The History of LinkShare – Higher Service Standards
By Lori Wilkerson
Pay-for-performance marketing
is the lynchpin in the history of LinkShare, a company that now boasts
over ten million pay-for-performance partnerships between publishers and
advertisers.
CEO Stephen
Messer led the company, founded in 1996, to early, success with
impressive attention to detail and a patented tracking system
that made sense for both advertisers and affiliates.
In mid-2001,
LinkShare had a downturn (like so many affiliate programs) that
was reversed by an infusion of capital from Japanese giant
Mitsui that rejuvenated the company. Messer took the opportunity
to open the doors of the previously rather hush-hush company to
more scrutiny in response to complaints that there wasn’t enough
access to concrete numbers. Largely as a result of his efforts,
confidence in LinkShare’s marketing savvy was restored.
By February of
2002, however, the company had come back with a vengeance,
reporting sustained profitability for six straight months. It
announced the launch of LinkShare’s MediaTracker Technology,
which enabled companies to accurately track not only online
business partnerships, but banner ads, email campaigns and any
other form of Internet marketing venture. It soon became the
basis for some of their most successful new partnership
acquisitions.
LinkShare has
always held some of the giants of commerce as clients, including
American Express, AT&T and Office Depot because of their
corporate identity and streamlined, exemplary operating
procedures. The company runs like a well-oiled affiliate machine
and is considered the Cadillac of the pay-for-performance
network.
Taking the Lead in Alternatives
When
conventional wisdom in the affiliate universe was stoutly
declaring that fewer, more dedicated affiliates were the better
plan, LinkShare didn’t automatically swallow the logic for every
client.
In April of
2003, the company worked with
Buy.com on a
plan to increase sales that would work for them and chose to
increase their pay-for-performance partnerships by about 16%.
The resulting increase in sales revenue was an impressive 37%
over the year before in the same quarter.
By focusing on
a somewhat larger group of affiliates that could be relied on to
generate a few good sales each month, Buy.com succeeded in
capturing significantly higher sales at a lower commission rate
while a larger number of affiliate members earned commissions
than were previously able to at the other end. This type of
customized strategic planning is part of LinkShare’s history of
exceptional client service.
Rich Media
Links enable websites to constantly update their links with
fresh creative so that they don’t run the risk of linking to
purchases or offers that are defunct. Fresh content that can be
updated as frequently as every week improves conversion rates
dramatically; making LinkShare’s some of the best in the
industry.
One example of
this is
Overstock.com, which provides link updates to their
pay-for-performance partners that highlight best selling videos
or current specials. They also market any high-run overstocks
are seasonal items this way to clear their inventory, and it
usually results in a clearly seen spike in their conversion
rates.
LinkShare is a
company that has built their reputation on being the earliest
and most exclusive in the market. Their patented marketing
tracking program and niche with the biggest companies out there
mean they will always be one of the top companies around. If you
get an invitation to the
LinkShare Symposium (it’s by invitation
only) – go. You’ll network with leaders on both ends of the
spectrum.
Today LinkShare
works with nearly every Fortune 500 company that has affiliate
marketing partnerships in place, and it looks like the company
will continue to do so. The future looks bright for
LinkShare.
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About The
Author
Lori Wilkerson
is a full-time freelance writer who loves her work because it
gives her the opportunity to learn more about the world every
day. Right now, she knows a little bit about almost everything,
and a lot about
making money
at home with a computer.
She has two dogs who are spoiled and one teenager who is not.
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