In a bid to gain access into an exceptional database of affiliates worldwide, digital marketing platform Impact Radius has acquired 5IQ, a platform used to identify and recruit publishers for affiliate programmes.
Addressing one of the main challenges for top brands, 5IQ offers its partners and clients insight into a wealth of new contacts for them to explore. With an access to a database of nearly 800,000 publishers globally, users can filter through over 200 different publisher categories to find a suitable candidate for a new partnership.
Along with its tracking technology for affiliate marketing, Impact Radius offers solutions for marketing automation and tag management which help advertisers and agencies take parts of their digital activity in-house.
By acquiring 5IQ, the company will be able to provide its merchant and agency partners with an access to an instant list of publishers to engage with.
Competitive value
Little has been shared in regards to specific intentions for the deal. One attribute that could make 5IQ particularly appealing to a global company like Impact Radius is the geographical diversity of its publishers, with over half of its directory based outside the US.
The platform’s founder, Van Chappell, believes that 5IQ’s edge and competitive value lie in combining its solutions and “discovery capabilities”. He added that Impact Radius “represents the future of performance marketing” and as such is the perfect match.
“On a personal level, finding a company with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and customer-first focus was very important to me. I’m very excited to be joining the team.”
The acquisition also marks a change in the industry over the past few years, according to the purchasing firm, who alludes to a reflection of the trends in publisher sourcing.
“Performance marketing partners used to be part of a more finite universe with the lionshare coming from coupon, deal, loyalty and reward sites,” explains Tijs van Santen, chief revenue officer at Impact Radius.
Van Santen claimed the emerging publishers of today are made up of “business development partnerships, content sites, mobile publishers, influencers and bloggers” who may not be easily identifiable.
The move from Impact Radius, yet another milestone in its progression, follows a recent $30 million injection from Silversmith Capital Partners, set aside for investment in people, infrastructure, partnerships and acquisitions, and the purchase of automated traffic detection company Forensiq.
