To get the most out of their marketing budgets, especially on social media, companies need a way to specifically target and track users. However, iOS 14.5 – the latest version of Apple’s software for mobile devices – makes it more difficult to do so. Alex Song joins Startup Savants to discuss his startup Proxima, a data intelligence technology that provides customized data sets that will help businesses acquire customers more efficiently and effectively on social media platforms.
- Startup Savants is a business podcast that tells the stories behind up-and-coming startups.
- Alex Song joins Startup Savants to talk about his startup Proxima.
- Proxima is a data intelligence technology that provides customized data sets that will help businesses acquire customers more efficiently and effectively on social media platforms.
Rising to the iOS Challenge
During his interview with Startup Savants, Alex explained that iOS 14.5 requires users to opt-in before applications can track their behavior. Previous versions of the operating system automatically allowed such tracking unless users opted out.
Alex said this change has had a profound effect, with 80% of people opting out of being tracked. As a result, companies are finding it much more difficult to specifically target ads based on past consumer behavior or judge how effectively they’re spending their advertising budgets.
Proxima has stepped in to help with its proprietary access to more than 60 million “unique personas” that include anonymized purchasing data. Using these personas, Proxima can build customized data sets that help businesses improve their social media ad targeting. According to Proxima, it can boost the efficiency of advertising spending an average of 30% to 40% more than standard campaigns.
“We’ve been able to help combat some of the challenges caused by iOS 14.5, arguably the biggest problem in technology over the past 12 months,” he said. “And we’re very proud to be helping over 50 clients navigate these troubled waters to find more efficient acquisition in a very challenging time.”
Engaging Users
Companies aren’t the only ones that benefit from Proxima. Users do as well, albeit indirectly, Alex said during his interview. That’s because Proxima helps companies develop more relevant and engaging ads.
“You hear this movement towards engagement, meaning the social ad platforms today are much more focused on entertaining you, keeping you on the platform as long as possible,” he said. “In order to keep them engaged, you need to keep putting out relevant creative content. And by mixing in advertising that’s more relevant, everyone will have a better experience. And the truth is, right now, from an advertising perspective, it is less effective, less relevant for the average consumer like us.”
Ultimately, Alex wants Proxima to become “the essential acceleration platform for all digital businesses.”
“That is [the] big, hairy, audacious goal that we want to strive for,” he said. “It’s become especially important to us is that we were solving our own pain points in the very beginning as digital business founders. And now it’s taken on this desire to continue to expand anywhere our clients need help growing.”
Right now, Proxima is helping companies target ads on social media because that’s where the greatest opportunity lies, Alex said. “But we want to go everywhere where our clients need support to grow … making sure that we are solidifying our data, which is at the core of the foundation that allows us to go anywhere our clients need us,” he said. “And then from there making sure that we build the software and the technology that allow us to be effective and provide the differentiated value that makes us essential to our clients.”
Startup Savants Podcast
The Startup Savants podcast is a business podcast created by The Really Useful Information Company (TRUiC). Listeners can hear the stories behind startups, as told by their founders, that are in the midst of growing their companies.
Ethan, an entrepreneur, and Annaka, a branding expert, host the Startup Savants podcast. They bring disparate skills and life experiences to their interviews, providing listeners with important business insights and a holistic perspective on the startup ecosystem.
Hear from a variety of real startup founders from around the globe and with varying backgrounds, making their startup idea a reality. Learn from experts sharing their industry knowledge on venture capital, securing funding, and more on the Startup Savants podcast.
Final Thoughts
In his interview on Startup Savants, Alex Song discusses his journey in founding Proxima. He talks about the challenges advertisers face in designing effective ad campaigns on social media and other platforms and how his company can help them create engaging, targeted ads that don’t run afoul of privacy laws.
You can find the Startup Savants podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.