SA online marketing company wins international award

Approximately 500 leading industry experts and successful online advertisers and publishers attended the 2004 Commission Junction University (CJU) Awards Dinner and Clicks2Customers were selected for one of five awards from over 100,000 marketers, operating in 150 countries. Founders, Vinny Lingham (Chief Strategy Officer) and Charlene Troskie (Head of Campaign Management) were there to accept the award.

According to CJ, the innovation award presented to Clicks2Customers for 2004 is given to a deserving recipient who "Exemplifies a dedication to advancing the Online Marketing Industry with a passion for driving results. A market leader, respected for its vision, values, and practices, this company creates momentum within the industry." This is a significant achievement for a young South African company competing in a global market.

CJ, recognized as one of the biggest Affiliate Network's globally, facilitates strategic relationships between marketers and online advertisers. CJU, their prestigious annual Online Marketing conference, was held from September 19-21 in Santa Barbara, California.

Lingham was also part of a CJU seminar panel that discussed the topic "What Makes Publishers Tick" at the conference. He says that CJ has acknowledged Clicks2Customers' achievements because of their ability to stay ahead of the pack..

"The development of third generation tracking technology and advancement in paid search campaign methodologies in the last year, has been behind the massive growth in the Search Marketing Industry," said Lingham after the awards ceremony, "Search Marketing has developed into a viable media and we hope to maintain our position at the cutting-edge of this dynamic and exciting industry."

Search Marketing is a method of Online Marketing which relies on search engine distribution channels. The underlying principle is that marketing is more likely to be successful if aimed at consumers who are searching for a specific product or service. The two main categories of search engine marketing are Natural Search or Organic Optimization (the creation of a website which will achieve a high ranking as a natural listing) and Paid Search or Pay Per Click advertising (where the site's ranking is paid for, often appearing as a sponsored link).

According to online research company eMarketer, the Online Marketing segment will generate $9.1bn in revenue in 2004. Search Marketing is taking up $5bn of this and is seen to reach $10bn by 2007.

Clicks2Customers is the Paid Search division of incuBeta (www.incubeta.com), a Cape Town based company with satellite offices in Johannesburg and Los Angeles. The founders are four web-savvy entrepreneurs who, have in the past year, expanded from a couple of laptops to a dynamic Search Marketing company comprising 35 employees.

Clicks2Customers (www.Clicks2Customers.com) says that their development of sophisticated proprietary technology has given them a competitive edge within the industry and has resulted in the them becoming a trusted partner of major search engines such as Google, Overture (a Yahoo! company) and FindWhat.