The team behind Perform[cb]’s remarkable new affiliate partner app gives us the lowdown on their vision for the future of monetization.

 Perform[cb] has asserted itself as the industry’s most proactive CPA network this year, with an acquisition by Beringer Capital, new in-house services, fraud prevention, and, within the last two weeks, a brand new publisher-facing mobile app that breaks new ground. The Perform[cb] team recently joined mThink Blue Book in a virtual discussion on topics that ranged from the new ownership to the company’s latest technology features and offerings. Members of the team including Julie Martin, Vice President of Product Development, Audrey Eng, Vice President of Account Management, Tyler Morrow, Vice President of Sales, and Peter Varga Jr, Director of Partners, joined the discussion. Let’s dive in to learn how the Perform[cb] team is fostering an environment of growth and innovation within the affiliate industry.

Blue Book: You have a new app launching for your affiliate partners. What is the big idea behind it? Why do they need a mobile app?
Peter: In an industry that operates 24/7, being able to provide our affiliate partners access to vital campaign and account details at all times is a top priority. As the post-pandemic world begins to return to a more transient lifestyle, the PerformLEAP Partners app will provide our affiliate partners peace of mind knowing that they can optimize their campaigns any time, anywhere.

Julie: Well, to make more money, of course! With the mobile app, our affiliate partners can quick-check the widget for day-over-day trends, live chat with their Account Manager, discover new offers and swap them on the fly, among other exclusive features. The PerformLEAP Partners app is designed to provide our affiliates with simple actionable results, allowing for quick changes in just a few taps or swipes.

Blue Book: Performance marketing always seems to work best when the interests of advertisers and publishers are aligned. Will having an app for affiliates also benefit marketers and their campaigns?
Julie: Absolutely. While the mobile app was built for our affiliate partners, it will also greatly benefit our marketers’ campaigns. Marketers can expect to see an increase in traffic and conversions, given partners can monitor and optimize offers more frequently since they no longer need to be at their desks to do so. As marketers approve additional budgets, launch new offers, and increase payouts, our affiliate partners will receive real-time campaign updates to help them scale faster and drive revenue.

Blue Book: You mentioned that you gathered input from many clients and partners as you developed this. What were the most important features they wanted?
Julie: Gathering partner feedback throughout the development process was a crucial part of the process to ensure the success of the app. Our partners emphasized the need to include features that would give them quick visibility into how their traffic was pacing with the click of a button. The ability to receive notifications on offer updates in real-time gives our affiliates the freedom to stay ahead of campaign performance from anywhere.

Blue Book: For most affiliate partners that I speak with, their first priority is making money. How will the app help them do that?
Peter: Our goal as a company has and always will be to position our affiliate partners for monetary success. The mobile app now gives our partners the freedom to manage their affiliate business from anywhere. With 24/7 access to their offers, traffic, and campaign performance, affiliate partners can get an instant glimpse into their cash flow.

Julie: We made “money” the first thing our partners see when they log in. Our dashboard provides them with a comparison of their traffic day-over-day, week-over-week, and month-over-month. Exclusive to the mobile app, the new Optimization Score feature gives partners a granular view of traffic performance with direct feedback on how they can improve their offer success. This feature is meant to directly support partners’ affiliate businesses and position them to maximize their monetization with our Network.

Blue Book: A mobile app seems perfect for partners who want at-a-glance assurance that their campaigns are running and performing. How have you addressed the desire for a simple UI within the app, given the complexities that lie beneath the surface?
Julie: It was a challenge to understand where to start in terms of creating a seemingly simple UI while still incorporating all of the complexities of PerformLEAP. Our Product team has done a great job of figuring out which functions our partners are looking to perform on the go, and more specifically, on their phones. The focus of the app is to provide a quick overview of performance, and then to guide the user through the steps they can take to improve conversions. During development, we knew we’d have to make the app an extension of the desktop interface for the sake of familiarity, while also introducing new capabilities that would make the app its own standalone experience. That ideology allowed our team to understand where we needed to take PerformLEAP Partners in terms of the features, the UX – the whole package.

