Using exclusive offers to acquire customers based on their lifestage (students), occupation (healthcare workers), or affiliation (military community) is a rapidly growing marketing strategy used by leading brands across all industries. There are two business models to verify eligible consumers for these offers.

The first model is an affiliate-based marketplace verification provider. In this model, the verification provider promises to promote your offer as well as verify eligibility for it. While this approach may seem valuable initially, a closer look reveals that it: 

• Costs more.

• Can negatively impact the customer experience.

• Undermines the long term brand relationship.

The second model is a white-label program like SheerID’s Verification Platform. Using a solution like SheerID gives you the tools to create a better customer experience, which increases conversions and leads to greater customer lifetime value.  According to the Total Impact Report of SheerID™ from Forrester,  brands that use SheerID can see 337% ROI in less than six months.

And brands that switched to SheerID from affiliate verification have reported 5% more traffic through the conversion process. Here’s why.

The Benefits of Using SheerID Versus Affiliate-Based Marketplace Verification

1. Create a Seamless Customer Experience

SheerID is completely integrated into your purchase process so your customers never leave your website to be verified. This streamlines the verification process and reduces cart abandonment.

With marketplace verification, your customer has to leave your website to create an account on the marketplace’s website. This creates friction and fragments the user experience.

2. Amplify Your Offer through Any and All Affiliates

There are a number of valuable destination sites for specific audiences like teachers, the military, or students—ArmyWife101, MilitaryBridge, Educator Marketplace. With SheerID, you can market your offer through these and countless other enterprise affiliates for free with FMTC, the world’s largest and most accurate affiliate content database. Brands have reported 3x more traffic when they use multiple affiliates instead of just one.

When you use an affiliate-based marketplace verification provider, the provider receives last-touch credit. This deters other affiliates from promoting your offer because it removes their financial incentive.

3. Gain Full Control of Your Data

With SheerID, you own the customer data you collect during the verification process, so you can add it to your CRM and use it to re-engage your customers. Having this zero-party data enables you to nurture lifelong customer loyalty.

Affiliate verification providers market to their members and can use your customer data to promote your competitors’ offers.

4. Increase Your ROI

SheerID doesn’t collect affiliate commissions. You only pay for the customer verification.

Affiliate-based marketplace verification providers may seem less expensive upfront, but that’s without considering the revenue share they require. On every sale that goes through their system, affiliate-based providers often collect a commission as high as 5%.

5. Market to a Global Audience

SheerID enables you to engage and verify hundreds of consumer communities throughout the world. You don’t need to limit your program to one community, like students, or one geography, like the US. With SheerID, you can manage multiple offers at the same time to reach as many customers as possible.

Learn More about Verifying Exclusive Offers with SheerID

See firsthand why brands that use SheerID routinely see 3x conversion rates, 2x repeat purchases, and ROI as high as 25:1. Read the  Total Impact Report of SheerID™ from Forrester.

READ THE REPORT