Publisher Spotlight: Her Black Book

Sali Sasi, Co-Founder

Sali describes the inspiration behind Her Black Book, the opportunity for retailers to connect with savvy women who love to shop, their exciting roadmap for growth and the milestones they have already reached (including #1 on the App Store in the Magazine & Newspapers.)

Tell us a little bit about your brand.

Sali: Her Black Book is a curated shopping and discovery app, plus a digital magazine that ties back into the shopping feature. We focus on a seamless user experience to help shoppers browse for their favourite brands, discover new products and great deals – all in one place. Our platform encourages brands to be ‘discovered’ by new and engaged audiences that are ready to shop – saving Her time and money.

We publish brand partners’ discounts and direct traffic to their website. While we encourage a unique HBB discount code, we can also publish discounts that are already in market to support our brand partners’ objectives.

Our innovative app is designed to attract and engage Gen Z, Millennials, 40+ and basically ALL women who love to shop! We want Her to never miss a great sale from Her favourite brands, and we’re also about to launch cashback offers which is exciting.

Having only just launched November last year, we’ve already hit a few big milestones, including #1 on the App Store in the Magazine & Newspapers and #1 Grossing shopping app in Google Play.

Our digital magazine content not only covers all our categories of Fashion, Beauty, Wellness, Lifestyle, but also Motherhood, Business, Finance. We want our community to remain engaged on the app whether they are browsing for a sale or reading a style guide, and be inspired to shop.

What sets you apart from publishers in your category?

Sali: We’ve filled a gap that has been missing by carefully curating affiliate offers that are catered to women in an upmarket app, complete with shopping inspiration and education via our digital magazine. We’ll be introducing ‘push notifications’ soon so our audiences don’t miss a sale from their favourite brand again.

Our app is free to download – this gives shoppers access to always-on promos (i.e. 10% off for first time shoppers), and allows brands to have visibility on Her Black Book. Users can upgrade to become a ‘member’ ($24.99 per year, or 3-month options) to access bigger discounts and flash sales. Instead of waiting for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or other retail events to come around, brands can promote their flash sales 24/7.

As well as providing a beautiful place to shop, we’re also about doing good. Each year we’ll donate $10,000 to various female charities. This is done through our ‘Up Close’ section, where we interview 20 inspiring women each year and donate $500 on their behalf to a charity of their choice.

On International Women’s Day this year, we partnered with Samsung to create the Up Close event, a panelled-style breakfast with the objective to provide personal and professional development, including how tech supports women in business. This launch tied in with our inaugural Festival of Her where we championed over 100 female-led businesses, celebrating the face behind the brand. It was a successful campaign and one we are incredibly proud of. To be able to shine a spotlight on all the talented female business owners and enable their brand to be discovered and shopped on our app, was a rewarding experience. We will be doing this twice a year.

How do you help advertisers add value and drive incrementality?

Sali: We seamlessly place your discounts into the hands of women who love to shop, literally in the palm of their hands!

The ‘always on’ offers are great for a brand’s visibility and enable them to have premium brand adjacencies for an elevated promotional experience. Plus, it drive more conversions with bigger discounts to our members.

Advertising and co-branded marketing opportunities also exist via advertorial spots in our digital magazine, a ‘Featured’ position in the Discovery shopping section, and creative social media tiles and stories on our Instagram @herblackbookau (15.4k).

What excites you about the affiliate marketing industry and where it’s headed? What new innovations will we see from you this year?

Sali: Our vision is to become a staple on every woman’s phone and become the one-stop-destination that connects brand promotions and product discovery.

With many discount and reward apps that are out in market and serve their purpose, our positioning is of an aspirational environment for high-end through to high-street brands. We are currently the only discount platform that is premium in design.

The uptake has been well received by retailers and consumers alike, and the numbers of brands and shoppers that are joining are growing rapidly each day.

Our roadmap includes many meaningful events that involves brands. The events have been a great driving force to help promote our brands, including Wellness Week in January that focussed on beauty, wellness and lifestyle services, and our aforementioned Festival of Her.

Cashback is launching in April, and we’re excited to start promoting our brands that are offering cashback whether it is stacked with a discount or not.

We’re so thrilled by the uptake and positive feedback and are so excited for what the future holds! Not only have we built an app to support retailers and address the needs of consumers, but we’re also building a community of engaged, like-minded women. Our audiences are always looking out for our campaigns and deals, and they’re also keen to attend our public events too.

Why did you choose to partner with Rakuten Advertising?

Sali: Rakuten Advertising is one of the largest affiliate networks in Australia, hosting a wide selection of incredible brands across the iconic staples through to premium and luxury. It’s been a seamless experience for us to acquire new partners that align with our core values. The Rakuten team is great to work with, helping facilitate our relationship between brands to ensure our key message, as well as their key messages, are being shared to ensure a user friendly and mutually beneficial experience for the shopper.

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Interested in partnering with Her Black Book? Reach out to your Rakuten Advertising account representative or contact us today. To be the first to hear about our next Publisher Spotlight, subscribe to our blog.