• Best CPA Networks
  • Best Cost-Per-Sale Affiliate Networks
  • Best Pay-Per-Call Networks
  • mThink Digital
  • Thought Leadership
    • White Papers
  • About
    • Content Marketing
    • Content Strategy
      • Web Content
      • Social Media Strategy
      • Webinars & Video
      • Thought Leadership
    • Performance Marketing
    • Portfolio
      • Revenue Performance
      • Accenture
      • Microsoft
      • Java Detour
      • Our Process
    • Contact Us

mThink

Blue Book Logo

BlueBook Logo

The Trusted Name in Performance Marketing

ROS Leaderboard

  • Home
  • Blue Book
    • About Blue Book
    • Blue Ribbon Panel
    • Interviews
    • Research Methodology
    • Back Issues
    • Advertising
      • Website Creative Specifications
      • Newsletter Creative Specifications
  • Best CPA Networks
  • Best Cost-Per-Sale Affiliate Networks
  • Best Pay-Per-Call Networks
  • Best European CPA Networks
  • Best CPA Networks for Affiliates
  • Best CPA Networks for Advertisers

Four Big Takeaways From The Blue Book Survey

February 5, 2020 by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book

 

In case you missed them, we have been pleased to announce over the last two weeks our Blue Book top ranked networks for 2020:

Best Affiliate (CPS) Network: Rakuten
Best CPA Network & Publisher’s Choice: Clickbooth
Advertiser’s Choice CPA Network: MaxBounty
Best Pay-Per-Call Network: Aragon Advertising

These are the best performance marketing networks in the world and are worthy standard bearers for the industry. We are proud to recommend them to you.

This year’s survey was one of the most successful ever, with high levels of engagement from both advertisers and publishers. As we analyzed the responses, four insights crystallized from within the data:

  • increasing care taken in network selection;
  • ability to invest in tech a key competitive advantage;
  • M&A activity to accelerate;
  • high levels of service demanded by advertisers.

Let’s look at these in more detail.

  1. Advertisers & Publishers Showing Care In Network Selection
    Affiliate marketing is a key monetization strategy for many startups and larger publishers now, while for advertisers it is becoming a standard part of the marketing toolkit. But as pay-for-performance grows in importance, it means potential clients and affiliates are being more careful about selecting networks with which they may choose to partner. New networks are struggling for traction as experience, bespoke tracking platforms and the ability to scale quickly become more important.
  2. Money Matters
    The Blue Book has always tried to promote excellence in the industry, regardless of network size. We have often recognized smaller, boutique networks that do superb work, rather than simply promoting the idea that bigger is better. More and more though, we see that the need for tech investment and innovation is allowing networks with deep-pockets to take a larger share of business, and votes. The result is that smaller networks are under greater pressure than ever in their fight to survive, and we see this as an increasing rate of churn in the lower levels of the Blue Book tables.
  3. M&A Activity To Increase
    Following on from point #1 above, we expect M&A activity in the industry to increase still further. We have already seen significant venture capital and private equity investments into leading networks. As customer information becomes ever more valuable, new types of companies are going to find affiliate marketing an attractive route to acquisition of first-party data. In such a market, as more networks change hands, expect to see not just increasingly aggressive competition for business – the Blue Book survey had multiple anecdotes of networks aggressively slashing fees to attract business – but also more networks juggling several brands at once.
  4. Service Wins
    For advertisers especially, quality of service trumps all other concerns. Of course, advertisers want reliable tracking and terrific reporting, but what really rocks their boat is knowing that when they call, their issues are dealt with quickly by someone who knows what they are doing. Look at Rakuten, for example, with their entire company ethos essentially based upon the Japanese concept of “omotenashi”, or service ad hospitality. Or MaxBounty with their high-touch customer service and new advertiser-facing interface. Networks have to able to run successful campaigns, of course, but those are table stakes. For networks to win in this environment, they need to retain staff in order to provide expert service.

The industry is growing, professionalizing and consolidating. These are positive trends for 2020.

Related posts:

  1. How do Influencer Marketing and Affiliate Marketing Fit Together? By Katerina Khalus, Spain and Latin America Team Lead at...
  2. TCPA Alert: Court Rules that Transactional Text Messages Not Advertising and Coverage Developments The Northern District of California recently dismissed a plaintiff’s TCPA...
  3. Online advertising is a disaster. Except for you. At this moment almost every sector of the online advertising...
  4. Nominations For Best Network Innovation Now Open The BLUE BOOK countdown is on. This year’s survey is...

Filed Under: Blue Book, Featured, Revenue

Search

ROS Col 2 Top

ROS Col 2 Mid

ROS Col 2 Low

Subscribe to our newsletter!

* indicates required

ROS Col 2 – 4 Misc

ROS Col 2 – 5 Misc

ROS Col 2 – 6 Misc

Recent Posts

  • Don’t forget about click-to-call: the most underrated vertical for social media traffic
  • Why The Speed of Relevance Can Help You Win
  • Why Should Marketers Invest In Pay Per Call?
  • CFPB Issues Warning About Contractual Gag Clauses and Consumer Reviews
  • New Blue Book Top 20 CPS Affiliate Network Results
  • FTC Rules With Civil Monetary Penalties for Deceptive Earnings Claims and Targeted Marketing May Be Forthcoming
  • New Blue Book Results: Top 20 CPA Affiliate Networks For 2022
  • FTC Rules With Civil Monetary Penalties for Deceptive Earnings Claims and Targeted Marketing May Be Forthcoming
  • Top 4 Ways To Make Your Call Campaigns More Successful
  • Perform[cb]’s New Mobile App For Partners Is A Game Changer
  • Shaping the Perfect Matchmaker for Content Creators
  • Removing Barriers for Influencers and Content Creators
  • 8 Easy Ways To Refresh An Email Campaign
  • CEO Interview: Dynu In Media
  • Interview with Rakuten’s CRO Jeff Wender

About mThink

mThink is a specialist digital marketing company based in San Francisco. We focus on media buying, Facebook marketing, direct response, social and mobile. In addition mThink produces the annual Blue Book Rankings of major performance marketing networks. Read More »

Baseboard

Copyright ©2022 · mThink. All rights reserved.
3053 Fillmore Street, Suite 325 | (415) 787-0250
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy