Skimlinks Around The World… Meet Jessica Couëron – Industry Leader In Affiliate Marketing Solutions

Welcome to our Employee Spotlight series, where we get to know Skimlinks employees from around the globe a bit better. 

This time we feature Jessica Couëron, who works as a Business Development Manager for the French market.

Let’s start with you telling us a bit about yourself…

I arrived at Skimlinks last year as a business development manager for the French market. I was responsible for looking after the French market at Kelkoo prior to that. I have worked in various roles, starting in sales and then moving to traffic optimisation and finally business development. I also have affiliate experience from my time working at CJ, which was helpful when I arrived at Skimlinks. 

Some personal things about me: I’m very fond of bodybuilding! I’ve competed in several competitions. I’m also an animal lover; I have a dog and a cat and am not ashamed to say that they are like my kids (laugh).

What has been the highlight of your last week?

Last week, I attended a fantastic event organised by CJ, where all the key publishers were present. It was a great opportunity to connect with them.

When and why did you join Skimlinks?

I joined the company a little over a year ago. It felt like a mission that I had to complete. I previously stayed 13 years in the same company. For me, it was a new beginning, and it was the chance to launch Skimlinks into a new market. You need to challenge yourself by growing. I wanted that for myself. When it’s too easy, well, you’re not developing your skills anymore and you’re in your comfort zone. Getting out of that and just thinking outside of the box is something that I really needed to experience. 

Overall, I chose Skimlinks because it is a great company to work at. It was a great opportunity and I’m really happy that it’s been a wonderful experience so far. 

What does your role entail? 

As a business Development Manager, I am here to represent and grow the French market. I help publishers maximise their commerce content revenue and monitor their performance to identify opportunities for growth with them. 

The other side of my role consists of doing the same for the merchants and networks. So I did a lot of work by educating networks and building relationships with them, which is very important because when I arrived, a lot of networks (in the French market) didn’t really know what Skimlinks were doing. So I needed to build these relationships based on transparency.

What do you believe is the biggest opportunity in the French market now?

I believe there are significant opportunities in the French market. As e-commerce continues to grow, so does commerce content. More publishers are now open to creating commerce content, which wasn’t the case a few years ago. While some publishers are very mature in this area, others haven’t adopted it yet. However, many media publishers in France now recognise the urgency of embracing commerce content, which I see as the biggest opportunity.

On the flip side, what do you think is the biggest challenge facing the French market right now? 

I would say all of the Google policies around GDPR. We need to educate publishers to find some new ways to leverage business while being aligned with the GDPR. Although challenging at times, it’s also a benefit because it means that we also need to think outside of the box. To be aligned with all of the new policies and just to find new opportunities, which we are doing well. 

Where do you want Skimlinks to be for editorial publishers in a year’s time? 

For me, I would love for France to be as big as the UK. If you look at Taboola in France, when they started, there was nothing. Now here in France today, Taboola is number 1. So this is my goal for what I want to lead into the next 2 years.

What’s the best career lesson you’ve learned so far?

I would say perseverance and the ability to stay patient is key. I’m not naturally the most patient person, but I’ve learned how important it is. It takes consistent effort and hard work to make things happen. Staying positive is also crucial, reminding yourself that success will come. I aim to maintain a positive mindset, no matter the challenges I face.

And let’s finish with your favourite idiom/phrase…

It’s little by little, the bird builds its nest. This definitely links back to what I mentioned earlier. With a lot of consistent efforts and hard work, it always leads to a big achievement over time.