds of cooperations through affiliates and decide on which promotions they should concentrate at the exact moment of the eshop development.
Nevertheless affiliate cannot be the only channel that eshop should use.
From my experience, e-shops that are open to testing new partnerships and performance-based cooperations achieve stronger and more sustainable long-term growth.
Approach of testing affiliate smartly and long-term cooperation shows as successful for e-commerce shops that are part of our CJ VIVnetworks affiliate network, such as: Notino, Megabon, Footshop, Booking, PinkPanda, Philips, and many others.
You focus on developing affiliate sales across the former Yugoslavian region and the Balkans. What makes this region unique when it comes to performance marketing?
Our CJ.com affiliate platform is the most used affiliate platform in the world and we can see the difference in ecommerce and affiliate development of some regions. While West and Central European regions are more ecommerce developed, the Balkans and the former Yugoslavian region are dynamic, fast-growing, and still developing in terms of structured performance ecosystems.
What makes the region unique is that many e-shops are strong locally in one or two markets and often do not cover all customer journey touchpoints. Expansion to more markets and covering all touchpoints create a huge opportunity.
Through CJ VIVnetworks, we connect local and international publishers on CJ.com with regional advertisers. This enables:
- local affiliate promotion tailored to specific markets
- easy cross-border expansion and access to international publishers for scaling.
Brands in our Balkan region are ambitious – and affiliate gives them a scalable, low-risk model to compete with larger international players.
From your experience in CJ VIVnetworks, what are the most common mistakes brands make when launching or scaling an affiliate program?
The most common mistake is underestimating affiliate marketing and treating it as a totally side project. In our Balkan region most e-commerce stores are still paying high budgets for clicks and impressions, this will change as it has changed in other more ecommerce developed markets.
Generally frequent mistakes include:
- Not covering all “disciplines” of the customer journey (for example some e-shops do not include cashback publishers in their affiliate program, or do not invest their energy in discovering and optimising content cooperation for better brand awareness etc.)
- Focusing only on one type of publishers – this is very risky
- Expecting immediate results without strategic structure
- the last but the most important is that the most expensive is postponing the start of the affiliate program.
Affiliate success begins when an e-shop decides to run the full heptathlon – strategically and consistently.
One of the biggest reasons why affiliate marketing doesn’t achieve the desired results in some eshop is poor communication. In many cases, the real issue is that eshop does not fully understand what affiliate marketing actually is and how it works.
Affiliate is often perceived as something time demanding or complicated. But in reality, it is not time-consuming. A short call or even a brief email once a month is usually enough to stay aligned, share updates, and prepare a clear strategy. It does not require a dedicated full-time specialist. What it does require, however, is consistency.
Many e-shops overlook a fundamental fact: affiliate is a partnership. Not only with publishers, but also with the affiliate network. It is not a tool that can simply be switched on and off depending on short-term needs. It is a channel that needs regular, systematic attention to perform well.
Without communication and regular touchpoints, publishers lack direction and campaigns lose momentum. Over time, this can create the impression that affiliate “doesn’t work,” when in reality, it was never properly supported.
Affiliate marketing does not demand excessive time or resources – it demands steady collaboration. It is not a switch. It is a relationship that grows with regular care.
Affiliate marketing is often seen as purely commission-based. What strategic mindset shift is required for brands to truly succeed in this channel?
The mindset shift is from seeing affiliate as “just commission” to seeing it as strategic partnership management.
Affiliate is performance-based, yes – but it is also about:
- relationship building
- publisher activation
- optimizing placements
- testing new optimized terms
- again optimizing
- understanding customer behavior across touchpoints and in different periods of the years and of the eshop development.
When brands understand that affiliate is omnichannel cooperation without risk – and that they only pay when a confirmed sale happens – they start testing affiliate cooperations and investing in it strategically.
Why is Balkan eCommerce Summit an important platform for companies looking to expand and strengthen their affiliate partnerships in the region?
Because expansion begins with connection.
Balkan eCommerce Summit gathers regional and international eCommerce leaders, brands, and service providers in one place. It creates the perfect environment to discuss growth strategies, cross-border opportunities, and partnership models.
This is our third participation in the summit, so we believe and know this is the right approach – be present where your clients are.
For companies looking to expand or strengthen affiliate partnerships, this event is crucial. We meet with new and existing advertisers, as well as with the publishers, so we can connect them in our CJ.com affiliate ecosystem.
Success begins when an e-shop starts the heptathlon – but affiliate smartly, test cooperations without risk.
And the Summit is exactly where that journey can begin. You are cordially invited to listen to our presentation: Marketing Olympics: To the Trophy with Profitable Affiliate Heptathlons on first day of BES 2026 and visit us at our CJ VIVnetworks stand in Expo zone.
As a bonus, for the occasion of the Balkan E-commerce Summit 2026, CJ VIVnetworks, in collaboration with several clients, has prepared a selection of exclusive discount codes for you. Visit the CJ VIVnetworks stand and you will receive a special leaflet with exclusive discount codes for example from Footshop, Tefal, Mohito, PinkPanda, Gamivo etc.
Meet Marina at Balkan eCommerce Summit 2026
If you want to understand how affiliate partnerships can cover the full customer journey and drive sales without upfront risk, connect with Marina on-site.
🎟️ Grab your ticket at balkanecommerce.com and be part of building stronger connections across the Balkans.