Outbrain Turns Vortex into Native Noob (16)
Hey how's everyone doing? Staying safe and sane during the lockdown I hope!
I'm experimenting with something new this week and wanted to give everyone a heads up! 
1)Due to a recent change in circumstances, traffic on Outbrain has become cheaper. I see this as a great opportunity for fellow affiliates (read rest of this post for details) so wanted to get the word out.
2)I just started a test campaign on Outbrain this morning. Sometime next week, I'll be detailing my experiences in a beginner's Outbrain tutorial.
3)Introverted me has finally consented to participating in a webinar for the first time, to share my experiences as a Native Noob. Would love for you to join us! Go here to register!
The Backstory
As a lot of you know, my affiliate journey started with adult traffic, and then I mainly ran pop for a few years, and in the recent year started running FB traffic.
As far as paid traffic goes, I don't have much experience outside of these traffic types.
A few weeks ago, I connected with a representative from Outbrain - Lauren Pica, Head of Marketing North America (a lovely human being that knows her stuff!)
We got chatting and I found out something interesting I would like to share.
With the covid situation and its impact on the economy, some of the big brand advertisers have cut back on their advertising spend.
These are big brand advertisers that would normally spend large advertising budgets just to get their brands in front of as many people as possible, without expecting direct or immediate returns on their investment.
And because these companies didn't need to "make their offer back out" like we do, they could afford to bid higher to drive up the prices.
However, with the recent covid situation, the table has turned.
With the economy being the way it is, some of these big brands can no longer justify spending so much on ads. The priority has switched from growth to survival.
In stark contrast - Outbrain noticed that in spite of the changing economy, affiliate advertisers were STILL running profitable campaigns.
Outbrain was very impressed with how resilient affiliates were, in how quickly we were able to pivot to adapt to changes.
So they started reaching out to more affiliates, to find out how they could better serve our needs, in order to help more of us to succeed on native.
And what does that mean for YOU?
The Opportunity
As a direct result of the decrease in competition mentioned above, traffic prices have come down.
Which may not last long as more affiliates start running there, so now would be a good time to get in.
Moreover, Outbrain is in the process of merging with Taboola, which means if the merger goes through, there will be more traffic to scale your campaigns in the future.
(I've just been made aware of the fact that just Outbrain's reach alone already surpassed that of Facebook! Can you imagine what kind of reach the merged network would have??)
And Outbrain's support team is now anticipating an influx of affiliates that want to sign up to their platform - fully prepared to provide any support they can.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that, if you're currently running on Facebook, you'll be able to cross-retarget (retarget Outbrain visitors on FB and vice versa).
How to Capitalize on This
If you're already running on other native sources, and would like to give Outbrain's traffic a test, simply go sign up here: Outbrain's Registration Page
If, like me, you're a Native Noob but would like to give native traffic a try, here's how I would suggest for you to get started:
1)Read my Outbrain tutorial. To help other Native Noobs, I've set up a campaign on Outbrain to learn how everything works, in order to write a basic but detailed tutorial on how to set up a campaign on Outbrain.
This tutorial will come out next week realistically, and will include stuff like using Adplexity to spy, preparing landers, setting up tracking, making ads, setting up the actual Outbrain campaign, optimizing the campaign, and using the FB pixel to capture visitors for retargeting.
If you've never run on Outbrain and/or native traffic, my tutorial should shorten the learning curve.
2)Read all the major threads in the Native Traffic subforum. I'll include a list of the best threads in my tutorial as well, for your convenience.
3)Join the Outbrain webinar series for Affiliates. There will be Q&A segments where you'll be able to ask questions. Details below.
Announcing: Vortex To Participate in First-Ever Webinar!
Those that know me personally, know that I'm very camera-shy.
Over the past few years I must have politely declined 95% of requests for interviews or to speak on stage. Before last year, I even had trouble speaking on skype calls.
But I've decided to come out of my shell a bit to better help fellow affiliates, by sharing my first experiences on Outbrain. I've heard a lot of good things about Outbrain, and if I can do my small part in helping other Native Noobs get their foot in the door, it'd be worth the effort for me.
Originally, the webinar was just going to be me and Outbrain. However, we decided to make it into a panel instead of a 1-on-1. The other two participants have extensive experience with native traffic. This will take the pressure off me, and bring so much more value to you.
Here's where you can sign up:
This Too Shall Pass: How to Manage Your Affiliate Ads Amidst Crisis, and Beyond
It's actually a series of 3 webinars, with the first one already having taken place (you can find the video posted at the bottom - don't miss gold from the great Joe Burton!) I'll be in the 3rd part which is scheduled for May 20th.
Looking forward to "seeing" you there!
Amy
P.S. Here's a list of useful links:
1)Sign up link for Outbrain network.
2)Sign up link for Outbrain's webinars.
3)Outbrain's "Affiliate Marketing Hub" with some good information: Outbrain's Affiliate Marketing Hub[/B]
4)Here a guide Lauren has co-authored that's specifically targeted at affiliates, it's a good introduction to what kinds of stuff you can/cannot run on Outbrain, and their campaign targeting options:
Outbrain's No-BS Guide for Affiliate Marketers
Here's the table of contents for your reference:
Yes!
Finally 
I was waiting for someone to write any kind of guide for Native that wasn't just: "It's expensive, don't do this unless you have a bajillion dollars to burn."
Even if it's true.
As with Amy's past tutorials, you know this will be awesome and will help newbies and others who've been on the fence about Native get a kick in the pants they need to start.
Looking forward to this already.
Awesome!
Amy doing a webinar??? This can't be true... ))
From now on, all the STM interviews will be done by you my dear friend!
I'm sooooo looking forward to this!
This all sounds fantastic! very excited for this!
Excited to see what vertical you decide to run
I am SOOOO looking forward to this as i aim to dive into native very soon too and who better to follow than Amy!
I knew to look for @matuloo's comment on this and he didn't disappoint.
So does that mean I can ask you again about taking part in our productions? CAN'T WAIT Amy!
@jaybot's right, stm needs a guide like this so the whole project seems really well put together, congrats.
Karolina
Originally Posted by 
))
never she will disappoint, always she will surprise.....
Oh wow!! Thanks so much everyone for the encouragement - I'm floored!
Even if it's true.
From now on, all the STM interviews will be done by you my dear friend!
You will continue to be the face of STM. I only have enough "psychological quota" for one of these things every year.
Thanks for ALL your support - compared to the help you've been providing in the native section specifically, my tutorial will be a smaller contribution.
So does that mean I can ask you again about taking part in our productions? CAN'T WAIT Amy!
Will do my best to contribute!
Thanks everyone! I'll do my best to make this a success.
Amy
Natives is huge these days and Outbrain is one of the biggest players.
Happy to see that they are being friendly towards affiliates and can't wait to see the results of the case study!
I can imagine other traffic sources face a same problem, regarding the big agencies cutting their budgets. Let's see how FB reacts on a bit more agression!
Haha, good to remind us that we all are noobs sometomes when we start something new
(I've just been made aware of the fact that just Outbrain's reach alone already surpassed that of Facebook! Can you imagine what kind of reach the merged network would have??)
That alone let´s me think to check Native maybe myself
Hi everyone! First of all - apologies for the delays! The tutorial is done finally - I'll be posting it either tomorrow or the day after.
I never planned on it being so long. I kept exceeding the forum post character limit (what else is new?) and in the end I ended up with a 4-part monster.
Thanks everyone for your utmost patience as usual!!
Amy
Can't wait to read it!
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