Client Spotlight, Jaime Macias of BLNK.
This is the first installment in part of our ongoing series to present case studies of clients that are utilizing Lotame's, Crowd Control Technology.
Our first client featured is a publishing site called BLNK. Jaime Macias, and Masahji Stewart are the founders of BLNK, and they have been our clients for a few months. BLNK is a amazing site that really has excelled at presenting themselves as a example of everything that social networking has the potential to be. The site is clean, easy to navigate, and most importantly is the "connective tissue" to what WEB 3.0 will evolve into. Jaime and Mashaji have proven to be great partners for Lotame, and they graciously agreed to be interviewed recently, by Marshall Massey for our first client spotlight. BLNK understands the issues facing User Generated Content media, and they have been "ahead of the curve" in comprehending the challenges and hurdles, as it pertains to monetization and targeting, in order to increase value.
Jaime Macias of BLNK, answers our probing questions below:
Who is BLNK?
BLNK’s goal is to create an alternative, boutique social network for college age user and also to create a place where people can stand out. Their mission statement describes them as, “the personal shopper of social networks… your new best friend, your crazy uncle, and your summer crush all rolled up (without the creepiness that would entail if that truly were one person). [They] look like David, but act like Goliath.”
BLNK is looking to further monetize and display search based and video content advertisements. They would like sponsors to purchase a greater share of their advertisements. More generally, they would like to create packages based on data that they’ve received from Lotame. “We are looking to show display, contextual, and pre-roll advertising in the near future but with the help of Lotame we are hoping to take it to a sponsorship model where we are able to guarantee mind-share for our advertisers and help them move the needle as far as brand awareness and sales is concerned.”
BLNK is trying to find intrinsic value in the social media community, a valuable group of users. As they work with Lotame, they hope to find value. “We are looking for Lotame to help us identify the value of community online and be a strategic partner in bringing advertisers to the table to take advantage of this new found value proposition.” Additionally, they are working with Lotame to gain information on their users as well as monetizing their site. “We are trying to gain insight into the segments of user population in order to provide the best experience on a per user basis. We are also trying to increase efficient monetization by identifying core user types.”
The Internet Advertising World
In BLNK’s view, the trend over the past years has cooled. It seems that advertisers value page views less. They believe that there is no predictable way to know how people get to each site, and everyone is trying to solve different ways to look at impressions. “People can spend 30 minutes at a time online, that’s longer than a sitcom. We need to find how to use that value.”
As far as BLNK’s perception on advertisers, “We feel that advertisers perceive social media as a gift and a curse. For the first time in a long time they have found a place teeming with human activity. Real people that can be reached at a point where they are susceptible to influence, however because of the nature of the medium the page view is a transitional experience. People are consuming many more pages than at a traditional news or editorial driven site. Here at BLNK we recognize the value of this proposition, and with Lotame's help we are identifying the true value of the online community in its current form, and helping to bring advertisers into this new space efficiently.”
BLNK was first made aware of Lotame through online press at GigaOm.com They read about a company that wants to help monetize social media traffic, and immediately wanted to understand more about how to create value.
The Lotame competition
As BLNK entered the social media network monetization business, they wanted to partner with a company that would help them succeed. “After speaking with other behavioral targeting companies the choice was clear to us. We entered into a relationship with Lotame and we haven't looked back. It's hard to imagine a better partner in the space.”
BLNK works with Lotame in conjunction with Ad networks. “We find it extremely beneficial working with Lotame. They are invested in the success of our business and it is clear in every communication and phone call. Lotame treats us like a partner, and that's rare to find in ad networks.”
The level of contact and assistance that BLNK has found from Lotame completely outshines any ad network they have worked with. “Ad Networks tend to treat publisher partners as a group of impressions and the amount of contact and is driven by that. The only time I hear from an ad network is if something is wrong. In stark contrast, Lotame is constantly trying to help us improve our business for the benefit of both companies.” BLNK feels that ad networks are very disconnected, while Lotame offers them a 1 to 1 relationship.
Working with Lotame
BLNK’s thoughts on product implementation are that, “It took approximately an hour to implement the Lotame Tags.” “The implementation process was straightforward and thoroughly documented.” And that, “Mapping was simple and straightforward.”
BLNK checks into Crowd Control daily, or every other day. They like using the weekly wrap-ups and additional information provided through the helpful and personal consulting. “We refer to the Lotame product daily in order to track progress and change through our user community.”
In regard to the actual use of Crowd Control, BLNK feels that, “It's very simple to create audiences, we often go in and create an audience based upon anecdotal evidence to identify if a certain user is indicative of a larger whole. All in all it takes a few minutes.” BLNK has used audiences to help increase user satisfaction. “We love audiences, it allows us to mix and match our users based upon interests, actions, and behaviors which gives us a accurate but modular view of our community.”
BLNK has found the Crowd Control allows them to concentrate on certain areas of concern and easily fix problems or work on the betterment of their site. “We can dig in deeper to certain users, instead of looking at whole pie.”
BLNK has found numerous beneficial results through the use of Lotame technology. “We were able to identify an opportunity that we were missing that has increased our overall CPM by 70%, as well as an increase of premium inventory of 40%.” BLNK will take into account data collected for future redesigns.
One example of how BLNK has used Lotame technology to better their site is when Lotame discovered the popularity of their messaging system and found that it is their number one feature. They are now able to monetize more efficiently based on that information. “We have found ad opportunities based upon popular actions that have increased revenue dramatically.”
Lotame Solutions
BLNK feels that the success of Lotame will be huge. “We see HUGE things in Lotame's future. We have invested the success of our company to some extent on that very notion.” BLNK is investing their trust and equity in Lotame and hope to grow along with them.
It is BLNK’s opinion that the level of service the Lotame has provided has been fantastic and that it is a level of service that feels right. BLNK feels that Lotame supports their business and jump on top of questions. They wish others were more like them. “Lotame has provided the highest level of service of any partner I have had in 4 years of online publishing. The level of service starts at the top with Andy Monfried, and Scott Hoffman all the way to our day to- day contacts Jake Spain and Brian O'Connor.” Finally, and most importantly. “Lotame Rocks!”
Please visit BLNK, at www.blnk.com
Thanks to Jaime Macias, and Marshall Massey.
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