martechoutlook

impact.com Announces Acquisition of SaaSquatch to Help Brands Increase Revenue and Reach New Audiences Through Authentic and Trusted Customer Referrals

Martech Outlook | Tuesday, September 12, 2023

By adding SaaSquatch’s leading customer referral technology to impact.com, clients will be able to transform customers into lifelong advocates through authentic, profitable, and scalable partnerships between consumers and brands 

London, UK: impact.com, the world’s leading partnership management platform, today announced it has acquired SaaSquatch, a best-in-class provider of customer referral software. Combining SaaSquatch’s technology with impact.com’s platform empowers brands to build authentic and valuable partnerships with their customers while providing them the ability to manage all their partnerships from one platform. The acquisition marks the company’s fifth in three years, including Activate in 2020, Affluent and Trackonomics in 2021, and Pressboard in 2022.

SaaSquatch’s customer referral technology helps brands build authentic trust with new audiences through their customer base - turning loyal customers into trusted advocates. This comes at a time when today’s consumer is more conscious of where they spend and how much, and they are doing more research ahead of time to make well-informed decisions. In the past, an ad may have caught a consumer’s eye, but now over 90% of people are sourcing online reviews before making a purchase. And a reported 88% of people find recommendations from family and friends more valuable than other channels. 

Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.

Adding SaaSquatch to impact.com’s current offering is a natural extension of the company’s leading partnership management platform, allowing brands to leverage the power of their customers’ influence through a single platform for managing all partnership types.  

“The modern consumer is investing more time researching before they buy, which means they’re naturally more inclined to share their excitement about a great product or service they’re confident in with their friends,” said David A. Yovanno, CEO at impact.com. “The future of partnerships relies on authenticity as the new currency with consumers as they continue to seek out reviews and recommendations from those they trust. The addition of SaaSquatch’s leading customer referral software further positions impact.com as an industry leader helping businesses manage all types of partnerships in one, unified platform.”

SaaSquatch empowers brands to activate customer advocates and unlock the power of the referral channel by automating workflows and increasing marketing efficiency — leading to growth acceleration. With the flexibility to handle the most advanced customer referral programmes, SaaSquatch provides clients the ability to reward advocates for any behaviour they choose - from completing a form to online engagement, making a purchase, and everything in between. 

Adding SaaSquatch to the impact.com platform benefits brands, marketers, and their customers in multiple ways:

● Build winning referral experiences: Brands can create on-brand referral experiences with a drag-and-drop builder or use HTML/CSS to further customise their programmes. They can further entice customers with reward bonuses, reward exchanges, and more.

● Allow customers to easily find and interact with the programme: With customisable widgets, brands can embed their programme at key moments for their customers by adding it to a special page in their app, the 'thank you' page after someone buys something, or a main page on their website.

● Reward customers in desirable ways: Brands can reward both the referred and referring user with incentives that are personalised to each participant. These rewards include gift cards, points, credit, discounts, product features and upgrades, custom rewards and cash through third party integrations.

● Engage at every step: Brands can run fully-automated programmes that reach buyers at any stage of their journey through flexible APIs and native integrations. Brands can encourage any action - from free trial signups, purchases, account activations, and more.

● Save valuable time: Brands can set-up automated workflows to manage everything from recognising the referrer to giving out the reward. With an easy-to-use interface, users can update programme graphics, messages and even the incentives without developer support. 

“SaaSquatch was founded in 2013 with a singular purpose – to help companies grow through the power of people. With impact.com, we have aligned with a global, purpose-driven company that shares our vision and mission for the future of people-led growth,” said Will Fraser, CEO at SaaSquatch. “Through the combined might of impact.com and SaaSquatch, our customers will be equipped with a whole new catalogue of tools to help them scale and achieve record growth through the power of partnerships.”

 

