Employee Spotlight: Kelly Ground

How long have you been with Acceleration Partners and what is your current role?

I have been at Acceleration Partners for 4.5 years and I am currently the Associate Director of Strategic Accounts.

What brought you to work in the affiliate marketing industry?

Wow where do I start. After graduating college, I was fortunate to start a role as a marketing coordinator (now 16 years ago) and supported trade shows. Not long after that, I became a marketing assistant for a home décor manufacturing company and started to tie off-line marketing (direct mail, magazines, newspaper ads) to digital and managed a co-op program (paid commission to resellers).

This is when I realized how much I enjoyed partnerships and continued my career working for an employee benefits publisher, until I started at HSN and managed their affiliate and display programs.  After HSN, I started at Acceleration Partners, so I now have experiences with in-house, publishers and the agency side.

Affiliate marketing has evolved in the past 15 years from commissionable partnerships to enhanced tracking, with networks becoming a very important program for omni-channel brands. I have met so many wonderful people and love catching up with partners and colleagues over the years. My daughter is now 10, but when she was born, she was wearing onesies from some of my partners. I love the affiliate marketing industry.

What do you do as the Associate Director of Strategic Accounts in Centralized Delivery Resources?

As the Associate Director of Strategic Accounts, I support initiatives with new and existing clients globally that may need additional strategic guidance to help achieve goals while leveraging industry insights and knowledge.

I use my experiences over the past 15 years to share a different point of view or challenge teams to think differently and be innovative. Some examples of my support include incrementality analyses, projected retail trends for planning, campaign ideas to meet or exceed aggressive goals, strategic partner recruitment and sharing insights with cross teams globally.

In addition, I work closely with our data analysts and publish benchmark reports with industry trends, share out strategic insights and playbooks for teams. I am also available for brainstorming sessions and office hours when needed (one of my favorite things to do!).

What’s something you’ve learned about yourself since working at Acceleration Partners?

I have learned so much since I started at Acceleration Partners, but a few come to mind.

I was fortunate to attend our first leadership summit a few years ago and learned that my “why” is to build relationships based on trust. This aligns with how much I love the affiliate marketing industry and why relationships are so important to me.

I also learned that I can not shut off my brain when it comes to thinking of ways to partner. We do not call partnerships “affiliate” here at Acceleration Partners; instead, we say Performance Partnerships, which is based on our CEO, Robert Glazer’s book.

I learned that if I can track where the consumer is, we can work with any partner that may touch the consumer’s journey along the way. Affiliate marketing is not just coupon and loyalty partners anymore. It is so much more.

Where are your favorite places to go to in Florida?

I have lived in Florida for over 16 years now (originally from New Jersey) and I love it here. I live right outside of Tampa and my favorite places include Clearwater Beach (one of the best beaches in the United States) and Disneyworld (my family and I are annual passholders and love to go when we can pre-COVID).

My favorite places to eat in Florida include the best fajitas at a local Mexican restaurant and at the beach, I like a good grouper sandwich (even though I do not like seafood).

What are some of your favorite hobbies?

I have two kids (my daughter is 10 and my son is 8), so my hobbies include spending time with them and my husband going to the beach, visiting Disneyworld (pre-COVID) going out to dinner (we visit the same Italian restaurant by our house every Friday night) and playing with our dog (we rescued her last May). I am also a die-hard college football fan, so on Saturdays in the fall, you will find me watching the games and cheering for my Clemson Tigers.

What has been your favorite TV show to watch during quarantine?

I loved Cobra Kai (as an 80’s kid, you never forget the Karate Kid). I also enjoyed any romantic/small hometown comedies like Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias, Schitt’s Creek and The Office. Finally, I love anything and everything Disney, so I am happy to watch Disney movies with my kids over and over again.

Contact our team to chat with one of our affiliate marketing experts.