Welcome to Three Minutes With – from igaming to affiliate publishing, we talk to movers and shakers, breaking boundaries and blazing new trails. In this series, DomainCrawler’s Chief Commerical Officer, Alona Borzhemska, took three minutes to speak with Oken’s content director, Jennifer Kite-Powell, on why data is hard to sell, how to use data to add value to your company and the potential rise of Web3.
Jennifer Kite-Powell (JKP): Your company, DomainCrawler, gives actionable insights to domain name data; what advantages does that give to the igaming and affiliate publishing industry?
Alona Borzhemska (AB)
Yes, we provide actionable insights about the domain’s usage from crawling and indexing the web. The use cases range from identifying potential churn risks or loss revenue, abuse detection, market research, competitive intelligence and many more situations we see customers facing today. The data could lead to higher renewal rates, increased revenue gains and an increased valued ecosystem.
JKP: As the Chief Commercial Officer for DomainCrawler, what are the biggest challenges customers face today?
AB: I love my job and industry, but data is not easy to sell, and from my perspective, here is why:
Data is valuable, but that value is tricky to explain. Almost no industry instinctively understands precisely how much data is worth to them. Data feels like it should be free, and there’s no silver bullet on how to make a clear, quantitative argument as to why it is so much more valuable than the price charged.
Secondly, articulating value to different stakeholders is a challenge. When working with data, the value isn’t in the technology but in the savings and efficiencies that an organisation can achieve due to the technology. Showing this can often be a challenge when different stakeholders have different priorities. However, exploring where else in a company this data could add value and understanding how it is being used in the industry can be the key to ensuring that the customer gets the most out of it. In my role, I balance data insights with the practical needs of our client base to empower their strategy business and predict the outcomes.
JKP: As the CCO, you see a lot of technology shifts that affect your clients and their businesses; what do you see that’s around the corner?
AB: There are plenty of those. What comes to my mind first is Web3. A few weeks ago, I participated in the ICANN78 annual meeting in Hamburg, brilliantly hosted by DENIC eG and eco – the Association of the Internet Industry. I witnessed the launch of the WebUnited initiative, which merges the pioneering potential of Web3 blockchain technology with the established infrastructure of Web2 domains.
A few years ago, imagining it could happen during the ICANN meeting was hard. My takeaway is that the choice between ICANN and Web3 domains isn’t binary or mutually exclusive yet. I believe that both can coexist and cater to different needs. As we progress, it’s hard to predict the evolving landscape – if ICANN’s dominance wanes and the potential for Web3 domains rises.
JKP: You have an upcoming free webinar on December 5, 2023 that looks at trends and challenges customers face in online brand protection; what is the biggest takeaway from that event for attendees? Pro tip: To sign up for the DomainCrawler free webinar, register here.
AB: The online brand protection industry has faced some unique challenges in 2023 with the emergence of AI technologies and Web3.
These technologies have created new opportunities for counterfeiters and malicious actors to target online brands. Cybercriminals are constantly developing new and more sophisticated ways to attack brands online.
During our December 5 webinar, we will take a closer look at the new strategies utilized by the wrongdoers and explore the challenges that brand protection specialists encounter now and are going to face soon, as well as look at the trends and opportunities for the sector in the year to come.
The key takeaway from the webinar is the awareness of the current digital landscape and the ability to see the big picture of what is happening in the industry right now. We will also provide attendees with actionable insights that they can use to improve their online brand protection strategies.
JKP: The past several years have been challenging for the world. What do you see changing for your customers in the next five years?
AB: As it goes, ‘These are the days it never rains, but it pours.’ Over the past half-decade, the market’s challenges have transformed from dealing with routine market fluctuations to navigating through global recessions and widespread layoffs in the tech sector.
For our customers, these economic challenges translate into tighter budgets and the need for more strategic resource allocation. This includes a greater emphasis on customer-centric strategies to maximize the efficiency of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). The evolving economic climate has also underscored the importance of targeted marketing campaigns and effective customer segmentation to make the most out of limited resources.
The upcoming year, 2024, will mean returning to ‘’basics’’ but with customer-centricity as a priority.
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You can follow Alona on LinkedIn, you can also visit Domaincrawler.com. Check back here for more Three Minutes With.
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