“To meet the right target audience you need to …” – Mukul Kaushik

Mukul Kaushik, Head of Sales of Trackier, joins the latest series of affiliate interviews on Affiliate Grand Slam

Mukul Kaushik of Trackier, Exhibitors and Sponsorship partners of AGS Dubai, explains that they are not just a technology provider but way more than that – follow his story below.

Tell us a little about yourself and when and why did you start considering affiliate marketing business as a career?

Since my early college days, I was inspired by Neil Patel, an online marketer. The idea of bringing traffic onto the website and monetising it excited me and that was my stepping stone in the digital space and further toward affiliate marketing. You often cross paths with people in life working toward the same goal and like any other happy coincidence, it started a few years back when I met Faizan Ayubi, Udit Verma, and Hemant Mann, the co-founders of Trackier, and joined the force along with them for a similar vision to make Trackier the best Ad-tech company. With 4 years of professional experience under my belt, I am currently heading the Sales at Trackier and I am responsible for the overall revenue generation and expansion into new markets across the globe.

How did Trackier take off?

Yes, I will be obliged to share the journey of how Trackier took off. Way back during the early days of our organisation, we started developing software and met few people from the industry, and got to know about the need for a complete Ad technology suite. We saw that there were many technical challenges that companies were facing while starting and scaling their performance marketing campaigns. Some of these were Conversion Fraud, Correct Source Attribution, and Managing Partner’s efficiency. With the functional expertise of the domain, we accelerated our business and stepped into the ad-tech industry.

Right now Trackier has established itself as an Ad Technology company, working directly with some of the best advertisers, agencies, and affiliate networks around the world. Trackier has been recognized under the Expert’s Choice award by Finances online in 2019 and many more.

Tell us a bit more about your business model, concept, and culture.

At the moment we have 3 AI-powered tools:

1. Trackier Performance Marketing software: Used by Affiliate network and Ad agencies.
2. Trackier Partner management software Used by Direct advertisers.
3. Trackier App Attribution solution used by App owners and advertisers.

All these tools come in place with industry-leading anti-fraud tools, where you can apply proprietary AI and machine learning to help partnership leaders optimise campaigns for the best possible results. At Trackier we have an employee-friendly environment which makes our employees work with us for the long-term and everyone has an authority to do whatever they feel right as long as it is adding value to the company and aligning with our vision.

Why should I choose Trackier?

Trackier is an AI powered technology that is used by Advertisers, affiliate networks, and Ad agencies to manage partner performance, optimise campaigns, detect fraud, and track correct attribution of theory App. We are working with Advertisers majorly from all the verticals mainly E-Commerce, BFSI, Travel, Real Estate, etc. At Trackier, we are not just a technology provider but way more than that. We act as direct consultants to all our partners. Working with advertisers from different verticals we figured out different challenges that every sector has; therefore, we customised the entire solution based on the feedback we received from our partners and the entire system is built on a lean model. No task is too big or small for us.
Our team is a proud extension of all our partners and every single member of the team is devoted to the long-term success of our partners and is continuously enhancing our services in response to their needs.

By which KPIs do you measure your success?

Success is something that doesn’t come overnight, you have to execute your plans in the right direction with the right determination and persistence. Being into sales you are prone to rejections and, for me, closing every new deal is a success. I believe if the process is set in the right direction no one can stop you from achieving your end goals. When you are focused on the process you really are excited about being in the present and enjoying it more fully; even if you don’t get the desired results, change the plan and execute better next time.

Can you explain briefly what, in your view, is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is an advertising model where an advertiser or a product owner pays commission to a publisher for traffic or sales generated from their referrals. There are many different ways for someone to promote a product or a service online through an affiliate partner. There are many social media platforms, blogs, and websites that make it a lot easier to come in contact with potential customers in a matter of minutes. As a reward for helping the company promote the product, the promoter will receive a commission every time someone clicks on the shared link or makes a purchase through the company’s website. This is both beneficial for the company and also the influencer as they can both make an income from this collaboration.

How can affiliate marketing help someone’s business?

