RevUp Network

Angie’s List Case

Study Achieving success on an open marketplace affiliate network

The Challenge: Setting up the first affiliate program for Angie’s List. The company’s services were initially only available in a dozen cities when we began. Creating a successful affiliate program for Angie’s List required advising affiliates on geo-targeting and breaking new territory together as sales delivery increased and Angie’s List expanded to service every well populated area of the United States.

The Plan: We set up a campaign with an affiliate pay-per-sale commission structure to align with Angie’s List monthly and annual plans. We designed all the content for affiliates to share about the Angie’s List brand message and what makes them so special. After the first year, we had proven the model and increased commissions to reflect their varying prices by market region. By providing the maximum amount of compensation to affiliates for every market region we made it easy for them to see initial success, and we engaged in one-on-one dialogue with affiliates to motivate them into sending more sales.

The Results: The affiliate program helped Angie’s List rapidly increase the size of their business. It provided the lowest cost per acquired customer of any of their marketing channels. Despite the low cost to Angie’s List, it provided a huge opportunity for affiliates to grow large successful marketing campaigns for promoting the upward trending service. This overall success is reflected in the stunning growth numbers of 254% year over year growth during the second year, with a continuing growth of 97% and 16% during the subsequent years.

After four years of helping Angie’s List with customer acquisition they achieved one of their dreams and completed an Initial Public Offering based on a valuation of $660m.