Stephen Lowery, Managing Director at Silicon Valley Bank, discusses the Post-Brexit Tech Scene – photo courtesy of Emma Martí
Last week in London, we hosted an educational event about the “The Bleeding Edge of Partner Marketing,” featuring key speakers from Universal Basket, LiveRamp, Performance Horizon, and Silicon Valley Bank. We thought the event was a huge success — here are some key takeaways that we hope you find insightful.
I. Good User Experience Drives Conversions
Michael Brandy, Head of Business Development at Universal Basket, explained how creating a seamless shopping experience for consumers has tremendous business impact. For example, a marketing partner can place a shopping cart on the partner website that shows the products available for sale from the advertiser’s website, including product details, availability, and price. A partner can even allow a user to simultaneously add products from different advertisers into one cart and complete the transaction. A fast and smooth shopping experience improves uesr experience tremendously and ultimately increases conversion rates by up to 5 times.
II. Connect Online Partnership Initiatives to Offline Sales
Richard Foster, UK Managing Director at LiveRamp explored the value of combining offline sales data with online marketing activity, which involves anonymously matching IDs in a permissible, privacy-compliant manner. This solution is particularly compelling to brands who employ a multi-channel strategy, including retailers and hotels, as well as any company with physical locations that generate a significant amount of revenue offline. Read here for more information on offline-to-online tracking with Performance Horizon and LiveRamp.
III. Partner Marketing is Driving Customer Retention for Retail and Travel Brands
Our very own VP of Marketing, Erik Mikisch highlighted key insights from recent market research in the travel and retail space. The research from these reports reflects a number of commonalities between the activities of travel and retail marketers, but also exposes some key differences stemming from challenges unique to each industry. Erik reviewed some of these similarities, differences, and their implications for digital marketers, including how partner marketing is now being used in both verticals for customer retention—a nontraditional use of performance marketing programs.
IV. The Post-Brexit Tech Scene Anticipates Strong Growth
Stephen Lowery, Managing Director at Silicon Valley Bank closed with a very topical subject in the UK and Europe: Brexit. Four months after the vote to leave the European Union, companies seem remarkably resilient, calm, and focused on getting on with their business. Q3 has continued to be strong, with €1 billion invested in UK-based digital technology and life sciences companies. There are also considerable investments into B2B enterprise software. Over the next five years, investments into artificial intelligence, cyber security, and digital health are all expected to grow.
