Kolsquare at DMEXCO 2022: data playing an ever greater role in successful digital marketing

After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, German digital marketing trade show Dmexco welcomed some 40,000 visitors from 91 countries to its two-day event held in Cologne on September 20-21.

Kolsquare at Dmexco Cologne 2022

Sponsored by the German Association for the Digital Economy, key themes discussed by attendees and speakers at the conference and masterclass sessions included the projected growth of video advertising and retail media, the ever-increasing role of tech and data, and the urgent need to inject environmental responsibility and sustainability into all aspects of digital marketing.

Pointing out that moving image advertising sales volume is expected to exceed €2bn in Germany for the first time this year, CEO of Ad Alliance and Co-CEO of RTL Deutschland Mattias Dang told attendees: “Video has always been the strongest medium. For us as broadcasters, digital transformation does not mean just putting out a digital signal. For us, it means becoming a tech and data company”.

The relevance of these comments will not be lost on the influence marketing community, as short-video content on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube continues to carve out a larger share of content on social media networks.

Kolsquare Head of New Business Julien Schaff, presenting to a DMEXCO masterclass attended by some 200 people, emphasized the growing importance of using data for developing, monitoring and evaluating influencer campaigns within the rapidly maturing ecosystem.

In a presentation titled ‘How to successfully scale KOL Marketing’, Schaff noted that brands successfully implementing KOL marketing campaigns were dedicating significant senior staff and resources to the medium, and using a variety of KPIs to identify the KOLs and audiences best suited to their brand objectives.

“It’s important to conduct thorough research and use data systematically to analyze engagement rates, audience quality and demographics, content, and the evolution of KOL accounts across all the different platforms,” Schaff told listeners.

“Combined with an individual approach to relationship building, focusing on the quality of KOLs to work with will lead to increased engagement, EMV and ROI, and to opportunities to turn KOLs into impactful brand ambassadors.”

Experimenting with content creation

Meanwhile, at a private event held in Cologne on the eve of DMEXCO, Kolsquare teamed up with content creator platform Takle to reveal the results of an experiment that tested how different platforms — YouTube Shorts, Instagram and TikTok — react to consistently posted, unoriginal video content.

The experiment involved creating an influencer and buying followers on Instagram and TikTok to see to what extent a reaching a critical mass following enables an account to grow organically.

“This experiment reveals the main differences between the channels,” comments Kolsquare Country Manager DACH Philipp Greulich. “TikTok is for entertainment, content is driving engagement, it’s driving organic growth. And Instagram is a social media. It’s for communication, inspiration, for speaking with friends and family. Because we didn’t do that — we just created content — it didn’t gain traction at all.”

If you’re interested in learning more about this innovative experiment, stay tuned for our upcoming webinar, or reach out to us at contact@kolsquare.com for more information.

About Kolsquare

Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, offering a data-driven solution that empowers brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.

Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketing professionals seamlessly identify the best content creators by filtering their content and audience, while also enabling them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors.

With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of customers—including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush, and Hermès—by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform taps into an extensive network of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers across 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.

As a Certified B Corporation, Kolsquare leads the way in promoting Responsible Influence, championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations that inspire positive change.

Since October 2024, Kolsquare has become part of the Team.Blue group, one of the largest private tech companies in Europe, and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs across Europe. Team.Blue brings together over 60 successful brands in web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online compliance, lead generation, application solutions, and social media.