This week’s LATAM RoundUp brings news about LinkedIn and its first non-English Influencers program; a case study in which data boosted revenues by 500%; massive job cuts at Terra Networks, that now focuses in programmatic and content curation; and more.

LinkedIn launches Influencers in Brazil

LinkedIn announced the availability of Influencers program in Brazil. From now, executives and national celebrities will be able to publish texts in their platform.

It’s the first non-English content of Influencers to be released in the network — the country represents LinkedIn’s third biggest audience with 22 million users, behind the United States and India, respectively.

Among the people recruited to upload their content, two names from the advertising industry: Nizan Guanaes, co-founder and partner of ABC Group, holding of 18 ad agencies and related companies; and Marco Gomes, founder of Boo-Box, ad tech company focused on social media and winner of international entrepreneurship awards.

Terra Networks closes regional offices, layoffs 80% of its content team and focuses in programmatic

Terra Networks, a Brazilian publisher, announced the closure of its regional offices in Brazil — remaining only with their headquarters in Sao Paulo and the North America office, in Miami.

There were massive layoffs, mainly in the content team, which dismissed 80% of the staff. According to Paulo Castro, CEO, Terra, speaking to Meio e Mensagem, the company will focus on programmatic advertising and content curation. Yet, the ad staff also had cuts.

The official note about the restructuring justifies the change with, “the launch of Novo Terra, in April 2014, the company was prepared and worked to a more segmented advertising trading, automated, through programmatic tools, using technology even more to deliver content and ads that are relevant to the user”.

The full interview is available at Meio e Mensagem’s website (in Portuguese).

Dutra Máquinas: data boosts revenue 

Dutra Máquinas, heavy machine reseller to industries in Brazil, used performance marketing for the first time and saw revenues go up by 500%.

Even in a sensitive moment in Brazilian economy, the company understood there were still opportunities in digital market. So, Dutra decided to raise the online budget by 44% in a contract with Raccoon — which also generated 521% more product orders.

To achieve the desired results, controlled spreadsheets and A/B tests were used, increasing the budget as the companies got more knowledge about the consumers. “In the beginning, we were a little cautious about a more effective presence in the digital environment”, André Moya, commercial director, Dutra Máquinas, confessed. After working with Raccoon and seeing results, the executive became confident and the strategy proved valuable. “It means we are also having better and more relationships with our clients. We must speak their language, with the right message, in the right time”, Máquinas said.

The company used only Google ads, and now works with retargeting, price comparison tools and marketplaces — also planning investing in new media formats.

Luciana de Lira joins Rocket Fuel Brazil

After three years working as Key Account Manager at Boo-Box, Luciana de Lira leaves the team to join the Sales Executive role at Rocket Fuel Brazil. According to her Linkedin page, she started the position earlier this month. She has experience in the tech and telco sectors, working for Oi and Brasil Telecom.