#Adconf. How to stay in the game. Insights to boost your ad profit

Digital advertising in times of uncertainty?

It’s been drummed in on every Twitter feed and LinkedIn post across the globe that we’re living in “unprecedented” times, but what does that really mean for digital advertising and how do we craft uncertainty into profit? 

We might not have all the answers, but collectively we can put down the insight and industry knowledge we need to walk into what’s working and step away quickly from what isn’t.

Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you what you need to know about the destination. 

Drake. (yup, I quoted Drake)

So, without further ado, here’s a piece of the journey to get you on your way. Want the whole tour? Then head over to Adconf for the full conference recording. 

What’s Adconf all about?

We hosted a digital advertising conference a few weeks back, affectionately dubbed Adconf (catchy right?) in a drive to get to grips with what’s new, hot, trending (and also dead and gone) in online advertising. We brought a few industry experts along for the ride and let them speak their mind in three, 30-minute sessions packed to the brim with separate takes on…

1. What’s happening in the ad space right now
2. Current trends and how to capitalize on them 
3. How to predict and look out for future (unicorn) markets

The results were pretty awesome and, while we jump into what went down and came up, we’re happy to say that Adconf– How to stay in the game, is the first of more to come. 

The Adconf, How to succeed in Affiliate Marketing conference is in the pipeline, coming June 2020. Get to grips with Affiliate marketing (if you’re new to the game) and ramp up your business (if you’ve been around a while). Stay tuned and visit Adcash for upcoming event dates.

Right. Updates out the way, here’s what went down at Adconf

Who were the Adconf speakers?

Three stellar speakers took to the (virtual) stage, combining years of industry expertise and a second to none grasp on today’s trends. 

Powerful perspectives all around from our legendary (1) affiliate marketer, (2) advertising manager and, (3) software provider.

Who is Emanuel Cinca?

Super Affiliate, former STM forum moderator and founder of the ultra-successful Stacked Marketer, Emanuel is a leading trend expert, international speaker, and sounding board to what’s growing, slowing, or blowing up in the world of affiliates and digital marketing.

But, before we dive into that…

What is Stacked Marketer?

Jam-packed with the latest news, tips, and trends in digital marketing, the Stacked weekly newsletter is every marketer’s go-to 5-minute read for all things trending, bending, and mending in digital today. 

Originally called “What the AFF”, the newsletter now reaches 13,000 marketers across the globe and is still growing. A top source of tailored “need to knows”, sent straight to your digital door.  

Adconf takeaways from session 1?

An internationally recognized keynote speaker and expert on all things affiliate marketing, Emanuel kicked off  Adconf with…

“What’s hot? Current trends in the affiliate industry and how to adapt to them”

Emanuel broke down where and how businesses have been impacted across the globe, recapping those products put on ice and those soaring sky high. He compared the world of digital and physical and cited what’s working well in each. 

Here are a few of the insights collected from over 350 digital marketers.

As no surprise, businesses running physical products have taken a far greater hit than digital hubs. With so many companies having to shut their doors temporarily, consumers just aren’t going out and buying in-store. Right now, It’s all about what you can buy, stream, download, or order online, and this will probably continue long after lockdown.

The 5 Physical Products most positively impacted have been…

• Alcohol 🥂

• Health 🚴‍♂️

• Food and Drink 🍕

• Arts and Crafts 🎨

• Fitness 🏋️

 

The 5 Digital Products most positively impacted have been…

• Education 📚

• Games and gaming 🎮

• Health and Fitness 🥊

• Financial Services 💰

• Entertainment as a service 🎬

Given what’s going on in the world right now, it all makes its fair share of sense. 

You’ve got most of the world stuck at home with a whole lot of time to kill. On the physical front, tasty food and good wine go a long way to keep the spirits high. Home exercise equipment and health supplements take on more importance and hobbies keep the mind active and, maybe a little distracted, for the time being. 

In digital, it’s all about entertainment and personal growth. People are picking up online courses to expand their knowledge base and skillsets. Services like movie streaming and mobile gaming are carrying major importance and, even though the world feels like it’s temporarily on pause, essential services like banking, insurance, and medical are expanding more than ever.  

For more on Emanuel’s findings, download the conference recording here.

Jumping into the second session, we’ve got an in-house take on traffic fluctuations and new opportunities.

Who is Evgeniy Martynov?

Advertising manager extraordinaire, Evgeniy helps plan, launch, direct, and maintain all sorts of fun and exciting campaigns across the globe. Working hands-on with advertisers in every niche, product, and industry imaginable, Evgeniy sails into some of his findings with session two. 

But, before we dive into that…

What is Adcash?

Not wanting to send all the focus our way, the elevator version is… we’re an online advertising platform for media buyers, affiliates, publishers, and ad networks. Our ads are being seen by 200 million unique users per day and we’re in 196+ countries (including the impossible to pronounce ones you’ve probably never heard of).

Worldwide, we work to put your campaigns in front of the right audiences, and, after nearly 13 years in the game, we love what we do more than ever. 

