HotSocket, MatchLogic Put Customer Acquisition Technology Together

In a deal aimed at grabbing clients looking to lower the cost of customer acquisition, Excite@Home’s MatchLogic marketing division and direct marketing start-up HotSocket have agreed to link their technologies.

Under the terms of the deal, MatchLogic and HotSocket will together offer clients a service in which MatchLogic will use its consumer profile database to target and optimize advertising, and HotSocket will use its technology to tailor the offer presented upon click-through. In addition, the deal calls for HotSocket to tap MatchLogic’s parent company, Excite@Home, by buying ad placements on its network for HotSocket clients.

“We are keenly focused on raising the ROI of our customers’ campaigns,” said Jon Skinner, senior vice president & general manager, acquisition marketing products division, MatchLogic.

As the new partners see it, MatchLogic’s strength lies in its database of 72 million user profiles, which it uses to target advertising to the desired individuals. HotSocket uses algorithms to analyze which offers — all of which are dynamically generated — are the most effective at eliciting the desired response from the consumer. The result of the partnership, the companies hope, is much more efficiency in acquiring a customer.

The deal is especially attractive for HotSocket, a growing start-up that is not as deeply entrenched in the industry, although it has managed to attract clients like Newsweek, Earthlink, Discover, Register.com and USA Today. The partnership gives HotSocket new sales relationships through MatchLogic, but it’s still free to make similar partnerships with other companies.

While financial terms of the deal were not announced, the companies said that they would share revenue, and the percentages going to each company would be decided on a campaign-by-campaign basis.

Initially, the companies will offer HotSocket’s services to campaigns MatchLogic is already running for its clients. Then, they will work to integrate their technologies so that they work together smoothly.