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Amsterdam Director of Sales Remmert Oosterling: “We have to focus on details”

Jul

Following the opening of Matomy Market’s Amsterdam branch, I sat down with Remmert Oosterling, the Director of Sales, and asked him a few questions about online advertising in the BENELUX and Nordic markets, and what his plans are for the new Matomy offices. And by “sat down with” I mean that we emailed. But can’t you picture us all cozy like in a Dutch cafe? - Daneka Soudak

My first question is for those who are new to Matomy Market or maybe never heard of Matomy Media Group. Can you give me a brief history of what Matomy Market does, how it started, and the structure and purpose of the company?

Matomy Market is the affiliate marketing arm of Matomy Media Group. The group also has Matomy Media for our display clients, Matomy Money for virtual currency publishers, and Matomy Mobile, a mobile ad network. From 2006 until April of 2011 we were separate brands (Adsmarket, Xtend, and Matomy, respectively). In April we all came under the one brand name, Matomy. We are now able to easily bring an integrated advertising solution to our clients, and they benefit from the superior results we provide as well as the ability to promote their business on many platforms through one relationship.

What was strategic reasoning behind opening a branch in Amsterdam?

Our Amsterdam location is part of Matomy Market’s “glo-cal” vision. The Netherlands is considered a gateway for the BENELUX and Nordic countries, thus it is one of the most important expansion moves yet for Matomy Market. At the heart of this strategy is the understanding that as a true premium, international affiliate network, we maintain the most intimate and mutually beneficial relationships with our advertisers and affiliates by serving them locally.

Will the Amsterdam affiliates have the same Matomy Market experience?

Of course. Our platform is for all no matter where you are located. Just like McDonalds, you will enjoy the full power of Matomy Market no matter where the branch is.

Remmert, what does the future of online advertising look like for the Nordic and Benelux markets?

The Netherlands has always been up front in the performance-based marketing business. For more than 10 years already we see native networks growing constantly as well as international networks opening an office here. From The Netherlands the lines to Belgium and the Nordics are short. Now local companies are either being bought or specialize into a sub market. In order to differentiate as a new player we have to focus on details. Can you differentiate in technique? Can you bring additional traffic to an advertiser? Are you able to bring a new business approach to the advertiser? Etc. Again, everyday we see new advertisers stepping into the CPA market, all of them with their unique strategy. Bringing quality traffic, leads and sales for advertisers outside the conventional CPA affiliate industries, being able to optimize, based on advertiser’s feedback looking at every individual consumer. This is where our market is going to and where the men are separated from the boys.

How does your tie to Matomy Media Group benefit your affiliates and advertisers?

The Matomy Media Group offers a 360° approach. We have all media types available in-house so we are able to test and optimize every campaign before we bring it to the market. Working with Matomy is an instant big step ahead both for advertsiers as well as publishers.An advertiser can always consult with us and develop a well-converting performance campaign together with us. Test and optimize the conversion of the landing page, test and optimize the ROI (conversion from lead to paying customer) of each one of the traffic types and develop your selection of methods. The advertiser is always 100% sure he will benefit from his campaign before the campaign goes live in our network. As soon as he is live, we can bring volume anywhere in the world on all disciplines.

For publishers it’s very convenient to know every campaign we offer them has been tested and optimized and is already live on our own media. We don’t abuse our partners as testing animals, we only bring them those campaigns who already proved themselves as being moneymakers

What are your strongest categories and some of your advertisers?

Our advertisers are looking for expansion of their consumer base and want to benefit the full potential of being featured on display, email, search, social media, etc. We bring them interested consumers and buying customers. The categories (industries) they are in are predominantly Daily Deals, Travel and Gaming. But the category for us is not leading in our approach towards the advertiser market. If you are an advertiser that is setting up an customer loyalty database and is looking for the right target audience to yield, then collaborate with us and expand your database with continuous optimization based on your ROI and 100% no-cure-no-pay. If you are looking for names, Groupon, Travelbird, iBood and Vodafone.

How many commissions do you expect to pay out in 2011?

If we draw the current line towards the end of 2011 we will hit the 2.5 million. Euros, that is…

What resources do you have for your affiliates who are just starting out?

We have a variety of international, fast-converting, generic lead campaigns. If you have audience, we will bring them the right proposition so you make money with them. As said, you can be sure these campaigns work, since they’ve been tested out and optimized. Also, a tip, take your advantage from the fact we are still building up here in Amsterdam. Every publisher that signs up directly gets personal attention by a call or an email to map the potential. In this phase we are interested in everybody who has ideas on how to create added value online. In this business everybody learns new things every day. So, if you are an affiliate who is just starting out, feel free to get in contact and share your thoughts with us please.

How can affiliates work with you? Is it difficult to become an affiliate?

