New York Post Writes Content Commerce Success Story
Read how US agency Today's Business partnered with New York Post to prove the value of content as an acquisition channel at menswear brand State & Liberty.
78% new customer ratio
5,600+ clicks generated
+226% content revenue YoY
State & Liberty is a US menswear retailer specializing in athletic-fit suits, pants, and shirts. With 30+ retail locations across the US and a growing digital presence, the brand is known for its quality among its loyal customer base.
New York Post is one of America's oldest newspapers, reaching one in every New Yorker. It also operates three online sites, including NYPost.com, whose Shopping section features an extensive library of SEO-optimized evergreen listicles, making it a prime platform for product visibility and commerce content.
Today's Business is a full-service performance marketing agency managing State & Liberty's affiliate program. It focuses on identifying untapped growth opportunities and building strategic partnerships that drive sustainable acquisition.
The challenge
State & Liberty had a problem. If you searched for "men's dress shirts" or similar, the competition was very fierce, and getting visibility was not easy.
Despite selling precisely what shoppers wanted, the brand needed more exposure in the SERPs. It had some presence in several top-performing listicles but not enough.
The bigger issue? Before State & Liberty launched their program five years ago, they were skeptical about affiliate marketing itself. But Joe Sanfilippo, Vice President of Growth & Partnerships at the brand’s agency, Today's Business, knew there was an opportunity out there.
For one, he knew State & Liberty's customers were loyal. They made repeat purchases. And when they discovered the brand, they stayed.
The real opportunity wasn't conversion optimization. It was content-driven acquisition.
If State & Liberty could appear in the right content - in this case, evergreen editorial ranking for menswear keywords - it could reach prospective shoppers at the top of the funnel and drive sustainable growth.
The KPIs
Today’s Business was tasked with achieving a 1:1 ROI with at least 50% of customers being new to file. Not an easy ask for non-branded, top-of-funnel targeting. But given State & Liberty's high customer lifetime value, it made business sense.
The strategy would focus on three pillars:
- Build brand credibility through authoritative editorial placements
- Target non-branded keywords to capture prospective shoppers
- Drive long-term awareness with evergreen content that generates returns for years
The solution
"Without partnerships and editorial working together, I truly don't know if this would happen. I can tell Joe that a writer has pitched a relevant article, whereas he can spot high-ranking content at New York Post. Our audience gets product inspiration, we find new commercial opportunities, and State & Liberty has a sustainable acquisition channel it can use all year round."
While some searches for "best athletic fit dress shirts" and similar phrases did not feature State & Liberty, they did surface a familiar name.
New York Post had spent the last six years building a comprehensive library of SEO-optimized commerce content: perfect for a brand like State & Liberty.
Joe had worked closely alongside Ryan Murphy, Partnerships Manager at New York Post, on previous campaigns. This pitch was even more straightforward: put State & Liberty products in writers' hands, get them profiled, track every click and sale through Awin, and offer a high CPA to close the deal.
The teams moved fast to map out a mutually beneficial plan, where opportunities came from either side of the partnership.
Advertiser-driven opportunities
Today's Business identified high-performing New York Post articles and suggested strategic product placements for State & Liberty.
It worked closely with New York Post’s editors to ensure brand alignment. The approach secured prime real estate in listicles for dress shirts, pants, blazers, and jeans.
Today’s Business then took things up a gear by targeting local searches. Here, articles based on topics like “where to buy suits in NYC” were used to drive footfall to State & Liberty's physical stores.
Publisher-driven opportunities
As the partnership matured, New York Post was quick to bring forward new menswear content pitches that aligned with State & Liberty's catalog.
Rather than everything coming via the commercial team, the publication’s editors were quick to surface data-backed opportunities for retrospective inclusions, deepening the collaboration and demonstrating their growing commitment to the partnership.
Placement spotlight
The first placement - "15 Top Dress Pants for Men for Weddings, Work and More in 2025" - encapsulated the approach.
A review of State & Liberty's Athletic-Fit Stretch Pants sat alongside offerings from lululemon, Dickies, and Boss. The copy overviewed key features, sizing, and colors, providing enough information for visitors to either convert or enter the consideration phase.
Within two months, the article hit a 1:1 ROI on a new customer rate of 65%, exceeding the 50% target by 26%. Today's Business moved quickly to replicate the success across multiple product categories.
The results
"Media houses tend to keep editorial and commercial separate, and it doesn't make sense. It has to be editorial-first, but if a product is selling, it means it's resonating with an audience. New York Post listened, understood, and worked with us. Similarly, we went through the New York Post site and used State & Liberty's own data on highest-converting products to get wins out of the gate to increase our campaign budget and see real results."
The first four months validated the approach, as placements in existing content delivered a consistent 1:1 ROI while hitting all the KPIs:
- 89% new customers (+56% above target)
- 2,184 clicks
By the end of year one, the results had accelerated:
- 78% new customers (+44% above target)
- 5,613 clicks
- 226% revenue increase versus the initial four-month period
Instead of 404 errors and missed opportunities, State & Liberty now had evergreen backlinks generating awareness and conversions for years to come.
The geo-targeted NYC content proved particularly valuable. Articles ranking in the top three for terms like "best suits NYC" and "where to buy suits in New York" drove both online conversions and in-store visits.
With New York Post reaching audiences nationwide, there was a natural next step to extend the strategy by highlighting State & Liberty's 40+ locations in cities like Chicago, Dallas, and Miami.
Most importantly, State & Liberty's perception of affiliate marketing had turned. What once seemed like an untapped channel became a sustainable acquisition and brand-building engine powered by strategic content partnerships.
Interested in learning more about the partnership? Listen to Joe and Ryan talking about the keys to their success on Awin-Win Marketing Podcast.