In our on-going series of posts about LinkShare Platinum Publishers we bring you News and Views from Vertive, a company that publishes websites that help save consumers money when they shop online.
Read-on to learn from Howard Schaffer, Vice President of Business Development, about new updates Vertive and what they have to offer advertisers.
Enjoy!!!
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Catherine Hagan
Marketing Specialist
How long has Vertive been working with LinkShare?
We have worked with Linkshare for over 8 years and have been awarded multiple Golden Link Awards by LinkShare.
How has the performance marketing industry changed from your perspective in the last few years?
It has matured in to an industry. You are seeing consolidation, Venture funding and large companies emerging into the space. Vertive, LLC continues to look for acquisition opportunities.
What’s new with Vertive and Offers.com?
We launched a new site in September, CouponCodes.com. In addition, we continue to expand Offers.com to be a destination site that helps consumer save money and time. Content has been added to help users make buying decisions on the best time to buy. We also added a “merchant concierge” area, this helps users know if they can order online and pickup in store, order online and ship to store and order online and return to store. We continue to be aggressive on the PR side, we had 25+ local PR hits during Back-to-School and have big plans for this holiday.
What should Advertisers be aware of?
Smaller affiliates that are only looking to make money today and do not have long term strategies or brands.
What do you need from Advertisers in order to be successful?
We focus on building long term relationships. This is done through two way communication with the advertiser. Understanding the advertisers goals really helps us align our goals with them.
What opportunities do Advertisers commonly miss when it comes to performance marketing?
Working with their top partners and up and coming partners more closely. Affiliates are very savvy and nimble. We are incentivized to perform and are willing to take risks for long term benefits. Challenge your affiliates and they will come up with a solution for you.
Q4 is here! What’s your best advice for those Advertisers trying to maximize sales?
Focus on your top and up and coming affiliates. The old 80/20 rule. Make sure these affiliates have what they need to succeed. Most importantly, communicate your offers as early as possible. Assume your biggest competitors are already giving affiliates more than you are.
How is social networking and mobile commerce changing your business?
Over the last few months we have really grasped social media marketing. We use Facebook as another way to market to our users. Our Facebook fan page is a mini-Offers.com site. It allows our Facebook visitors to do many of the functions we have on Offers.com
What other trends do you see on the horizon for 2012?
We believe online shopping and the coupon space will continue to grow in 2012. Based on surveys we have done, only a small percentage of shoppers are using coupons and offers when they are buying. We think in 2012 shoppers will be more likely to start their shopping experience at a site like Offers.com
Great stuff Howard! Thanks for taking the time!