Affiliates bring in additional performance based marketing efforts that a company can carry out. Let’s consider an E-Commerce brand wishing to reach a larger base of internet users and buyers – they can hire an affiliate. An affiliate is a traffic source who can either be the owner of multiple websites or email marketing lists. The engaged affiliate then communicates and promotes the products offered on the E-Commerce platform to his network of sub affiliates or his own inventory. The Affiliate does this by implementing banner ads, text ads, or links on its multiple owned websites or by emailing its customer base. Businesses use advertisements in the form of articles, videos, and images to draw an audience’s attention to a service or product.

How is AI used in affiliate marketing and Trackier and its benefits?

We are working on AI & Machine Learning Algorithm to split traffic based on user behaviour, interests, and semantic relatedness to achieve higher conversion rates for performance marketing campaigns while also enabling our customers to optimise and distribute campaigns among various sources pragmatically. We plan to study 40 billion visitor clicks on various campaigns and derive an algorithm for optimising campaigns and automating performance marketing.

Is social media activity an important part of affiliate marketing?

Yes, of course, social media plays an important role in affiliate marketing. Social media present multifunctional platforms that gather a huge number of people of different age and consumer categories in one place; there are more than 2.6 billion people using Facebook and other channels like Instagram and Twitter. Reaching out to a seemingly endless amount of target audience almost in no time is a valuable asset for affiliate industry.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most in-demand skills. Why is your view?

Affiliate marketing is the most in-demand skill because as you see the trend amid the global crisis, all businesses are going online; and to meet the right target audience you need to partner with independent marketers or networks who will promote the products (or services) and get compensated on a performance basis. With everyone now online (and with 4.66 billion now using the internet) this form of marketing, as its name says performance marketing, you are only paying when you are getting the results or meeting the specified goals. The other traditional advertising approaches are long out of date, but performance will always be valuable.

How does technology play a part in your day-to-day?

I am someone who loves to automate all the monotonous processes and tasks so technology is something I cannot survive without and if you don’t keep up with new technology, you risk losing ground to your competition. Technology has had a negative and positive impact on our life. As a result, it has influenced the way we live and we rely heavily on it. Right from the start of my day the first thing I do is check my cellphone and I think most of our readers would be doing the same. From transport efficiency and safety, to access to food and healthcare, socialisation, communication, and productivity the power of the internet has made it easy for all.

Can you foresee any growth for the affiliate marketing industry? Why and by how much?

As per the statistics, affiliate marketing is worth a $12 billion industry as of now. 81% of brands rely on affiliate programs to improve their business and the Ad spend is bound to grow by 10% in the next few years.
However, increasing use of affiliate marketing for influencing decisions, the transition of traditional outdoor advertising to online would drive such companies to invest more in affiliate marketing programs. Hence, traditional industries like BFSI, automobiles, and real estate will allocate more money to affiliate marketing programs as these industries are seeing great results in terms of ROI compared to their traditional advertising ways.

Have you ever been to SiGMA? SiGMA Europe, Africa, Asia, or Americas – which of these four expo shows would you likely book on your diary for 2021, COVID-19 permitting? Are you going to attend SiGMA Affiliate Grand Slam Expo in Dubai?

I have not been to the SiGMA events before but, yes, we do take part in all the affiliate events all across the globe and this would be our first presence in SiGMA. I would be attending all of the SiGMA events in 2021 as a proud sponsor partner. Excited to be a part of the Affiliate Grand slam expo as an Exhibitor and sponsorship partner.

Tell us a bit about yourself – after all, business is done with people, not just companies! Your hobbies, favourite quotes, etc.

I am a sports lover and I love to play all outdoor sports and a die-hard fan of cricket especially, I am passionate about Travelling, technology, and entrepreneurship.
My favourite quote is: Switching your mindset from “I hope I can” to “I am going to make it happen is a game-changer”. I personally believe that once you make your mind to do anything just give your 100% in the right direction and setting up the right process is the key. The result is just its by-product.

About AGS Dubai

The 3-day Affiliate Grand Slam event kicks off in one of the UAE’s most progressive emirates on the 24th of May, 2021 with a series of networking and registration events – before a content-rich conference and buzzing expo floor take over the city’s luxurious Intercontinental Dubai Festival City hotel on the 25th and 26th of May. The unique event is geared towards bringing together thousands of like-minded delegates, such as content marketers, lead generation specialists, media buyers, affiliates, SEO gurus, and influencers for an immersive conference experience. Visit our website to register your interest or for more information.