With last week’s news of a major affiliate network closing its doors, we wanted to remind you that MonetizeIt, the MediaWhiz affiliate network, remains one of the strongest affiliate networks in the industry. It was just three months ago that mThink ranked MonetizeIt as the No. 5 affiliate network in the world.
We’re rapidly expanding our affiliate network to include new offers in mobile, as well as game and app downloads, dating and entertainment offers. These are in addition to MediaWhiz’s extensive selection of branded campaigns in verticals such as finance, education, health and beauty and insurance.
A full listing of all of our campaigns can be found by logging into MoneitizeIt.com. And if you’re not a MediaWhiz affiliate, what are you waiting for? We’ve made it easier than ever to join our affiliate network and start monetizing your site(s).
Yesterday, we announced an important milestone in the 10-plus-year history of MediaWhiz: the expansion of our affiliate network, MonetizeIt. As part of our cross-publishing capabilities with our parent company Matomy Media Group, we are now able to offer a broader selection of domestic and international affiliate marketing campaigns, including game and mobile app downloads, as well as entertainment and dating campaigns. These are in addition to our extensive selection of branded campaigns in verticals such as finance, education, health and beauty and insurance.
Approximately 150 new domestic, international and mobile affiliate campaigns will initially be available through our affiliate network, MonetizeIt. We’re also expanding our base of experienced publishers, allowing advertisers to garner additional traffic to their websites and mobile apps.
Publishers interested in joining MonetizeIt can do so here. (more…)
Last week, we announced the launch of our new mobile performance marketing practice, MediaWhiz Mobile. While it doesn’t mark our first foray into mobile marketing, it does represent our most significant and dedicated focus on the immense online marketing and advertising opportunities of mobile.
What this launch means for MediaWhiz, however, is insignificant compared to the value we believe it offers our clients. MediaWhiz Mobile will help advertisers more profitably engage, acquire and retain customers across what has rapidly become the most relevant and important digital marketing channel: mobile.
Why the launch now? As I told A4U in announcing the new service, we absolutely believe that mobile lead generation is the future of online marketing.
Consumers are projected to spend $119 billion worldwide on goods and services from the mobile and tablet devices by 2015, according to ABI Research. And with upwards of 70% of online advertising spend in the United States going toward performance-based advertising, it’s clear that advertisers are hungry for performance-based mobile marketing services that do far more than branding. They want mobile marketing services that help their brands profitably engage, acquire and retain customers in the mobile space.
Increasingly, consumers are ditching their desktop computers in favor of their smartphones and tablets. The opportunities these devices offer brands and marketers to reach, connect with and influence the purchasing habits of consumers is beyond what many of us considered possible just five years ago. More importantly, mobile and tablet devices offer advertisers an immense opportunity to acquire customers instantly and to generate leads at the click of a button.
MediaWhiz Mobile is here to service those opportunities across a variety of online marketing channels, including affiliate marketing, display advertising, search, SEO, lead generation and email. (more…)
With global Internet usage growing daily, marketers are faced with extensive challenges in engaging, influencing and acquiring their target consumers. Data plays a key role for marketers when building marketing campaigns and strategies. But with consumers accessing online content through multiple devices, a more precise way to analyze and interpret data is needed.
Recently, we spoke with Heather Kraus, MediaWhiz’s performance strategy and analytics manager, and asked her about data trends in online marketing. We also discussed Big Data and how Google’s new Universal Analytics tool helps brands acquire customers.(more...)
Daryl Colwell, VP of Business Development, MediaWhiz
The holiday shopping season is officially here and plenty of businesses have taken advantage of the shopping frenzy. With holiday online retail sales expected to reach around $80 billion, companies developing and promoting their lead-generation campaigns before the holiday season have benefited greatly. If your business has not taken advantage of lead generation yet, there is still some time left.
