Editorial Backgrounder

Vertical Alliance Group Pioneers Response Engine Marketing For Targeted Internet Advertising
 

While the interactive advertising industry debates the merits of various tactical approaches to search engine marketing, Vertical Alliance Group, Inc. (VAG) stands quietly in the background delivering exceptional results for its clients – through a process it calls “response engine marketing.”

VAG is a Texas-based online publisher that provides direct marketing services – primarily focused on lead generation and conversion training – for a variety of businesses in specific niche industries.

“Our sites make a direct and cost-effective connection between those seeking a particular service or job and those that are advertising them,” says Jay Wommack, founder, president and CEO of Vertical Alliance Group.

“We don’t charge for impressions and we’re not a pay-per-click model,” he explains. “We win mind share and market share for our clients by assessing a consistently low monthly fee to create, track and report on their advertising units within one of our specific niche sites and we consult with and train them to close and retain those leads or job candidates.”

While typical returns from competitive Internet sites usually average less than three percent of leads closed, Wommack says VAG clients should expect more – much more.
“Our system proves that not all leads are created equal,” says Wommack. “With it, clients should close at least 15 to 30 percent of leads we send them. Some companies have even much higher closing percentages.”

Founded as bubbajunk.com in 1999, the company changed its name to VAG in April 2004. Today, VAG today hosts nearly 40 niche Web sites serving about 20 different vertical industries. The company’s flagship sites – BubbaJunk.com and NurseUniverse.com – are targeted sites for recruiting and hiring drivers in the trucking industry and nurses in the healthcare industry, both of which are facing severe shortages.

BubbaJunk.com, created in 1999, has since grown to attract strategic partnerships with many large and mid-size trucking companies across the United States. Blue-chip clients such as J.B. Hunt Transport, Ryder System, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Kraft, Frito-Lay and Swift have partnered with VAG to increase driver retention percentages, decrease the cost per hire and improve profitability.

The success of BubbaJunk.com – and the continued demand for both entry-level and experienced drivers – just keeps on truckin’. In 2004, TruckerTrucker.com was launched for small trucking companies, followed by FullFleet.com, which targets private carrier fleets; 1099trucker.com, for owner-operators of trucking fleets; and USTruckingSchools.com, which enables private trucking schools to recruit and enroll students in specific geographic areas.

Basic Unit of Wealth

Wommack attributes much of VAG’s success to its strategy for delivering the “Basic Unit of Wealth,” which he defines as “whatever our clients need to be successful. A doctor needs new patients, a lawyer needs new cases and a dog groomer needs more shaggy dogs.”
But Wommack emphasizes that he hasn’t created a high-tech breakthrough or some revolutionary software application. “Our process is simple, but it delivers extraordinary results,” says Wommack.

VAG uses in-depth market research and demographic trend data in determining which segments to address.

“We identify niche markets and create Web sites with a solid infrastructure to build traffic over time,” explains Wommack. “We then create (if desired) and place client ads – in the form of banner tiles, profile pages and classified ads – on one of those niche sites. Finally, we teach our advertisers, through monthly boot camps and ongoing proactive support, our proven processes to increase closing rates on the leads generated or applicants submitted through our sites.”

Browsers to both the lead generation and recruiting sites who want more information or to apply for a posted job first click on the client’s advertising unit to review their program. There’s no sign-up or membership required. The client’s profile page provides the user with all the necessary information to make an informed decision about the advertiser. Once they’ve found an ad that suits them, they submit a quick online form that captures critical information about the user to further strengthen the quality of the lead.

“We deliver the Basic Unit of Wealth for less than it costs clients using other means by exposing thousands of targeted, qualified visitors each month who are seeking exactly what the client has to offer. That’s an ROI that’s tough to beat,” concludes Wommack.

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