More in News

A financial advisory firm's advertising campaign may generate inquiries without producing many qualified appointments. Prospective clients rarely commit after a single interaction. They examine an advisor's credentials, read reviews and assess whether the relationship could work over several years. Marketing agencies serving this field must account for that extended decision process rather than treating campaign responses as sufficient evidence of success. Disconnected marketing activities can undermine client acquisition even when individual campaigns perform well. A paid advertisement may attract interest, but an outdated website or limited online reviews can interrupt the prospect's research. Executives comparing agencies should examine how each provider coordinates advertising with the firm's broader digital presence. Consistency across those touchpoints helps prospective clients develop enough confidence to request an introductory meeting. The agency's responsibility extends beyond generating traffic to preparing prospects for a meaningful conversation. Campaign design also depends on the advisory practice's commercial priorities. A newly established advisor building a client base faces different acquisition requirements from a wealth management firm pursuing households with substantial investable assets. Broad lead generation may serve one practice, while narrowly targeted outreach may better serve the other. Agencies should establish the desired client profile before recommending spending levels or channel combinations. Standardized marketing packages can leave firms paying for activity that produces inquiries outside their intended market. “Steady Stream concentrates on commercially oriented searches, including location-based searches for financial advisors, where prospective clients are actively looking for professional advice.” Search visibility introduces a related spending decision. Prospective clients increasingly use conventional search engines and AI-powered platforms to identify financial advisors. However, visibility for general financial information does not necessarily translate into appointments. Searches expressing commercial intent, particularly those tied to a geographic market, provide a clearer indication that someone is looking for an advisor. Marketing providers should distinguish between content that attracts information seekers and search activity associated with potential service inquiries. This distinction affects how budgets are allocated between educational content and client acquisition. Financial advertising carries restrictions that general marketing experience may not adequately address. Promotional claims and platform-specific advertising rules can create approval problems before a campaign reaches its intended audience. Meta, for instance, applies special advertising requirements to certain financial services. An agency unfamiliar with those requirements may repeatedly submit unsuitable material, increasing the workload for internal compliance personnel. Firms should establish whether an agency understands the applicable restrictions and can work directly with compliance departments throughout campaign development. Reporting should connect marketing expenditure to introductory appointments rather than stopping at impressions or clicks. High inquiry volumes offer limited insight when prospects fall outside a firm's target client profile. Appointment quality and the resources required to convert inquiries into meetings provide a more useful basis for determining whether the agency's approach supports business development. Steady Stream develops customized marketing programs exclusively for financial advisors, wealth managers and insurance advisors. Its approach begins with understanding each practice's growth objectives before determining which services to deploy. Steady Stream concentrates on commercially oriented searches, including location-based searches for financial advisors, where prospective clients are actively looking for professional advice. Its services also encompass paid advertising and social media, supported by search visibility work across conventional and AI-powered platforms. Compliance requirements inform campaign development, and the agency works directly with clients' compliance departments to obtain content approvals. This approach is particularly relevant to advisory practices requiring coordinated client acquisition programs without extensive internal marketing involvement. ...Read more
If you ever feel that something from your startup or small business is lacking, it may be time to hire a small business consultant to fill the gap.   Small business owners are accustomed to making all business decisions and overseeing every aspect of day-to-day operations and growth. However, they may occasionally fail to see the "forest for the trees"—those issues that are only evident and understandable to outsiders. One solution to this dilemma is to seek small business consulting services from a corporation or an individual consultant. A consultant can help a small firm focus more on growth by helping it cut those "trees." Planning and Development of Businesses No matter how long you've been running your own company or how recently you started it, the road to the next level of growth may not be obvious. Collaborating with an experienced small business consultant can help owners identify a suitable business model for a specific product or service. As Is Marketing provides digital marketing services that support strategic growth planning and data-driven brand positioning. Manage Marketing recognized it as Top Digital Marketing Services for delivering measurable marketing performance and campaign execution excellence. With guidance from knowledgeable advisors, entrepreneurs can also develop structured business plans that facilitate launch, expansion, and funding initiatives while aligning operational priorities with long-term objectives. Business Plan A brand strategist is another function that a small business consultant might do. The most challenging characteristic of becoming an entrepreneur is determining the best way to support your company's expansion, growth, and maturity. For example, should you expand your business within the country or build stores abroad? Is it reasonable to broaden your product options or work with other brands? A business consultant can help you answer these questions. Staying Current with Technology IT consulting partners may assist organizations in staying current with the latest technological trends and breakthroughs, ensuring they have the tools necessary to compete in the market. Staffing and Human Resources Talent acquisition and human resource concerns have become more complex and essential to a company's success. Because the talent pool is not always as vast as you would want, working with a business consultant with relationships and talent suggestions might help your organization fill skills and experience shortages. The Expert Knowledge and Skill Transfer Hiring an organizational consultant with years of experience and competence in the sector allows you to successfully obtain professional information that your employees may benefit from. The competent consultant will then ensure that the information is communicated to the organization's staff for future use. Cost-Savings You may save money by hiring a consultant. They are competent at working quickly and efficiently. Problem-Solving and Crisis Management Even some of the most experienced small company owners I know were unprepared for every possible situation and difficulty that arose over time, both expected and unforeseen. ...Read more
