Optima Media interview: how to scale a b2b affiliate marketing strategy

Pierre-Benoît Simax, Market Manager FR & Vertical Growth Lead Europe, Optima Media

What role does artificial intelligence (AI) play in your content, seo optimization, or monetisation strategies?

On the seo front, ai currently plays a limited role. However, it is central to our paid acquisition strategy, which constitutes a major share of our business, particularly in b2b. We extensively use ai for sea campaign automation, Google Ads management, and continuous performance optimization. Internally, these automations streamline the workflow for our account managers and traffic managers, improving operational efficiency and our capacity for large-scale optimization.

Have you already adapted your visibility strategies to the era of conversational engines (llms, sge, ChatGPT, Perplexity…)?

Yes, absolutely. We have integrated this shift into our visibility approach. We ensure our presence across major conversational environments like ChatGPT and also utilize tools like Claude. Our logic is to remain visible across all emerging ecosystems, particularly within a b2b context where qualified information retrieval is increasingly conversational.

Which levers or best practices seem most effective today to maximize the roi of affiliate campaigns in the banking and b2b sector?

Our primary lever relies on optimizing customer acquisition costs (cac), specifically through data feedback loops within Google Ads. We pass lead and sales data back into the system, which trains the algorithms and significantly reduces the cac for b2b advertisers.

We have built a high-performing acquisition model on Google Ads that we duplicate across all our verticals. In the case of b2b, traffic acquisition is specifically tailored to corporate account dynamics, targeting precise high-intent keywords like “pro account.” The banking and b2b sectors are treated with a very similar methodological approach, with b2b currently accounting for the larger share of our active campaigns.

How have the new influencer regulations (2023 law, UMICC charters) transformed your collaborations?

These new regulations have not had a significant impact on our current collaborations, especially since our b2b and banking activations rely heavily on performance-driven mechanics rather than influencer marketing in the strict sense.

What mistakes or misconceptions do you still see from brands? What advice would you give to avoid them?

A frequent misconception is assuming that launching an affiliate campaign will immediately generate traffic and performance. In reality, the most successful campaigns are those that benefit from a sufficient volume of data to properly train acquisition algorithms. In both b2b and banking, you must commit to a long-term approach: a minimum of six months is required, and a one-year horizon is often necessary to achieve full efficiency. Patience and capitalising on data are key success factors for any b2b affiliate marketing strategy.

What emerging trends do you observe for 2026 in the banking and b2b sectors?

In the b2b space, we are observing a strong rise in electronic signature solutions. This is a strategic axis we plan to position ourselves on more aggressively. We are also working on developing software solutions around accounting and invoicing, aiming to structure a comprehensive ecosystem of digital services around professional banking.

Furthermore, we recently launched verticals related to point-of-sale (pos) terminals and plan to build and test a dedicated vertical for this segment. The pro banking market represents massive potential. The challenge is to accelerate on these b2b verticals before the level of competition becomes too high.

What percentage of your overall revenue does affiliate marketing represent today? How do you see it evolving alongside model diversification?

Today, affiliate marketing represents roughly 90% of our overall revenue. Historically, this model accounted for 100% of our business. We are now seeing a gradual diversification through the development of agency deals, while keeping affiliate marketing as the central pillar of our model, especially within the business-to-business segment.

In your opinion, what are the main benefits of collaborating with a platform like Affilae?

Speed of execution is a key asset. The platform offers two complementary approaches: a self-managed logic for autonomous brands and structured support via dedicated account teams. The solution is easy to handle, the teams are highly reactive, and compared to historical legacy networks, the financial cost for advertisers represents a significant competitive advantage — especially for business-to-business players who are still discovering the affiliate channel. When it comes to tracking, the performance is exactly where it needs to be, which facilitates the adoption of the model.

What will be your main highlights or major projects over the next 12 months?

The year will be structured around several highlights, with a peak in activity expected from September onward. In the French market, we now have a solid foundation. Our strategic priority for the next 12 months is international expansion, focusing heavily on Germany and the Netherlands, which are our two priority markets, followed by Finland and Norway.