Account managers and business development managers are busy people with the job of meeting aggressive monthly sales KPIs at the risk of commission. So you’ll probably find them cold calling/emailing prospective target, following up on warm leads from the marketing department, or grabbing coffee left-and-right.
If you’re not Rovio, a brand agency, or even a partnered ad network you’ll find it sometimes difficult to get in touch with the right person to even pay attention to your introduction request. It might just be that you want a meet and greet while shopping around for mobile ad networks or prospective publishing partners, which in your mind shouldn’t be time consuming. But take it from a mobile ad network like ourselves - we get these types of emails, social media messages, and even calls on a regular basis and we can tell you that it’s extremely difficult to field every request personally – although we do make the effort.
For those of you looking to partner with ad networks, localization firms, or app publishers; or simply looking to either advertise, or publish mobile ads, here are some simple tips to keep in mind if you want to make the best impression with any account manager.
Seek out the regional account managers
Many mobile ad networks these days have offices scattered around the globe. What you might not realize is that typically regional sales teams are competing for KPIs and internal incentives. So as simple as it sounds, the easiest way to get the sales team’s attention is to target the right region from the get-go. If you’re looking for traffic from the U.S., go on LinkedIn and find the U.S. General Manager. If you want to publish ads from Europe, find the E.U. General Manager to find out what types of campaigns you might be able to promote in the region.
Make the first email frank and descriptive
There’s really no need to beat around the bush. Time is precious and both parties have a strict motive in mind. Cryptic one-line emails along the lines of “Want to get coffee?” means that the account managers probably don’t know who you are and what you’re looking for. Not to mention that the account teams are the ones doing the research to find out where you’re located.
At the same time, for the sake of time and transparency, it’s best if you can send a one-sheet about your company and a description of your mobile advertising objectives. Granted, we understand if you’d like to save the juicy details about what you’re looking for and what you’d like to learn for us during the meet and greet.
Scout ad network business dev reps on LinkedIn (not Twitter and Facebook)
As great as social media is for opening the doors to new business relationships, account managers aren’t looking to make or receive introductions through Facebook or Twitter – unless you’re friends with them already. Most (if not all) of them hang out on LinkedIn – if you have some ad sales friends, you might have caught their status updates that look for CPM, CPC, or CPI traffic, or you might have dropped in on sales teams negotiating for traffic in LinkedIn groups.
Considering mobile ad networks are global these days, you’ll also find account managers logged into Skype and conducting business on the platform. If you manage to find their skype username, you can scout them and reach out directly.
Twitter flirts with the grey zone. If you’re a developer seeking a publishing partner Twitter may be an option, but we’d suggest you to use your best judgement.
Get a friend to introduce you
Nothing holds more weight than an introduction through a trusted friend, acquaintance, or colleague. Have you ever immediately walked away from someone who’s been introduced to you? Probably not. The same idea holds for most business intros as it’s of course not specific to the mobile ad industry.
To take this strategy a step further if you don’t have that friend referral, here’s one way to get a bit creative. Reach out to another employee at the mobile ad network from a different department and build a relationship – for example you can target an employee from the marketing team, cooperate on a guest post, and later ask for the introduction to their sales team.
Set up a meet & greet at conferences
Finally, it’s a no-brainer that first-impressions are best done in-person. Being mindful of the account manager’s time and your own time, major game, mobile, and ad tech conferences are the best shot at that coveted introduction – that might mean a quick email (keeping the above tips in mind) a couple of weeks prior to someone from the regional team most likely to be attending the event. Or you can stop by the team’s booth at the said conference (if available).
And don’t forget the after-parties. Scouting prospective partners or mobile ad networks at after-parties, where they’re sure to attend is also highly recommended.
