Affiliate Spotlight: Case Study and Q+A with UpSellit Director of Marketing, Anthony Villegas

For the co-branded UpSellit and Advertise Purple case study, click here.

When it comes to highlighting our favorite affiliates, it can be difficult to pin down where to begin.

Advertise Purple works with a plethora of great partners to choose from, all specializing in various different ways to ultimately help merchants and shoppers optimize their selling and buying experiences.

That said, I was pleased to speak with Anthony Villegas from UpSellit, a long time partner of ours, with whom we’ve seen tremendous simultaneous growth. Like with many of our partnerships, we were able to establish a business relationship where both companies worked together to achieve similar goals.

In a case study attached to this article, you’ll find on aggregate, the brands we’ve placed on UpSellit have seen tremendous lift and additional revenue they otherwise would not have been able to access. And hopefully, further below, you will learn more about how and why that is.

Anthony is Director of Marketing at UpSellit and we figured he would be best suited to describe the UpSellit origin story, company growth, collaborative efforts with Advertise Purple, some high level data, plans for the future, and more.

Enjoy!

Q: Can you describe the UpSellit origin story?

A: In 2005, our CEO Chris Wampler developed an advanced automated chat personality to serve business and marketing needs. Over time, the data created by UpSellit’s live chat solution provided us with a deeper understanding of the causes and solutions for site abandonment. We leveraged that knowledge to turn UpSellit into the suite of technology that it is today. Now, our industry-leading managed conversion optimization encompasses a range of solutions for online retailers to leverage, such as Targeted Tactics, Cart Rebuilder technology, and advanced Email Remarketing & SMS platforms, among others.

Q: How has your company mission evolved over time since 2005, when UpSellit began?

A: Since the beginning, UpSellit’s technology has been on the cutting edge of conversion optimization. While our technology has evolved, our mission has always been to secure as much online revenue as possible for our clients. Our commitment to data-driven problem solving has meant we can outperform our competitors through continuous optimization of client campaigns, all with flexible terms to suit businesses of any size.

Q: How long have you worked for UpSellit? Where were you before, and what led you to e-commerce?

A: I’ve worked at UpSellit for about two and a half years. My love for digital marketing started when I ran a popular blog, which catapulted me into a variety of freelance roles. Eventually I found my place in content management. After a while with content and digital, I realized that my passions lie with big picture strategy and marketing, which ultimately led me to my role at UpSellit as Marketing Director.

Q: Which metrics do you find to be most valuable when looking at conversions, impressions, and how to eventually make a sale?

A: At UpSellit, we emphasize the fact that every shopper has different motivations and levels of intent when they enter a site. Our Shopper Behavioral Analysis assesses key behavioral factors such as time on site, pages viewed, and hundreds more, ultimately helping identify key buyer personas visiting a retailer’s site. In addition, our suite of technology lends itself to thousands of ways to engage users at every stage in the funnel. This hyper-customization allows our team of designers and developers to create one-to-one personalized strategies that address the users’ needs and intent in real-time.

Q: How does UpSellit differentiate itself from the competition?

A: With other providers, you get simplistic color and image-based split tests; however, UpSellit provides you with a fully managed and customizable backend, capable of implementing intricate split tests and controls. Our team does not build one-size-fits-all campaigns. Everything from copy and design to the launch method falls within the scope of what we offer and customize for our clients. UpSellit’s customizations are unique to a retailer’s website and customers. You’ll see very little customization or optimization with competitors.

Q: How did the team manage or adapt during COVID-19?

A: Despite needing to shift and pivot on a moment’s notice, we’re pleased with how well our teams and partners adapted to the challenges set before them. 

The impact of the pandemic was not something anyone could have expected, but we’ve seen a lot of promise through it all. While brick & mortar was put on pause, many traditional retailers reinvested in digital channels as a way to remain profitable. The situation remains dynamic, but we’re optimistic about the shift to digital and affiliate channels.

Q: Where do you see things going or changing in the next 2-5 years, in digital marketing and e-commerce in general?