Blue Book: In addition to the publisher app, you have recently launched a refreshed version of your Marketer UI. How has that improved the day-to-day workflow for your marketers’ campaigns? Were there pain points that have been addressed with this update?
Julie: Updating the Marketer UI was such an important focus for us this year. Taking a UX-forward approach, the refreshed UI gives marketers refined navigation and reporting features while increasing campaign transparency. Marketers are able to access the information they need faster and more efficiently by employing our drill-down reporting. More specifically, this update provides marketers the ability to adjust payouts and budgets on both the campaign level and more granularly by link ID. Marketers using PerformLEAP+ as their tracking platform also have additional features available to them including our Dynamic Custom Reports.

Audrey: Marketers want a dashboard that is easy to use, has pertinent information, and ultimately allows them to manage their campaigns most efficiently; this was achieved in the roll-out of PerformLEAP’s new Marketer UI. Additionally, the day-to-day workflow of our marketers has been improved. A marketer can log into the platform and immediately analyze the status of their offers and the quality of the traffic being run. I think one of the best features included in the refreshed UI is the dashboard, with a high-level overview of all offers right as they open the platform. The updated UI shows the status of budgets along with campaign performance over time.

Blue Book: Let’s talk about privacy. How do you protect your clients’ confidential data? What role has your technology played in making client data and campaigns more secure?
Julie: Our proprietary anti-fraud technology, PerformSHIELD, and in-house Compliance teams work together to make sure the campaigns being run and data collected are protected at every point. From transferring and storage to security and privacy-centric methodologies, our extensive internal Compliance team is dedicated 24/7 to ensuring campaign safety for our clients. With the help of industry-leading third-party fraud monitoring services, such as Forensiq and AppsFlyer 360, our team proactively analyzes campaign traffic to assess for any suspicious activity and irregularities.

Blue Book: In addition to the new app and Marketer UI, Perform[cb] has introduced several new in-house service offerings, such as Pay-Per-Call and media buying. How has the integration of those services gone this year?
Ty: Since adding pay-per-call and media buying to our in-house service offerings, our clients have been able to expand their distribution and overall campaign reach in a cost-effective manner. Many of our clients were already allocating a portion of their overall spend to pay-per-call, so the addition of that offering has enabled us to embody the one-stop performance marketplace even more.Internal media has been an awesome value add as well. Our marketers have been able to utilize this service in a variety of ways, from maximizing campaign scale to early offer testing and more. This year has proven that our internal media buying team is contributing to the stories of both our scaled and new marketers in a big way.

Julie: We will always continue to explore and educate our clients on how to make the most of their traffic. Although pay-per-call has been around for some time, consumers are on their phones now more than ever. This stream of traffic can prove to be very valuable for marketers, and we have partners eager to run it!Audrey: We’re seeing some really great wins with both pay-per-call and media buying. On the media buying side, we’re continually testing new sources and finding pockets of inventory that convert very well. Media buying has also allowed us to offer even more transparency to our marketers by maintaining those relationships entirely in-house.

Blue Book: In May of this year Perform[cb] was acquired by Beringer Capital. How has that affected your overall strategy so far, and what does it mean for your business as a whole moving forward?
Ty: The Beringer Capital acquisition is one we continue to be excited about. Our strategy hasn’t changed in that we’re continuing to strive to be a one-stop-shop for our clients, where they’re able to partner with us to plan and execute omnichannel customer acquisition. Beringer has introduced many unique insights, perspectives, and connections that foster growth and innovation across the board. They’re very well-versed in the media and marketing space and have already brought a lot of industry-specific knowledge into the relationship. As we move forward, we’re focused on continuing to position our marketers and partners above the rest of the industry, by way of technology, compliance, reach, and a fully customizable, collaborative approach from the best team in the business.

Julie: We are fortunate to be backed by such a knowledgeable, collaborative, and strategic group of investors. The Beringer team has been committed to our vision from the start, providing us with the resources needed to expand our business further. With their expertise in digital marketing and advertising, Beringer is well-versed in our industry. Their team continues to give us the support we need to grow our technical infrastructure, and the momentum to provide the most innovative technology features to satisfy the ever-growing needs of our clients.

Our conversation with the Perform[cb] team ended there. The enthusiasm they show for both the performance marketing industry and for maintaining leadership within it is impressive. We will have a full review of the new affiliate partner app in the next two weeks – look for it in your inbox soon.