Sign up via matomymarket.nl and we’ll be in contact with you. Signing up takes you 2 minutes.

From left: Oosterling; Ilja de Boer, CS Manager; Koen Ruitjer, Publisher Manager; Matomy Bike!!

Social games, virtual goods, and monetization opportunities: Part 2

Nov

In Part One of this post I commented on the current casual gaming climate, and ended with the question, “What should developers and games creators understand to stand out in the industry?”

For games companies, subscription models and boxed set goods are still generating a great amount of revenue; however, most companies know that they must create a social version of their product otherwise it may simply vanish.

Moreover, let’s say your game is social media friendly, but you aren’t monetizing. Some would say that if you have a great product but nobody is buying it then you are missing the whole point.

How else can you explain the ongoing performance and revenue for some of the top Farm/Poker/Mafia games on Facebook? Is it coincident? Timing? Or maybe they are just lucky? Not at all. These casual gaming heavy-hitters understand fellow gamers, marketing and online media and can implement all three to form the answer: great content, combined with a sharp user flow.

The best games are built to motivate their users like a good coach, who reminds you that you are good, but not excellent! Users increase their playing prowess and their chance to lead their group by purchasing credits for 5, 10, or 15 bucks a pop, an affordable ego boost. Competitive players who enjoy facing off with their friends love this model.

The challenge is to build the game right in order to maximize your ongoing cost and user value.

So here is our check list for now:

Create a cool game in terms: animation, story line, features & sophistication.
Provide a supporting platform/ technology (unless your users will enjoy maintenance/downtime notices)
Come up with the right marketing strategy and the ability to analyze your results
Funds (don’t spend it all in one place ;-)
Acquire users via in-house marketing campaigns, Cost Per Install, and alternative monetization platforms.

Part 3 will cover user acquisition through in-house marketing campaigns, Cost Per Install, and alternative monetization platforms.

Author Uzi Arbiv is the Director of Sales for the performance marketing arm of Adsmarket. You can contact him at uzi.a@adsmarket.com

See Uzi’s other posts:

Virtual Currency – Media Types for Online Games Applications

Social Games, Virtual Goods, and Monetization Opportunities: a 3-part series with Uzi Arbiv

Interview with VP of Performance Gil Klein: “For our Advertisers, it’s all about relationships. We’re partners.”

Nov

Gil Klein was recently appointed to Vice President of Performance at Adsmarket. He came to us after years of experience in media buying and sales at fellow AdsmarketGroup member XTEND, a display ad network. In this interview he discusses what services and benefits Advertisers can expect and rely on from Adsmarket, and his plans for the performance marketing arm of the media conglomerate.

First, a little bit about you. How did you get into working in online media and advertising?

I worked as a marketing manager for a foundation where I was working closely with our advertising agency for offline and online activities. Buying inventory online for our promotion and seeing the metrics and analysis possibilities got me all hyped up and drew me to the online world. Following this position I knew that I wanted to work in online media.

Before coming to Adsmarket, you were at display ad network XTEND for 3 years, leading the media buying and performance teams and also doing a bit of sales, and before that a media buyer at an online gaming company. How did this prepare you for the affiliate marketing world?

What I can say is that I got a clear picture of what is important to both advertisers and publishers. Advertisers look for acquisitions, user value, reach and customer support. At XTEND I gained vast experience working with affiliate networks internationally as a publisher. This enabled me to understand better what publishers want from advertisers and what are the all the challenges that lie in this relationship. Also I understand what features publishers and advertisers seek from an affiliate platform to maximize their activity.

Why do advertisers come to Adsmarket?

To be blunt, I think we offer more than your standard network. When I sit and talk with an advertiser about his business, it ends up being less a conversation about commission structure and more a conversation about partnership with Adsmarket and their dedicated account manager. At Adsmarket we are looking for a specific breed of advertiser, someone who understands the value of the relationship. What does that mean? It means that if the commitment is there, we can provide serious results and greater reach.

While it’s not often publicized, we also offer a wide array of creative and strategic planning services to key clients. I’m talking about feedback on creatives based on performance, landing page and banner design, and assistance developing new products.

I have to say, also, that from the executive level to all of our account managers, we all understand the importance of reach and user value to an advertiser. Optimization is key, and we have deep knowledge of media performance in verticals like social apps, education, mobile content, games, free stuff, surveys, dating etc.

What do you mean by commitment?

Oh, I don’t mean exclusivity, although we have a number of exclusive clients that are doing very well. I’m talking about what it means to be a partner. To start, we strongly encourage our advertisers to include their account managers in their strategic media planning, and share business revenue goals for the next quarter. We want to be in constant communication, cooperate with each other, and of course, make sure that our publishers and affiliates are getting their payments on time. All of those things make for a great partnership.

What should publishers and affiliates know about the way advertisers work?