Daryl Colwell, (@DHColwell) vice president of business development at MediaWhiz, gives a few tips for those who haven’t yet taken advantage of the holiday season with lead generation and its rewarding benefits. Click here to watch a video snippet of this interview.
Sultan Riaz:In a recent article in DMConfidential, you mention that marketers need to be ahead of the of competition and promote their brands and offers before Thanksgiving. What advice would you give a company that has waited until now to advertise/market their product/service online? Is it too late for brands to start lead-gen campaigns focused on the holidays?
Daryl Colwell: Get busy! Start working some long hours. Most companies spend plenty of time developing their creative message, media strategy and negotiating their buys long before Thanksgiving. When Thanksgiving arrives they hit the ground running with their Black Friday and Cyber Monday splashes. If you haven’t done it, it’s not too late! There is still some time before Christmas, but now is the time to work on it.
SR: How big of a role does lead generation play when it comes to brands’ holiday marketing campaigns? DC: Lead gen plays a big role. The key, however, is not what you do during the holiday season; it’s what you do before that. Your company’s best asset, when it comes to marketing, is your in-house list. As the marketer, if you have been diligent in acquiring names, as well as messaging customers with relevant content, relevant offers and keeping them engaged with your brand, your customer will be that much more engaged when they do get that holiday splash offer. (more…)
MediaWhiz’s leaders are continually sought after as resources for opinions, advice and expertise, based on our deep understanding of industry trends, the needs of our customers and the broader marketplace in which we operate.
For the week of Nov. 26-30, 2012, MediaWhiz experts were quoted or featured on a variety of digital media news and trends, including Peter Klein’s predictions for Performance Marketing in 2013; what lead-gen marketers must do in 2013; the success of the click-to-call campaign for MediaWhiz; and what marketers are thankful for in 2012 | Read previous MediaWhiz In the News posts.
DMConfidential | Nov. 28, 2012 | Op-Ed by Peter Klein
The performance marketing industry has undergone massive changes in 2012.
The list of challenges the industry weathered over the past year is long and varied. It includes news of several long-standing affiliate networks going out of business; email delivery getting more difficult; Facebook and Google all but banning affiliate marketing; the federal government becoming more involved in the cash advance and “for-profit” education verticals; the rise of real-time bidding (RTB); data management platforms (DMPs) becoming critical in display advertising; and mobile marketing efforts gaining prevalence among marketers’ digital strategies.
While performance marketers shift priorities and tactics on the fly, the good news is that money continues to pour into performance marketing for its scalability, ROI focus and measurable results.
MediaWhiz, a leading integrated digital media agency, today released results from the first six months of managing clients’ click-to-call campaigns in partnership with RingRevenue. Total calls into MonetizeIt, the MediaWhiz affiliate network, nearly quadrupled from the second to third quarters of 2012 as a result of the integration of RingRevenue’s patented call performance-marketing technology. Calls driven through the network increased 64 percent during that time period.
Search Engine Journal | Nov. 27, 2012 | Op-Ed by Marc Purtell
The key to remaining competitive in organic search is to always be two steps ahead of the search engines. Given the frequency and impact of search engine algorithm updates, those who don’t consider the long-term effects of their optimization efforts are subject to pitfalls similar to those many brands experienced after Google’s Panda and Penguin updates of 2012.
Part of the puzzle of predicting the future of search engines will take with respect to changes to their search algorithms is first understanding their goals and aligning them with the goals of any brand’s SEO campaign. Google’s mission is to provide users with the most relevant and useful information relevant to a user’s search. Therefore, in order to maintain organic performance, a brand’s content plan must take similar aim.
DMConfidential | Nov. 26, 2012 | Featuring Peter Klein
Holiday offers Just as consumers should be doing, marketers should be budgeting for the holidays. More specifically, they should be planning on ways to capitalize on the festive season by having enough money in their budgets for seasonal offers to their clients, according to Peter Klein, senior vice president of media services at MediaWhiz.
