LinkShare annoucements: steps towards the future
In a span of two weeks, LinkShare made two important announcements: a) the launch of LinkShare Lead Advantage, a lead generation service and b) the availability of ‘Flex Links’, Link Locator and Mobile Links.
With Lead Advantage, LinkShare wants to take advantage of the emergence of online lead generation into one of the hottest and fastest growing areas of online marketing. LinkShare had acquired lead generation firm TrafficStrategies.com just a few months ago.
According to the company press release announcing the launch of the new service:
“This new service enables our customers to develop, implement and manage their lead generation campaigns with a focus on driving results, while managing the risks and complexities across multiple online marketing channels,” said Steve Denton, LinkShare’s President. “Lead generation is one of the fastest growing segments of online marketing, but advertisers are discovering quality matters as much as volume.”
“LinkShare designed Lead Advantage to target, track and optimize leads in a way that delivers those that are most likely to convert for our customers, in whatever vertical they work in,” said Kelli Beougher, Vice President, LinkShare Lead Advantage.
The second announcement, which is more relevant to affiliates/ publishers, is an indication of LinkShare preparing for the future (some might say, it is already the present). While Link Locator 2.0 is for more advanced publishers who use web services, Flex links gives publishers the option to post a video, widget, flash or other forms of clickable objects and earn revenues on a pay-per-action basis. As more and more advertisers look at using video for their marketing, this is bound to be a useful addition to the mix. Even though use of video and the other types of “creative” / “marketing material” from advertisers may have their own issues, I believe these forms should get traction sooner rather than later.
At the same time, I am sceptical about “mobile links”, which allows advertisers to take advantage of the anticipated boom in mobile commerce. Even though it is touted as the “next disruptive force” in e-commerce, I feel that mobile commerce will probably take a bit longer to get good traction. Either way, it is commendable that LinkShare has taken steps to be prepared for that time, rather than being a ‘innovation-less’ follower– a tag the network has carried with it for some time.