Publishers need to understand that advertisers are always looking for the highest end-user value. If an advertiser is happy in regards to value, he’ll be more likely to negotiate. Also, publishers need to know that the network is there to help them gain the highest end-user value possible. I remind publishers: don’t be afraid to ask us for creatives or landing pages or better payouts in return for good volume. We have our creative services team to help advertisers gain access to key publishers that have special needs.

What about control issues?

Of course, control over media is always at the top of an advertisers list, and also for us as the network. Fortunately, our approach to publishers is based on the same “partnership model” and we take many pains to ensure that our media is quality, and that all advertiser terms are adhered to. An advertiser can protect themselves best by disclosing full terms and conditions for their offers when they join us.

Closing words?

Whether you are fully-managed or self-managed, we’re partners. We need each other and have to work together. It’s all about relationships, you know?

Gil plays as hard as he works

Ad:tech NY wrap-up: Big Opportunities, Big Apple Style

Nov

adsmarket and xtend at ad:Tech

It is without a doubt that of all the ad:tech locations around the world, the New York show is something special. It’s a huge event, with so many networks, technology solutions, and industry heavy hitters walking the floor. The best part is that you can see that the industry just keeps growing and developing. At Adsmarket’s booth this year we had quite a crew to manage all of the people coming and going. Not only folks from our Tel Aviv headquarters were there but also Jose Luis Valdivielso from AdsmarketLATAM in Madrid and the new team from the former Ergos Media (now a part of LATAM) in Mexico City.

The combination of all of us really helped our booth visitors get the big picture about Adsmarket and what can offer. As an international network with so many campaigns in Europe and APAC, we stood out from the other, more standard US networks. Our direct relationships with European advertisers really appealed to affiliates that had questions about what kinds of offers Adsmarket has.

Of course, you can’t go to ad:tech without hitting a few parties, and we had our fair share of fun with our colleagues, complete with limo rides and shmoozing.

Next up is Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas! If you didn’t make it to ad:tech and you want to meet us at ASW11, send an email to events@adsmarket.com

Adsmarket’s YouTube Channel: Adsmarket Tutorials, Interviews, Lectures, and more!

Nov

It’s ALIIIIIIIIVE! Adsmarket’s Official YouTube Channel is now uploaded, locked, and ready!

We know that video is probably the best training medium out there ( unless you are training to skydive, because video won’t help you there), and we are excited to offer our publishers and partners a better look at the gears and the people that are the heart of our company.

The plan is roll out new videos gradually, and draw subscribers to our new YouTube Channel. We might even let you share videos as well!

By subscribing to our channel, you’ll never miss a beat:

Tutorials on features in our proprietary Adsmarket affiliate management platform – where they are, what they do, and what it means for your revenue!

How to Get Started Series – A 4 part introduction to using your Adsmarket Publisher Account.

Interviews – The Adsmarket StreetTeam will be ON at exhibitions and events, snagging interviews with industry heavyweights, including our own.

Lectures and Presentations – We present and speak at conventions and events around the world. It will be like you were there!

And, dare I say it, more!

We invite you to subscribe to the Adsmarket Channel and enjoy! Also, if you have ideas for tutorials or content that you think would help others out or just make Adsmarket look great, we invite you to produce and share them on our channel! Send an email to social media manager Daneka Soudak for more information.

Who’s going to Ad:Tech New York?

Oct

We’re just a few short weeks away from #adtech New York! Ad:tech NY is a huge exhibition, ‘The largest gathering of digital marketers…”, with over 6200 attendees converging from all over the world to meet and engage with networks and brands. We regularly exhibit at Ad:Tech with great enthusiasm, and always walk away with a deeper understanding of industry trends and what’s important to advertisers, publishers, and partners.

We will also be launching a great promotion for new publishers at the show. Sign up to the blog RSS to be the first to know!

Here’s who you’ll see manning the Adsmarket booth and on the showroom floor…

Assaf Suprasky
Senior Vice President, Media and Affiliate Relations

Jose Luis Valdivielso
CEO, Adsmarket LATAM

Liat Arbesman
Director of Publisher Business Development

Nadav Trenter Moser
Business Development Manager

The show runs Nov 3rd -4th, and Adsmarket will be exhibiting at booth #1551.
Are you attending the convention? Set up a meeting with the Adsmarket Team by sending us an email.

System Enhancements for Adsmarket Publishers

Sep

Here’s some good news for Adsmarket Publishers! We are pleased to announce that this week we have rolled out a series of new features and enhancements to our publisher interface that we are sure will benefit publisher activities

Find Programs is now Search

You will notice that the Find Programs tab on your homepage has been replaced by a Search tab. We have improved the functionality of our search to include not only programs, but also campaigns, products or even creatives.

Added Features to the Campaign and Program Details Pages – Quick Download Tracking URLs for Creatives

This enhancement allows publishers who do their own ad-serving to download a .zip file of tracking URLs for all the creatives in a campaign.

