Q&A with Gil Allouche, Founder & CEO at Metadata.io

Without the right tools, companies don’t realize what campaigns have zero traction and what campaigns are attracting the most potential buyers, therefore, money is wasted on leads that won’t lead to revenue.

MEDIA 7: What inspired you to start a demand generation platform like Metadata.io?
GIL ALLOUCHE: I wanted to make demand generation easy for non-technical marketers. The platform evolved from my experiences hacking various marketing and CRM systems to get the solutions I was looking for. I worked as the software builder, as well as the marketing software user, so I had experiences and perspectives from both sides. I needed something that would target the right people at the right accounts, across a variety of platforms– and most importantly, to generate quality leads and drive real ROI. In 2015, a VC firm invited me to speak with a handful of CMOs and share what I had learned from my success in previous marketing roles, specifically, how to generate revenue through campaign experimentation. When I was asked on the spot what my actual role was that day, I told them I started a company to help B2B marketers do just that. I changed my LinkedIn profile, and from that day on, Metadata was born.

I’d recommend reaching out to all of your colleagues, former managers — those will be your first customers, advisors, investors and will give you friendly needed feedback

M7: Metadata.io has recently been named a leader in the G2 Summer 2021 Account-Based Advertising Grid Report. What has been the strategy behind achieving such prestigious recognition?
GA: I think much of it has to do with the customer-first culture we’ve created. We have a product that marketers desire, but an entirely new category altogether in a market that is sometimes confusing. Being recognized as a testament to the fact that autonomous demand generation is working and disrupting the status quo for B2B marketers.


M7: How does Metadata.io help B2B marketers meet their revenue targets every month?
GA: Metadata's Demand Generation Platform gives B2B marketers more time back in their day so they can let go of the mundane and focus on the big things. It’s the first demand generation platform that launches paid campaign experiments and self-optimizes them to revenue. Metadata uses AI for experimentation. Its AI operator launches and manages hundreds of campaign experiments simultaneously and optimizes to funnel data. Each experiment produces meaningful insights that automatically optimize the campaign according to the client’s goals and budget parameters. It replaces the time and tedium of A/B and multivariate testing with a quick, intuitive solution that maximizes results. It’s through AI and machine learning that Metadata helps B2B marketers automate the repeatable parts of running paid campaigns so they can focus more of their time on strategy, targeting, and creativity.


M7: Could you please tell us a little bit about MetaMatch? How does it make audience targeting easier for B2B marketers?
GA: The platform matches business identities to personal identities across LinkedIn, Facebook, and programmatic display, allowing marketers to run campaigns to their target buyers, where they spend time. The platform automatically enriches new leads with up to 20 business attributes from multiple data sources, instead of less accurate data from cookies or IP addresses. Metadata’s proprietary contact database of over 1.5 billion profiles matches personal data to business data and enriches leads before they’re automatically entered into marketing automation and CRM platforms. The platform also allows campaign managers to preview individuals in the audience list to refine your lists down to the granular level to ensure budgets aren’t wasted on those who aren’t relevant to the campaign. On average, customers typically see match rates between 15-45% on Facebook and 60-75% on LinkedIn.

Each experiment produces meaningful insights that automatically optimize the campaign according to the client’s goals and budget parameters

M7: What are your go-to strategies and tactics that help drive revenue?
GA: Companies face many challenges when trying to convert leads to revenue, such as ignoring valuable data. Either they don’t have the time to sift through it or they don’t have the right tools to make it easier to sift through. Metadata provides companies with marketing data that translates to a more targeted campaign. Data is also very telling about what campaigns and ads are more likely to convert your target audience. Without the right tools, companies don’t realize what campaigns have zero traction and what campaigns are attracting the most potential buyers, therefore, money is wasted on leads that won’t lead to revenue. Metadata’s audience targeting and campaign automation allow companies to save time by finding actual buyers and target accounts and then use the same tool to launch all paid campaigns at once.  With access to valuable data, marketers are focused on leads that are more likely to become buyers. They can also work on targeting their messaging towards these potential buyers. Metadata customers, on average, see positive ROI within seven months of implementation.


M7: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your younger self?
GA: Probably spend more time building the software. Maybe give delivery more time, building something small that was more of an MVP (Minimal Viable Product). In my mind, my MVP was more of a VP and not so minimal. It was more of a bunch of different tools put together. I think I would’ve focused on building something more holistic, but more minimized. It took us about a year to bridge that gap to what we have today. I also probably would have invested a little more in engineering and product earlier on. Today that’s our main focus. I’d recommend reaching out to all of your colleagues, former managers — those will be your first customers, advisors, investors and will give you friendly needed feedback. Finally — I think it’s critical you learn how to manage your own psychology. Starting a company can be a tough journey and you need to learn to forgive yourself, adapt quickly, and include others in your journey.