“We are our own largest affiliate” – Eric Wex

Eric Wex, Chief Strategy Officer of EPCVIP, joins the latest series of affiliate interviews on Affiliate Grand Slam

Eric Wex walks us through EPCVIP, which he says is the largest direct publishing lead generation company in the Fintech space. He adds that all of the leads that they sell are generated on sites that they own and operate and that they either don’t work with a lender yet, or they are usually their largest traffic source. They currently have over 20 profitable AI driven models and their best converting template has gone through over 2000 iterations of testing – follow his story below.

How did EPCVIP take off?

EPCVIP took off shortly after launching our proprietary media buying platform and directing our talented team’s efforts at servicing the very well-funded, Fintech space.

What is EPCVIP?

EPCVIP.com is the largest direct publishing lead generation company in the Fintech space. We use our proprietary technology and expertise in pay-per-click and display marketing to drive the highest quality leads to our partners. Our revolutionary platform provides our publishers with top converting offers delivering the industry’s highest EPC’s. We don’t just drive traffic, we drive high-quality leads, sales, & most importantly, results that foster successful long-term partnerships.

Tell us a bit more about your concept, culture, and vision.

Our concept is that we are a proprietary technology company that uses our technology to empower our marketing efforts. Our culture is that we are a true family and we try to help our employees achieve success in every aspect of their lives. We have helped with everything from personal debt and doctor referrals for specific conditions to home purchases, schools for employee’s families, immigration, and work status. We have all experienced elements of bad work environments while working for people at other companies. Our culture is to run EPCVIP in a way that none of those bad experiences ever exist. We value all of our employees as important parts of the company. One example of this is that we take all of our employees and their families on an all-expense paid annual retreat every year. Our first trip was 4 days of excitement, racing super cars and going to shows in Las Vegas with over 75 people. Most recently we took over 138 of us to Maui, participating in snorkeling, luaus, and an epic adventure in paradise. Our vision is to keep building upon what we have started and using our talent and technology to disrupt other verticals in the most positive of ways.

How do you differ from other lead-generation companies within the financial services industry?

All of the leads that we sell are actually generated on websites that we own and operate. This means that the consumers landed on one of our websites and proceeded to answer questions there, resulting in a lead. We display compliant copy that we control and obtain valuable TCPA consent as the consumer journeys through our flow. We are our own largest affiliate which gives us the insight needed to dial in the industry’s top converting offers. We are also driven by PPC Media Buying, so our high-intent, highly-unique, lead quality is superior to that of most other firms.

A new lead is generated, what’s the next step?

We look at the specific attributes of that individual applicant and (in real-time) route that consumer to the EPCVIP partnership that can service him the best (or pay the most for the lead).

Which are the most common lead generation forms within the financial services in 2021?

Our newest brand, Cash.com

How can financial services use digital marketing?

Great question and super easy to answer. Contact me! From there, I will dial in the questions we need to ask on our websites to cultivate the specific consumers a partner company is looking for based on their unique product offering. From there we set up a small test and let the quality and results of what we are able to deliver drive the long-term growth of the relationship.

What incremental value do you provide to advertisers and publishers?

We maintain a highly-paid staff of 64 people dedicated to optimising consumer acquisition for the Fintech space. Using our own money, we spend millions of dollars weekly on ad-spend and send those leads to our advertisers. We are ecstatic if we see a 20% return on that ad-spend. Who could be a better partner, for our advertisers, than a highly skilled company willing to put all of their own money at risk for less than 20% of any profits that are generated? For our publishers, we dial-in our offers using our own money, so when we give those offers to our publishers they are already pre-optimised on our dime and not theirs.

What can you tell us about your customisable optimisation platform?

We don’t really have what most people would call a “website”. Our websites are actually powered by a dynamic templating engine where every question or image is dependent on information which we have garnered from previous answers, actions, or information. Images, copy, and ordering are dynamically changing to provide optimal conversions based on everything we know about the consumer as we become aware of those attributes in real-time.

Can you tell us more about EPCVIP’s technology? Have you already implemented any AI driven features?

We have an entire AI department that has finally broken through this year and we currently have over 20 AI driven models running at a superior profit to that of our common version.

You have the “highest EPCs in the industry” (EPCVIP homepage). What led to this result? How do you maintain it?

We are very agile and are constantly deploying new features to maintain our edge. We are in an elite group of the top companies that service this industry and we are all battling for the top spot. We deploy many iterations of each of our offers in systematic A/B tests to find the features that produce the most optimal results. One of our sites just broke its 2,000th iteration (just so you understand the scope at which we operate).

Can you mention some case studies as proof of your success?

We started this company 9 years ago and no lender knew who we were. Now we are most lender’s largest lead source. Simply put, we either don’t work with a lender yet, or we are usually their largest traffic source. There is not much middle ground.

How important is data to EPCVIP?

Data is our life blood. Decisions start out based on a gut instinct designed by a marketing expert and then a test is laid out. From there, data takes over and drives the evolution of the entire initiative. It’s really quite simple – look at the data and do more of what is working and less of what is not until we can’t optimise any more.

What is the importance of data optimisation and intelligent list segmentation?

This industry has so many moving parts that it is important to segment out everything you do so that you can tell where the results (and lack of results) are actually coming from. Then you can optimise specific campaigns that will perform the best on each specific segment.

How can EPCVIP benefit Affiliate Grand Slam’s attendees?

Affiliates that have never worked directly with EPCVIP will have the opportunity to test our offers and should be relieved to see how agile we are when it comes to customisation, programming, and dedicated white labels of our offers.

Have you ever been to SiGMA? SiGMA Europe, Africa, Asia, or Americas – which of these four expo shows would you likely book on your diary for 2021, COVID-19 permitting?

We have never been to any of them but if there was no COVID-19, we would gladly attend them all in 2021. We are all itching to travel and, at our scale, it only takes 1 meeting and good relationship to pay for the whole sponsorship and travel expenses.

Tell us a bit about yourself – after all, business is done with people, not just companies! Your hobbies, favorite book, favorite quote, etc.

I am a 52-year-old New Yorker that prides himself on being a great dad and husband, business partner, and the best boss ever. I try to always pulls my own weight in any deal that I make or endeavor that I am a part of. I love cars, boats, and most water-sports. I currently live in Calabasas CA. Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince is my favorite book. My favorite quote is: “Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

SiGMA Americas Virtual 2021:

The SiGMA Americas Virtual show will run from the 13th to the 14th of September, 2021. Features include a fully interactive expo floor, networking chat rooms, and a high profile line up of panelists. Explore the agenda or check out who’s on the floor plan.