Here’s the fun part…

Download and watch the full conference recording here, and we’ll send a special offer your way as a pre-collaboration “thank you for being awesome” gift.  

Adconf takeaways from session 2

Evgeniy took us into the open ocean of digital advertising with…

“What’s new. Navigation guide to sail the tricky waters of advertising”

We covered a little conversion psychology in the first session, but Evgeniy confirms that “we need to be more aware of the consumer’s needs than ever before”. For most of the world, the window of interest has shrunk right down to a few key purchasing verticals, used daily to enhance people’s lives whilst staying at home for an undefined amount of time. 

“The conversions we want are made by real people, living in lockdown” and the verticals below reflect the desire for basic needs like comfort, entertainment, and quality of life. 

Verticals with strong increases (some up by 62%)

1. VPN 🤖
2. VOD 🍿
3. Games 🕹️
4. Dating ❤️
5. Gambling 🎰
6. Food Delivery 🍔

Verticals with a noticeable decrease (some down by 70%)

1. Travel ✈️
2. Sports Betting ⚽
3. Car Sharing 🚗
4. Sweepstakes 🎟️
5. E-Commerce 🛒

So, with the above taken into account, 

when converting, ask yourself…

• Is my offer considered a basic need during COVID-19?
• Does my offer match current consumer needs?
• How does/would the current lockdown affect a market I’m looking to enter into?
• What measures are being taken by different governments to lift/extend the lockdown, and, is there an opportunity to capitalize on essential services before the consumer landscape changes again?

With the right coordinates in place, it’s a heck of a lot easier to sail into your first campaign (especially if you can see the horizon and have the tools in place to get there). 

On the sea of selling, all destinations get reached with the right campaign. Evgeniy takes the lead on this, citing two different courses an advertiser can take… 

Express Campaign

Sail effortlessly into your first campaign and get it up and running with a few clicks.

Pro: You’re speeding by in record time and probably onto the next one already. 

Con: You’re not seeing as far in terms of targeting options and filters.

Advanced campaign

Cruise into every part of the campaign process. A longer journey, but the views are the best.

Pro: There’s a whole lot of room to explore with more filters and optimization types. 

Con: The navigation takes more time than the express route. 

Lastly, Evgeniy laid down his three go-to tips for a killer campaign adventure…

1. Fine-tune and optimize your campaign performance whenever and wherever possible.
2. Display eye-catching, creative assets to increase CVR and ROI.
3. A/B test to find what works. Improve on your findings and go for it!

For the full adventure, download Evegeniy’s Adconf talk right here.

And now, our closing speaker talks of profitability beating uncertainty.

Who is Artur Kaczmarczyk? 

With a razor-sharp background in business development/account management, Artur heads up partnerships at one of the world’s largest and ultra-effective tracking platforms. This requires a keen knowledge of the affiliate sector and, probably, A LOT of coffee! (both of which we’re sure he’s got) 

Artur gives us the where’s and how’s of staying agile, whilst keeping profits growing and flowing. 

But before we ride into real-time revenue… 

What is Voluum?

These guys have been making digital waves since 2014. The go-to ad tracker and answer to the prayers of affiliate marketers around the world, Voluum’s software helps you track every aspect of your campaign, from optimizing ad performance to actionable insights and everything in between. 

And just because Voluum loves you and you’re cool and you’ve read this far down the summary rabbit hole…

Get a 30% discount off of your new Voluum subscription. 

Literally campaigns from here to eternity (and maybe back again).

Head over here to redeem the offer.

Adconf takeaways from session 3

Artur’s cool, calm, and collected and believes you should be too, with a talk around…

“Business as usual. How to stay positive and profitable during the pandemic”

Okay, last time, we swear, but, everyone’s saying it for a reason. Digital is MASSIVE and, when life gets back to normal (ish) digital products will continue to grow to the extent they have been and a whole lot more at that. So, find and market what makes people happy and healthy. All that online comfort that they don’t have to run through the streets to find.

Something else…

Apps and app installations are climbing through the roof, 3 categories taking the lion’s share of mobile are…

• Finance and Investment Apps.
• Gaming and online casino Apps.
• Healthy “stay fit” Apps.

Make sure to specifically gear up some of your stronger campaigns towards mobile. The competition between the platforms is high right now and, with so many new players coming into the above markets, there’s some good room to run strong ads on platforms that are blowing up. 

Need some tips on how to rack up the action with Voluum…

1. Pause/activate your campaign depending on the market.
2. Bid up or down based on sites, zones, and campaigns.
3. Exclude non-converting sites or zones.

For the full rundown of what we weren’t able to cover, download Artur’s session right here.

So, that’s the short version of what went down at #adconf. 

For the full conference and all its sizzling insights, head over here. 

Questions?

We love them and want to answer them in full!  Drop us a line, anytime right here. 

Be sure to check out our next digital conference. Adconf. How to succeed in Affiliate Marketing, a breakdown of all things Affiliate marketing. How to get into it (if you’re new to the game) and how to make the most of it (if you’ve been around for more than a while). Stay tuned and visit the Adcash home page for further updates. 

Bye for now.