Your Partner in Success: Meet CJ's Agency Solutions Team

In an industry that's all about relationships, teamwork truly makes the dream work. Agencies play a huge part in CJ's affiliate ecosystem and we pride ourselves in providing support and educational resources that help our agency partners shine. 

We sat down with Kat Rymer, Director of CJ's Agency Solutions Team, to dive into what exactly her team does, how agencies work within CJ partnerships, and how agencies can unlock the full potential of the affiliate channel with their expertise.

Kat Rymer, Client Development Director, Agency Solutions, CJ

CJ: Hi, Kat! Tell us a little about your role and your time at CJ.

Kat: I started at CJ as a Client Partnerships Manager on the Agency Team, and I'm now the Director. I oversee our diverse agency portfolio of over 100+ agencies and 500+ agency-managed advertisers.

CJ: Fill us in on the Agency Solutions team and the role it plays in the CJ network.

Kat: Our Agency Solutions team has been around for just about 15 years. When I joined the team in 2015, we were supporting around 20 agencies. We now have a team of seven people supporting 100+ agencies, some of which we’ve worked with for the past 15 years, and some we’re just now getting to know.

We have three account teams supporting dedicated portfolios of agencies, and their role is to act as an extension of their agencies to support their clients on CJ. We’re a one-stop-shop for anything an agency needs, whether that’s someone to help liaise tech or integration support, brainstorm on client needs, or strategy recommendations for optimizing programs. We're experts on the platform and can help you unlock the full potential of CJ for our partners. Think of us as your channel growth partner.

CJ: What makes CJ's Agency Solutions team stand out in the affiliate industry?

Kat: We work with agencies of all shapes and sizes! Whether you have one program on CJ or 200, only manage affiliate or manage all digital marketing channels, are new to the space, or are a seasoned vet, you'll have a dedicated team to meet you where you are, and to help ensure you’re successful with CJ.

CJ: Does your team have a global footprint?

Kat: We sure do! We work with agencies in any region to ensure they have the support and resources they need to effectively manage programs. While our team was born in the US, we’re currently developing additional markets to provide even more localized (and standardized) support. My team is working with other global market leaders to expand our agency support service, shout out to Fred Cortrivend who heads up our Agency Support team in the UK!

CJ: What does the average workday look like for the Agency Solutions team?

Kat: Every day is different, and if you ask the people on my team, they’ll tell you that’s part of what they love about their roles. Our days usually consist of department meetings to share learnings, product stakeholder meetings where we share client feedback to help shape our roadmap, and calls with both our agencies and our shared clients. Something you may not know about our team is we spend a TON of time creating content and everyone chips in!

CJ: What does your team provide to CJ clients that you're most proud of?

Kat: Really amazing support. They all genuinely care about getting both their agencies and advertisers what they need, and they go above and beyond to ensure our entire organization understands our agency partners’ needs. Whenever we’re presented with a challenge for a specific agency or client, my team will do everything we can to ensure an experience is made better for any client that might run into that same challenge in the future, which really helps to shape our organization for the better.

CJ: We know you're always innovating; can you give us a sneak peek into anything on your team’s road map?

Kat: One thing we’re looking forward to building out is a CJ Learning Center for our partners. We launched our CJ Ambassador Program seven years ago which has been great to be able to endorse our partners and to help facilitate training (congrats to the Agency Ambassadors who participated in our 2023 program!). But what we really want to create an on demand, centralized, and guided learning center to help our clients unlock the full potential of CJ. This way both new and seasoned partners can hit the ground running when they’re hired to manage the affiliate channel. 

CJ: If people only know one thing about your team, what do you want them to know?

Kat: Our agencies’ success is our success, and we don’t see them as competitors. We’re here to help each other shine and promote optimization for their clients. We’re heavily invested in helping our agencies grow their clients’ programs to achieve their goals.

CJ: You're a seasoned vet in the industry and within your team. What keeps you interested in the area?

Kat: We’ve hit an incredible stride in the last couple years with our product innovations so it’s been fun to be able to talk to our partners about all the new opportunities they can unlock. Our new integration suite really gives clients limitless potential, and I love being able to have those conversations with our clients.

CJ: What makes an agency successful within CJ?

Kat: You have to use us! While we provide a ton of great information through newsletters or network trend reporting from our Marketing and Data Science teams without you having to do anything, your dedicated team is waiting to hear from you to learn more about your clients, their needs, and how we can help to grow their programs. We often say to think of us as your front door to CJ, but the first step is opening that door!

CJ: How can agencies interested in working with CJ and/or our Agency team get in touch?

Kat: You can always feel free to reach out to me and I'll point you in the right direction or introduce you to our team. I also work very closely with Sean Longman who heads up our Business Development team. If you're interested in launching a client on CJ, or if it’s been a while and you just want to reconnect, shoot us an email: Sean Longman or Kat Rymer.

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Thanks, Kat!

Want to learn more about the CJ Agency Solutions team and what they can do for you? Check out our Agency page for more info.