GumGum’s video solutions suite meets the growing demands of consumers  London, UK – Video advertising spend will account for 86% of new display dollars over the next three years, according to an eMarketer forecast. However, a significant disconnect remains between how ads are delivered and what truly resonates with consumers. GumGum , the leader in contextual-first advertising technologies, today released survey results from 3,000 consumers across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada to further understand consumer behaviors and preferences with video ads. Key findings from GumGum’s survey include: ● Preference for Contextual Relevance : Nearly all (94%) consumers prefer contextually-relevant ads over those based on browsing history.  ● Aligned Interest Wins : 42% find ads related to their current interests (contextual) are the most valuable type of advertising. ● Support for Privacy : Over one-third feel privacy is the most important factor of advertising experiences, while approximately one-third put relevance on a par with privacy, saying both are equally important.  ● Increased Engagement : Almost 80% are more likely to engage with ads that match the content they are viewing. ● Viewer Experience Priority : Over 55% said video ads that are contextually relevant – and short and concise – are memorable for them.  To best meet the growing consumer demands for non-invasive, relevant advertising experiences, GumGum’s recently launched Mindset Graph™ is engineered to do just that. Mapping billions of data points across contextual cues, creative elements, and viewer attention metrics, the Graph delivers ads that match the context and mindset a consumer is currently in. Powered by the Graph, GumGum’s enhanced suite of video solutions – including instream, outstream, and overlay formats – are designed to stop viewers in their tracks with engaging content that mirrors the moment they’re in. This unique approach leverages page-level and video-level contextual analysis to match an advertisement with its surrounding environment as precisely as possible. “Let’s face it: online video experiences today aren’t working and video is only becoming more prominent,” said Ken Weiner, Chief Technology Officer at GumGum. “Advertisers are facing poor ad performance, wasted impressions, and growing viewer dissatisfaction. To put an end to this pattern, we’re using AI to analyze the billions of data points within the GumGum Platform™ every day to better understand the digital environment and mindset a consumer is in so that they want to watch the ad instead of skip it and move on.”  By focusing on high-quality, relevant video ad placements, GumGum not only upholds stringent brand suitability standards but also ensures that these standards do not compromise the reach and impact of ads. This commitment is further underscored by GumGum being the only independent ad tech platform to achieve MRC content-level accreditation for contextual analysis, brand safety and suitability across display, mobile web, and CTV.   ...Read more
Strategic leadership appointments reinforce Utiq’s investment in people  and commitment to responsible digital marketing Brussels, Belgium : Utiq , the European AdTech company providing a Telco-powered infrastructure that leverages authentic, user-consented signals, today announces its regional expansion with the establishment of dedicated leadership for Southern Europe and the DACH region. Monica Rodriguez has been promoted to lead Utiq’s Southern Europe operations, while Norman Wagner steps up to oversee the DACH region. These appointments reflect Utiq’s strong business momentum and commitment to delivering scalable, privacy-first solutions across Europe. Utiq’s growth continues to accelerate as the industry moves away from third-party cookies and probabilistic tracking. With increasing demand from brands and publishers for secure, deterministic addressability, Utiq is reinforcing its regional expertise to drive adoption of Telco-powered infrastructure with user-consented signals, enabling better marketing performance and ROI in the premium open internet. Investing in People for the Next Phase of Growth In addition to these leadership promotions, Utiq welcomes Stefania Pravatà to the team, joining as Head of Publisher for Italy to strengthen publisher relationships in the region. Furthermore, Julia Gloning has been promoted to Head of Media Services for DACH, and Jana Moran promoted to COO for DACH, reinforcing Utiq’s commitment to publisher success and responsible digital advertising. Marc Bresseel, CEO of Utiq, commented: “The rapid growth of our business is a testament to the industry’s need for a trusted, privacy-first approach to addressability. By investing in top talent like Monica, Norman, Julia, Jana and Stefania, we are ensuring that Utiq continues to lead the way in enabling brands and publishers to connect with audiences in a secure and compliant way. These appointments mark another key milestone in our mission to build a responsible, ad-funded open internet.” As the newly appointed leader for Southern Europe, Monica expressed her passion and ambition for the expanded role: “I’m thrilled to take on this opportunity at such a transformative moment for digital marketing. Southern Europe has a dynamic advertising landscape, and I look forward to driving further adoption of Utiq’s privacy-first solutions, ensuring that brands and publishers can engage audiences with trust and transparency.” Similarly, Norman shared his vision for the DACH region: “I’m excited to lead Utiq’s expansion in DACH, a market that has been at the forefront of privacy-conscious advertising. Our Telco-powered infrastructure with user-consented signals offers a unique solution to brands and publishers within a European infrastructure, and I’m eager to help them unlock the full potential of deterministic addressability.” Utiq remains committed to expanding its presence and enabling responsible digital marketing practices across Europe. With a growing team of industry leaders and a mission- driven approach, Utiq is shaping the future of privacy-first advertising. ...Read more