Social Media Portal

SMP talks to Robert Tallack, CEO from ecommerce consumer acquisition platform ConversionPoint Technologies

Social Media Portal (SMP): What is your name and what do you do there for ConversionPoint Technologies?

Robert Tallack (RT): I?m Robert Tallack, CEO at ConversionPoint Technologies.

SMP: Briefly, tell us about ConversionPoint Technologies

RT: ConversionPoint Technologies is an ecommerce consumer acquisition platform focused on driving conversions, increasing ROI, and maximizing the customer LTV (lifetime value).

SMP: When was the company founded, how many people work there and how is it funded?

RT: The company was founded in May of 2016. We currently have 19 employees in our California headquarters and 35 employees in Minneapolis. Funding initially came from founders and one close outside investor for a total of $2 million.



SMP: Who are your target audience and why?

RT: We have two sides of our business. First, we have a ?direct to consumer? side which was really our genesis. We cut our teeth on identifying a product that would sell well and using our technology to lower the customer acquisition cost, capture better metrics and effectively re-market and re-target.

We quickly saw success and began to have companies come to us asking to mirror the same ecommerce marketing for them. This is when we decided to create an enterprise software as a service (SaaS) offering. Our SaaS customers are high volume sellers of products or ?offers? such as insurance and car quotes. We deal with brands to optimize their online sales and lower the cost to acquire a customer.  

SMP: Why was BlueDrone created, how long did it take and what does it do?

RT: BlueDrone is one component of our larger platform and is our fulfilment and remarketing module. For its initial deployment, BlueDrone was in development for about a year.

BlueDrone from Conversion Technologies on Vimeo.

SMP: What sort of brands use it and how does it generate revenue for them?

RT: Right now we have clients selling health and beauty, electronics, baby food, apparel, you name it. Because BlueDrone is integrated with most of the big ecommerce platforms like Amazon and Shopify, it is an easy auto-fulfillment solution for them. Our solution plugs into a brand/advertiser?s current online sales process and provides them key metrics and analytics. Coupled with the remarketing capabilities, companies are able to increase efficiencies and increase LTV which ultimately leads to more revenue.



SMP: What are the challenges that you?ve encountered and how are you overcoming them in what you have been doing so far at ConversionPoint Technologies?

RT: One of the biggest challenges is navigating the rapidly changing landscape of the various online advertising modalities. Currently Facebook and Google account for 50% of all paid media buys across the internet, so as you can imagine when an algorithm changes it can wreak havoc on metrics. Staying ahead of just this particular issue is challenging, but we have been successful in maintaining a proactive approach. The other challenge has been making sure our solution integrates well with major players in the e-commerce eco-system such as Amazon, Shopify, Marketo, etc. Integrating with these platforms is a very key advantage that we have as it decreases any frictionpoints when a brand, advertiser and agency wants to use us to improve their ecommerce customer acquisition process.

SMP: What are the high moments of what you have been doing so far?

RT: Watching how our platform has come together. We pulled in five pieces of individually operating software platforms that all services one piece of the buyer journey. Bringing them together to work as one ecosystem has been challenging but the reward has been watching it in action and knowing what a difference this will make for companies is really gratifying.

SMP: What do you think is going to be the most interesting aspect ecommerce for the next 12 to 18-months and why?

RT: The continued evolution of AI/Machine learning. What machine learning has done for e-Commerce is pretty amazing. In our own platform we use it for the media optimization process. In real-time companies can now see the different combinations of image/copy/offering and make data-driven decisions that used to be just guess work. As we see AI/machine learning evolve there will be even more opportunities to see it integrated into ecommerce and really help level the playing field between smaller and larger ecommerce producers.

SMP: What are your top overall five ecommerce and why?

RT replies with

• Master your advertising. Don?t just throw money at it because you think you should. Make those dollars count by being targeted and decisive.
  
  
• Track the right metrics. Focus on what is engaging conversions and do more of that. It sounds simple but many times companies simply don?t know what to track.
  
  
• Don?t get emotional. Many times we fall in love with a marketing campaign. A certain look and feel really resonates with us. Well, if the combination of copy/image/offer isn?t driving sales, ditch it. What we think doesn?t matter. It?s what the buyer thinks.
  
  
• Integrate the buyer journey. This one may be a bit self-serving but it really is what drove us to develop our solution. Media optimization shouldn?t be separated from CRM, which shouldn?t be separated from fulfilment or customer service or remarketing. Look at the big picture rather than just the pieces and your LTV will definitely increase.
  
  
• Look ahead and stay on top of trends. Its easy to get buried in the weeds running a business. With ecommerce the competition is ridiculously fierce and if you don?t continue to look forward and adapt to emerging technologies and trends you will fall by the wayside.

SMP: Best way to contact you and ConversionPoint Technologies?

RT: Our website at www.conversionpoint.com

Watch more about BlueDrone at Vimeo.


SMP: What did you have for breakfast / lunch?

RT: Scrambled eggs, ground beef and espresso

SMP: What?s the last good thing that you did for someone?

RT: I helped an elderly woman carry her groceries to her car.

SMP: If you weren?t working at ConversionPoint Technologies what would you be doing?

RT: Probably training for another MMA fight.

SMP: When / where did you go on your last holiday and why?

RT: I went to Barbados to surf. I don?t think that really needs an explanation. 😊

SMP: What?s the first thing you do when you get into the office of a morning?

RT: Find coffee!

SMP: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?

RT: Super speed because I literally want to do everything faster.

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