“Lead-generation marketers must ensure their budgets have enough leeway to meet seasonal offers for the holidays,” he says. “The holidays are the best-performing season for cash-advance offers. It’s important to keep existing clients happy, as they will undoubtedly present additional budgets to hit for year at the last minute. Lead-gen marketers need to do their best to meet clients’ year-end demands to ensure inclusion in advertisers’ 2013 budgets.”
Plan and set goals Part of closing one year is planning for the next, so it’s only logical for lead-generation marketers to do likewise. But how should they go about this? “Review your financial projections for 2012 and plan realistic goals, month-by-month, for 2013,” Klein says. “Once the numbers are planned, it’s critical to outline how you plan on hitting these numbers, such as staffing, advertisers and potentially acquisitions.”
He adds that the first quarter requires special attention, given the slow start that’s likely to come thanks to New Year’s Eve/Day and conferences. “There are good offers to take advantage of, such as tax season and auto insurance, to help offset some of the slowness and set the proper tone for 2013,” Klein says.
Review org charts and processes The end of the year is when people tend to take time off – it’s also a good time to take a sober look at your org chart and processes, according to Klein.
“If you are able to move the business forward without some of your employees, then you need to cut ties or upgrade their positions,” he says. “If you can’t succeed and are inundated with tactical maneuvers, then it’s time to get job specs together for the positions you need and seek out the right staffing level.”
As marketers ensure that org charts include positions, descriptions and an ideal model, they should also make sure that all processes are running smoothly. “Whether it is establishing weekly meeting agendas, sales processes, offers setup or just basic document storage, the quieter, post-holiday weeks at year-end are the time to go through everything in preparation for a successful 2013,” Klein says. He adds that marketers don’t even need to be in the office to carry out these kinds of audits.
DMConfidential | Nov. 21, 2012 | Featuring Peter Klein
Peter Klein, senior vice president of media services atMediaWhiz:
“I’m thankful for a dedicated, hardworking team that has continued to drive client results despite many challenges this year in our space — from Yahoo in email, to Google in search and Facebook in social media, among many others. I’m also thankful for the industry making significant positive progress in lead quality via great monitoring services, such as CPA Detective, in addition to the stellar self-regulation efforts from industry leaders and organizations like the Performance Marketing Association. I’m most grateful for the advertisers that see the value in paying for performance vs. branding, which is contributing to the growth of performance marketing by billions of dollars each year.”
Accountability and accuracy are two issues that seem to forever plague the performance marketing industry. Whenever advertisers and publishers call for greater accountability from their affiliate networks, they are often met with silence.
Since we believe strongly in high standards of accountability, we set out earlier this year to improve the results of the click-to-call campaigns run through MonetizeIt, the MediaWhiz affiliate network. We found the perfect partner to do so, RingRevenue, the industry-leading provider of call performance marketing solutions. In February we partnered with RingRevenue to develop a comprehensive pay-per-call program to drive high-quality inbound phone leads to advertisers.
Today, I am proud to announce preliminary results of that partnership. In just six months of partnering with RingRevenue to run our click-to-call campaigns, we have quadrupled total calls run through MonetizeIt. Calls driven through the network increased 64 percent during that time period.
Here are some more impressive statistics showcasing the success of MediaWhiz’s partnership with RingRevenue:
MediaWhiz has doubled its number of advertisers earning revenue from click-to-call campaigns run through MonetizeIt in the six months since the partnership was signed.
Click-to-call conversion rates in the network are 20 percent, exceeding the industry average.
Publishers in the network earning commissions from click-to-call campaigns are experiencing an average 160-percent increase in earnings-per-publisher.
Needless to say, we’re very impressed with the performance of our click-to-call campaigns run in partnership with RingRevenue. Results of the partnership indicate it offers a lucrative opportunity for advertisers and publishers to increase their lead-conversion rates. (more…)
MediaWhiz’s leaders are continually sought after as resources for opinions, advice and expertise, based on our deep understanding of industry trends, the needs of our customers and the broader marketplace in which we operate.
