Publisher Spotlight: Orangedotcom

Returning for 2019 is the first of our Publisher Spotlights of the year.

This month we spoke to Tom Driehuis of Orangedotcom to discuss how advertisers can benefit by moving their search engine advertising into the affiliate channel.

When and how did Orangedotcom start and enter into the affiliate space?

Orangedotcom was founded in 2009 by Michael Hardeman and Arnoud Duiker. They were both already working in the online advertising industry and started to help companies with their online visibility in their evening hours. They soon discovered that many companies did not reach the online potential they could and that Orangedotcom could help them with it. Starting with the Dutch market the activities of Orangedotcom rapidly grew to other countries, now resulting helping in more than 100 different companies reaching their goals in over 25 different countries on a local, but also on a global scale.

What challenges did you see in 2018 and what do you see the channel facing over the next 12 months?

In my opinion, the biggest challenge is still to build and maintain a good and sustainable relationship with new as well as current advertisers. As a paid search publisher, you carry the brand out of the advertiser and that must be done in the right way. Think about the tone of voice in your online campaigns, reaching the right audiences and giving the advertiser’s products/services the attention, it needs. It is also our job to make it clear that we are adding value to our online campaigns. This benefits the brand and the sales of the advertiser.

A good relationship between publisher and advertiser often results in a better and longer cooperation and better campaigns. Orangedotcom has several advertisers for who we do the online campaigns for many years now.

Do you feel search engine advertising through the affiliate channel delivers any key benefits to advertisers?

Of course! Especially for young companies with lesser knowledge of online, but also for larger companies. We can increase the online visibility and sales of a company on many different levels. Particularly because affiliate marketing is working on a no cure no pay basis. Companies do not have to take unnecessary risks when they set up PPC/paid campaigns themselves. In addition, as a large online marketing agency, we have a wide knowledge of all different subjects of online marketing and search engines. We can help advertisers in the field of search, Google shopping, display and social.

When approaching paid search through the affiliate channel, what would you advise brands to do beforehand? 

First off, it helps the publisher a lot if he can quickly become familiar with the advertiser’s brand. By gaining knowledge about the usp’s of the company, the tone of voice and the learnings that the company has gained they can better understand how the advertiser is working. It is also good to know where the focus of the company lies in the upcoming periods: Which products and services should be promoted more? Which products sell good or less good? This information helps us to create campaigns that better suit the consumer and the company’s targets.

In addition, it is also important that the advertiser pays enough attention and time to the affiliate channel. For example, it would help us a lot when an advertiser is working together with us when we are promoting new products, or when setting up new campaigns and advertisements. We still regularly come across cases where we have developed a new strategy or promotion and get a simple “no” or, even worse, no response at all.

What is it about TradeTracker that strives you to drive performance with our advertisers?

TradeTracker is one of our top performing networks. I would like to mention the good relationship we maintain with all TradeTracker account managers. For each different country we have a local account manager and with many account managers, we have developed a good relationship for several years. In case of questions, they are always ready to help us and ensure quick problem-solving skills if any problems arise. In addition, the TradeTracker interface works very well. Everything is clearly indicated, you can find information quickly. As a publisher, you often have everything you need at hand.

We’d like to thank Tom and Orangedotcom for their contribution and for showing how search engine advertising and the affiliate channel can result in success for brands no matter what their size may be.

Be sure to check out Orangedotcom and discover how they can accelerate the performance of your affiliate program with TradeTracker.