The First Five Conversations Every AdTech Company Needs In Spain

Most market-entry plans start with lists.

Target accounts. Target agencies. Target advertisers.

Personally, I've always found that the more useful starting point is conversation.

Not sales conversations. Learning conversations.

One of the reasons companies struggle when entering a new market is that they assume they understand it because it looks familiar. Spain has agencies, publishers, advertisers and technology vendors, just like every other market. On the surface, the ecosystem is easy to recognise.

The reality is usually more nuanced.

The commercial dynamics are different. Relationships carry different weight. Certain organisations influence far more than they appear to from the outside. Buying decisions often follow paths that aren't obvious until you've spent time inside the market.

That is why the first conversations matter so much.

A conversation with a senior agency leader can tell you more about the realities of the market than weeks of desk research. A conversation with a publisher can completely change your view of where your product fits. A conversation with a potential partner may reveal opportunities that never appeared in the original go-to-market plan.

What you're looking for at this stage is not validation.

You're looking for understanding.

The strongest market launches I've been involved with all had one thing in common: they invested time in understanding the market before trying to scale within it.

That approach feels slower at the beginning.

In practice, it is usually much faster.