For the week of Nov. 12-16, 2012, MediaWhiz experts were quoted or featured on a variety of digital media news and trends, including online lead-generation in the post-PC era; extolling the role and value of affiliate marketing; best practices for online lead conversion; and what it’s like to be a digital media buyer. | Read previous MediaWhiz In the News posts.
Ori Carmel, VP of performance strategy, MediaWhiz To understand the impact of mobile on the lead-gen industry, and online marketing as a whole, marketers should look toward the developing countries in Africa and Central and South America. There they will find the future of mobile lead generation and e-commerce.
Lacking infrastructure, entire regions in the developing world have leapfrogged the PC era. People in these regions rely on mobile technology to operate and streamline many aspects of everyday life, including business interactions, regardless of how large or small those businesses are. At the click of a button individuals can conduct their entire business cycle, including acquiring new customers and solidifying existing ones through mobile-optimized e-commerce and lead-gen platforms.
For the lead-gen world, the implications are massive. As the U.S. transitions to the complete mobilization and personalization of both information and access, potential and existing consumers can now be reached at any time, in any place. This ongoing shift, which is only speeding up, is changing consumption patterns of information and purchasing right before our eyes. Marketers can gather more precise and relevant information to better tailor offers to behavioral and demographic profiles. Brands can pinpoint the exact moment at which the potential client is most receptive to signing up or converting.
Furthermore, with increasing resources going toward tailoring brands’ mobile presences and usability, consumers continually grow accustomed and now expect to be able to gather info, sign up and transact online. As a result, consumers are more receptive than ever to being targeted for intelligent, value-driven offers and opportunities on their mobile devices.
The future of PC usage in the U.S., or anywhere else for that matter, is far from obsolete. However, it is certainly past the growth stages of its life cycle.
Rodney Dangerfield would have loved affiliate marketing. It gets no respect, at least not from CMOs and senior marketers.
Long considered the ugly stepchild of digital marketing, affiliate marketing has grown to become one of the leading drivers of brands’ online marketing success. It accounts for more than $21 billion in online advertising revenues in 2011, according to the IAB.
Thankfully, this lack of respect is starting to change. Marketers are taking notice — affiliate marketing is a powerful force in brands’ online marketing strategies. Read more …
By Keith Trivitt | @KeithTrivitt | Director, Marketing and Communications
We’re big fans of the semi-annual industry confab known as LeadsCon. For this summer’s event, LeadsCon East, we’re hosting a special workshop aimed at helping marketers garner better value and more leads from their digital marketing campaigns.
On Wednesday, July 25, our workshop, titled, “Guaranteeing ROI and Accountability: The Benefits of Online Channel Integration,” will help marketers understand how they can effectively utilize online channel integration to generate results in an accountable and measurable fashion. It’s about more than just placing an ad across various online channels. Our panel of experts will discuss how they utilize multichannel integration to keep the leads coming in while ensuring real ROI for their brands.
We’re excited to host this workshop and invite all who will be attending LeadsCon East to attend. Session details are below.
For more information or to schedule a private meeting with our sales team while at LeadsCon East, please contact Keith Trivitt at ktrivitt@mediawhiz.com or 646.264.0144
Be sure to check out the MediaWhiz booth at LeadsCon. Visit booth #111 for cool giveaways and to chat with our friendly sales team.
MediaWhiz LeadsCon Session Details
Session: Guaranteeing ROI and Accountability: The Benefits of Online Channel Integration
The MediaWhiz team enjoyed a welcomed mid-afternoon break today when professional violinist Richmond Punch stopped by our New York City offices for a 30-minute concert. Punch, who is a professional violinist and Juilliard grad, played a variety of contemporary and classical pieces.
Below is a video snippet of Punch playing a Beatles song, displaying his mix of contemporary with classical violin playing. Check out more of his innovative playing style here.