Set Your Preferences

If you want to make sure that you get the most relevant notifications, search results, and API queries, use the new My Settings options to customize your preferences! Set preferred countries and categories (My Countries and My Categories) for the option to apply them to searches, notification emails, and when using Adsmarket’s API.

Landing Page Previews and Easy Approval to Programs

From campaign search results you can now easily preview a landing page.

We are excited to bring you these changes, and we thank our development team for all their hard work. We are continually improving and adding new features to our system in order to bring our clients the best user experience. If you have any questions or feedback, contact your account manager.

Who won the iPad?

Sep

This summer, we gave away the coveted iPad (after each of us had a chance to gaze at it longingly).

Adi, the lucky winner of our summer iPad contest!

Congratulations Adi!

Here is what Adi’s account manager, Roni, had to say:

“After just a month of showing great performance, my new affiliate, Adi, just won a brand new iPad. Adi showed overwhelming character i.e. creativity, patience, high motivation and great analytical skills and we were happy to award him for his efforts, and look forward to the future!”

ErgoTip #6 – How to Ergonomically Manage a Multiple Screen Workstation

Mar

Looking around the Adsmarket office, I have seen many account managers, finance analysts, and VPs using more than one screen on their desk. Does this also sound like you? Most of you use the laptop screen as the secondary screen, am I right?

If the screens are not set up right, it may affect the condition of your neck and upper limb, and may raise the risk of orthopedic problems in these areas.

It is very important that the setup effectively minimize looking to one side, repeated one-sided movements and the worst movement to the neck: extension (like a back bend).

I would like to set some ground rules for ergonomic setting of multiple screens:

1- Find out how much time you spend working with each screen, if your time at each screen is more or less equal; position yourself at the middle; between the 2 screens. If one of the 2 screens is more dominant (around 70% of your time), position yourself in front of the main screen and try to locate the secondary screen to your right side for one week and to your left side for the next week, and so on…

2- If you work with a laptop and a screen; try not to work with the laptop as your work station, try to raise your laptop screen to the height of your LCD and work with an external keyboard and mouse.

If you are not sure you have it right you are welcome to send me a picture of your setup and I will be more than happy to advise!

ErgoTips are provided by Dalit Ben Tovim, a renowned ergonomic consultant and trainer who serves Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller corporations and organizations. Contact her at DalitATergo4u.com, and please visit the ergo4u website.

Affiliate Marketing Tips from an 80′s Action Figure

Mar

Contributed by Maor Sadra, Director of Sales

“By the power of Greyskull, I have the Power!” If you grew up in the 80s, you may remember He-Man yelling this line while waving his mighty sword to get ultimate power. I’m not going to comment on the lack-of-imagination-name the creator of the show gave ‘He-Man’. My post is still related to online media.

Part of my sales team’s responsibility at Adsmarket is working with advertisers to create affiliate programs that publishers can generate results. We are middle-men, and we end up having the same ‘who has the power’ discussion at least 5 times a week.

For years, I’ve heard advertisers and publishers arguing the ultimate question: Who has the power? Who is more responsible for the success of the other? Is it the advertiser who is paying for the media, or is it the publisher, whose media generates results for the advertiser (even allowing them to advertise)?

Advertisers are indeed sponsoring the world nowadays. Think of an internet without advertising, where you would have to pay (gasp!) for content, videos, streaming music or for reading this post…

Publishers are the ones responsible for the content you see & hear on the web. And more often than not, they are a business meant to generate revenue in addition to providing users with content.

That’s why I’m here to say that it’s not a question of who has the power. Power should have nothing to do with performance marketing. It’s all about the Win^X3 Solution.

The Win^X3 Solution:

In every campaign, there are 3 ultimate factors to consider:
Publisher + Advertiser + User = MORE SALES

What can go wrong?? The number of wrong equations goes on and on:

An Advertiser promoting the right offer on the wrong media will likely to not generate good results (quality/quantity).
A Publisher running a campaign where the Advertiser is offering a too-low CPA will not generate a high enough ROI in comparison to their media value and will eventually drop the campaign.
A user seeing an un-related ad on a website will likely to not take action.
An Advertiser promoting an offer with a long tedious user flow will not get the volume required.

The right equation is simple:

A campaign must be designed to match the Advertiser, Publisher AND User needs – Only then will it generate good results on a long term basis.

As an Advertiser, your goal should be to create high converting pages, looking at minimizing the user flow while offering an incentive for the users you are looking for to take action. Research the rates you are able to offer publishers for quality conversions to be competitive in your industry.

As a Publisher – know your users and traffic, and promote the right offers for the right users. Generating low quality for Advertisers ensures a one-time campaign.

As a user – Keep enjoying free content, and hope the free ride continues…

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