A: The growth in both e-commerce and digital marketing has been steady year over year. We’ve seen tremendous growth, even in the midst of a global pandemic. As brick & mortar businesses continue to shift to online, we predict that e-commerce will continue to flourish. The COVID-19 era has even caused steadfast brick & mortar shoppers to turn to e-commerce as their preferred shopping method.

Artificial Intelligence is also becoming extremely prevalent in our industry. As retailers are enabled to make smarter suggestions and recommendations, such as through UpSellit’s Recommendation Engine, the higher levels of personalization will be a key factor in turning a first-time visitor into a customer for life.

Q: Are there any insights you’ve seen during COVID-19 stay-at-home that you don’t mind sharing, relating to e-commerce?

A: During the height of the pandemic, we saw a number of sites mark high increases in traffic, but not a proportional increase in conversions. This accentuates a fundamental truth of ecommerce – traffic alone isn’t sufficient for growth. Instead, it’s vital to build an optimized experience that prioritizes engagement with the end goal of conversion. 

Additionally, there is a collective lack of consumer confidence. This is attributable to consumers feeling uncertain about their financial security, translating into price sensitivity, hesitance to purchase, and ultimately, abandonment.

The key to success now is to tailor a solution that addresses the root cause of challenges while enhancing the shopping experience. That means taking a hard look at data, trends, and patterns to determine where a site needs to improve performance.

Strategies like UpSellit’s Low Stock Alerts help businesses combine scarcity and urgency to reduce friction and convince shoppers to ‘get it before it’s gone.’ UpSellit’s Back in Stock Alerts also turn abandonment into opportunity by presenting shoppers the chance to be notified when an item they are viewing is replenished. If users still aren’t ready to buy, Cart Preservers are a great way to capture new leads while allowing shoppers to save their progress and complete their purchase at a later date.

Q: What is the benefit of leveraging UpSellit’s technology through the affiliate channel?

A: UpSellit technology and pricing model are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of every business. Lending our team and resources on a pay-for-performance model, we are able to work as a traditional affiliate. This flexible pricing gives retailers access to our industry-leading managed services without the contracts, retainers, and additional fees that our competitors require. By letting our technology speak for itself, we make it a point to prove our worth and value as a partner through performance. In short, we only succeed when our clients do.

Q: Please describe your experience working with Advertise Purple.

A: Our experience working with Advertise Purple has been nothing short of excellent. As a partner, Advertise Purple really goes above and beyond to help find new and unique opportunities for us to work together. Since our business is highly referral-driven, there is a level of mutual trust between our teams. Advertise Purple has confidence in our technology and our ability to help businesses achieve their goals; we have confidence in the service, insights, and quality of partnership Advertise Purple provides.

Q: What’s your typical marketing pitch to merchants who may not know the benefits UpSellit offers or may not be overly familiar with the space?

A: For over 13 years, UpSellit’s development team has built highly customized campaigns that leverage countless combinations of customer data to drive more conversions. With one dedicated developer for every 20 active accounts, we are able to build and customize strategies that are second to none.

Our solutions analyze cursor location, speed, behavior, and on-screen navigation as it’s happening. While other vendors rely on quadrants, pattern detection, and idle time, our technology implements an intuitive real-time approach to visitor intent.

For merchants unsure of where to start, UpSellit’s Shopper Behavioral Analysis is a great way to identify the smallest fractures in the customer journey. Once we pinpoint the cracks in the funnel, our managed service repairs them with proven conversion-boosting strategies and new-to-market technologies – all on a 100% cost-per-acquisition price model.

Q: What are some cool new initiatives your team has for the near future? Also, same question, but long term?

A: We’re very excited about the capabilities of our latest Mobile Messaging platform. Messaging delivered through this channel offers open rates of 90%+, high click through rates, and fast response times. When combined with email messaging, this type of remarketing keeps users engaged, informed, and coming back for more.

Long term, we’re excited to continue our UK expansion. We expanded our offices last year, and have already seen success in the European market. As we continue to grow, we look forward to bringing about a higher standard for partnerships and managed optimization both in the U.S. and around the world.

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Learn more about Advertise Purple and Upsellit in this case study which you can find here. Thank you!