Dmitry Atamanyuk
CEO
GDM Group

GDM Group was formed through the combination of ClickDealer and MobAir, and now provides global performance marketing solutions with a specialty in Cost-per-Action campaigns. Can you share more on the genesis of the company and how that vision has evolved today?

GDM Group was formed in July 2016, when ClickDealer and MobAir joined together. GDM Group will help advertisers avoid wasting dollars on underperforming Marketing campaigns, by bringing performance solutions together within a flexible integration system that provides accurate analytics. The genesis of two companies allowed GDM Group extend the line of key offerings, which include: a user acquisition and mobile monetization platform, Performance Marketing, media buying and video advertising.

What are the key benefits for the clients from this change and what makes your capabilities different?

GDM Group’s key differentiator is the exhaustive range of services. Anything you can think of in terms of online promotion is covered by GDM Group. Any type of product can be advertised globally and any type of Traffic can be monetized, efficiency and safety ensured by optimization algorithms and quality control. Globalization and scalability are the focal points of GDM Group, which has the capabilities to turn a local business into a worldwide brand. Local hands-on expertise formed by maintaining business relationships for years through multiple offices worldwide makes for strong industry connections that further reinforce our capabilities.

It’s been stated by many trade publications that programmatic advertising is growing significantly every year, with it potentially soon becoming the main mode in which advertisers buy media in the future. What is your take on this, and does this corroborate with the data you are seeing internally?

We have noticed this trend as well. Programmatic advertising is constantly growing, and with targeting capabilities getting deeper and optimization algorithms perpetually evolving, such an efficient automated system is sure to get recognition and demand. GDM Group adopted this trend early by utilizing the vast amount of audience data points we have gathered over the years to enhance the quality of acquired users, as well as implementing built up algorithms in some of our in-house projects.

What do you think are some of the downsides of programmatic advertising? How do you think these downsides are being solved by industry players? (lack of transparency, viewability, ad fraud, fake clicks/installs etc)

Ad fraud is the most prominent issue in this field, simply because of how difficult it is to detect. Flexibility is also going to lack, because no amount of API customization can match up to an actual team of buyers, the fact displayed by simple ROI comparison. Fraud, however, remains the main concern, and that’s why GDM Group utilizes multiple tools to identify fraudulent traffic and constantly tracks metrics like retention and attribution for unusual user behavior to ensure traffic quality. Industry players are constantly coming up with new solutions to combat fraud as new practices appear, so the only way to stay on top of that is to always track and utilize the latest developments.

How does GDM Group typically work with publishers? Are your payouts typically in CPMs, CPC, CPA — do you have any average eCPMs by category or geo you can share?

We work in CPA, CPI, CPL and revshare.

In the last few years, there has been a cambrian explosion in the amount of adtech vendors, publishers, and data companies an advertiser can work with directly. Do you think that this is sustainable, and how do you think the ecosystem will change over time?

A rapid expansion in supply from the publisher side happened before, and the ecosystem regulated itself just as it’s going to regulate itself in this case. Managing so many traffic channels from the advertiser side is not sustainable due to the sheer amount of communication and maintenance required to establish a reliable flow. Full-service companies like GDM Group exist so that all the services are provided in a bundle, with solutions designed specifically to simplify and optimize the advertising process.

Multi-channel attribution has been a big issue marketers have dealt with over the past few years– not knowing exactly how much credit to assign to each individual ad partner for an eventual user purchase. What are your thoughts on attribution, and more specifically view-through attribution?

This issue is resolvable with in-depth analytics. There are lots of useful tools (Appsflyer, Adjust, Kochava, Tune) that help measure the performance of each individual traffic channel and optimize spends accordingly. This applies to view-through attribution as well; it all depends on how deep your analytics are.

Monetization on mobile has been known to be not quite as robust as that on desktop (lower eCPMs for mobile inventory). Why do you think that has been the case? Do you think this will change over time?

Mobile is constantly growing, and one of the best indicators of that is the fact that the cost of mobile traffic in some channels has caught up and even moved beyond desktop. This is due to the rapid expansion of engaging formats in mobile, such as video ads and native ads. Brands are taking notice of the user quality these channels bring, and tech development in mobile is as robust as ever, which brings even more capabilities for advertising. The growth is exponential, and I think we are going to hear a lot more about mobile in 2017.

Many publishers are moving towards automating the production of video content with companies like Wochit & Wibbitz, due to the premium CPMs that in-stream video ads yield. What is your take on this?

These services allow mid-range publishers to monetize in-stream traffic without a strong content base. This leads to a spike in supply on the market, which might drastically lower the costs for that kind of traffic. It won’t hurt the top players, but might negatively affect lower scale publishers that have to account for production value and maintenance of video content. Advertisers could benefit from the price drop, but the nature of procedurally generated content will bring down engagement, which in turn might dampen KPIs. As this service spreads, we should expect in-stream traffic to split into two categories – custom-made and generated, with relevant cost distinction.

There are many that have prognosticated the ‘cutting of the cord’ by consumers in rapid fashion; however, it’s been shown that Linear TV advertising numbers are still at a record high. What are your thoughts on the shift of content consumption by consumers to digital/mobile devices, it’s effect on traditional TV watching, and as a corollary, advertiser spend?

The shift in content consumption directly correlates with the generation shift. Digital devices are a much more open and customizable way to consume content, and traditional TV just can’t deliver the same experience. The demographic is always going to be there, but as technology progresses, we are going to see a decline in TV advertising numbers as content consumption evolves.

Lastly, what is your take on the future of performance-based campaigns for advertisers?

With audience analytics getting better each year, campaigns are going to become more customizable, and niche user acquisition is going to become easier for advertisers. Performance-based advertising is the most logical and sustainable model on the market right now, and it seems like it’s going to stay that way for a while more.

Global Digital Marketing Group (GDM Group) is a digital performance marketing company that empowers the world’s leading brands and agencies to engage global audiences. GDM Group’s family of solutions delivers a comprehensive set of marketing services, including performance, mobile, video, programmatic marketing and media buying. Through the GDMG umbrella, clients are able to drive revenues and increase brand awareness while expanding their existing markets and entering new ones – both domestic and global. Headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, GDM Group is operating through its 6 offices, located in Toronto, Shanghai, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Berlin and Kiev. The world’s largest brands including Alibaba Group, Baidu, Booking.com, LightInTheBox, RocketInternet and more, rely on GDM Group’s global footprint and dedicated teams to expand their business and accelerate growth. Learn more at http://gdmgroup.com/

Hero Image Source

The post GDM Group on merging entities ClickDealer & MobAir to form a Global Performance Marketing Powerhouse appeared first on Thalamus.