• 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

Integrity Above All

October 22, 2009 by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book

As we all know, the performance marketing industry is growing rapidly. Due to economic conditions, more marketers are moving online and more online marketers are using the pay-for-results model to deliver the results they seek. Add to the mix the rapid pace of technological innovation and the desire for more brands and agencies to sink their teeth into our industry and it’s easy to see we are at a major inflection point for performance marketing. In order to seize the opportunity, we have to take a step back and examine the role that trust and integrity play in our future success.

First, let’s examine the WHAT…what integrity means in our industry. Generally, integrity implies that you deliver on your word. Specifically in our industry, integrity means being open with your business partners on both sides of a transaction and being an advocate for their success. For performance marketers this means sharing in success and learning from failure in a constructive way. The performance model implies an unspoken covenant that says the advertiser and publisher will act in good faith to create campaigns that succeed without risking the integrity of a brand or a publisher.

Now let’s examine the WHY … why is integrity so important to the industry as we assess our opportunity? To the folks who pay our bills – the advertisers – the value proposition of paying only for results is a no-brainer if we remove any risk to the brands they have worked so hard to build. Integrity is enabling the advertiser to make a spend decision on performance marketing without the fears that existed after the abuse of the late ’90s. The industry needs to be made transparent in order to protect and empower everyone (publisher, advertiser, network and consumer). We cannot tolerate fraudulent behavior from either publishers or advertisers. Collectively, we have to look past short-term gains in revenue to solidify the future growth we want to have as an industry. Proactive self-regulation vs. reactive will earn the trust of our advertisers and publishers as we are all responsible for each other as members of the performance marketing community.

Our goal as an industry, is to grow by gaining the trust of larger brands and agencies that are looking to allocate new or increased budget to performance marketing. It’s a simple vision to state, but a harder one to execute. The industry has to work together to continue to promote innovation, trust, integrity, and proactive, collaborative partnerships.

Now to the HOW … How do we build integrity in the industry? Execution is always the hard part. On a high level, we have to build and fund industry organizations like the PMA (Performance Marketing Alliance) that provide education, research and thought leadership. We need to fund quality research from the analyst firms that advertisers seek out when assessing marketing channels. We need to self-police to make sure all the constituents in our ecosystem are safeguarding the best interests of our business partners and community.

Finally, we need to harness the wave of innovations made in technology and process to make sure our offerings fit into the broader needs of the advertising community. The intelligent application of innovative technologies will lend transparency and integrity to our activities because they will allow our advertisers and publishers to see the results they are looking for in a more fluid fashion that empowers them to succeed.

The last question is the WHEN … and it’s the simplest answer. NOW!

I’d welcome your thoughts on this issue. The more great minds we have spending effort on building the integrity of our industry, the higher chance of success we will have together. If you have thoughts, feel free to reach out to me.

Related posts:

  1. Taxing Issues "I love NY" may be the famous motto of the...
  2. Music Needs Tuning The complex space needs some harmony before online marketers start...
  3. Taxing Times Back in the early days of the dotcom boom, rampant...
  4. Share and Share A Link Talking about Steve Messer's role in online affiliate marketing is...

Filed Under: Revenue Tagged With: Ad networks, affiliate marketing, affiliate networks, Agencies, Branding, Business Models, Industry Trends, Networks, Peter Bordes

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

  • Navigating The Debt Relief Landscape: Targeted Advertising Tactics For Success
  • Top 5 Tips For Managing AEP/OEP Season And Adapting To Changing CMS Regulations
  • Enrollment Marketing Reinvented: 6 Best Practices To Engage & Enroll High-Intent Prospective Students
  • Trying To Drive Up Open Rates? Try These 8 Email Subject Line Strategies
  • Richard B. Newman Selected to Author Consumer Protection Section of ALM FTC Law Treatise
  • The Aragon Company CEO on AI, Influencers, Connected TV, & Dynamic Pricing in Performance Marketing
  • It’s Time To Scale Your Home Services Lead Generation Campaigns
  • How MyLead works, and what sets it apart from other affiliate networks?
  • You Can Build Successful Lead Partnerships! Here Are 5 Questions To Get You Started
  • How To Build Long-Term Partnerships For Success
  • Interview with Rakuten Advertising’s Managing Director of North America, Anthony Capano
  • How To Source, Vet & Grow Quality Publisher Partnerships For Pay-Per-Call
  • FTC Settlement With Credit Karma Underscores Agency Attention to A/B Testing
  • Rakuten Advertising named mThink’s Best Affiliate Network for 12 Consecutive Years
  • 2023: Challenges, Opportunities & Predictions

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 ©2023 · mThink. All rights reserved.
3053 Fillmore Street, Suite 325 | (415) 787-0250
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy