After spending several years in the startup scene, Danay Escanaverino’s entrepreneurial ambition became too powerful to turn a blind eye. She eventually started her business a decade ago; today, as the CEO and Co–Founder of LunaSol Media, she manages and nurtures a brilliant team of internet marketers who generate measurable results for their clients.
Danay’s career highlights include launching a successful affiliate network and seeing it through acquisition and breaking into the online Hispanic and Latam markets with Filiado, the first successful affiliate network to serve affiliates and advertisers in Latin America, including Brazil and the Caribbean. This varied and results-oriented career path has provided her with a thorough understanding of launching a successful global marketing agency in the Hispanic and Latin American markets.
Insights Success caught up with Danay in our attempt to find “10 Most Influential Women Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2022,” We talked with her to understand how she is driving a transformative change in the sector with her expertise.
Below are the highlights of Danay’s interview:
Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at LunaSol Media. What challenges you have to overcome to reach where you are today?
I started my journey in digital marketing in the late 90s when I was still in college. I learned how to create websites and code with very little information. Those highly demanded skills led me to consult for companies like CompUSA, UDVNA, etc. I also worked with some incredible startups, including eLeisureLink, a digital travel agency. I built out their affiliate program and worked to integrate them with booking engines via APIs.
After that, I worked with MediaWhiz, where I launched an affiliate network and a search marketing division. It was there that I got to explore my passion for building out teams for each division. When we were acquired, I was charged with creating a marketing plan to integrate multiple brands that were also acquired under our new umbrella. After several years in the startup world, the entrepreneurial itch was too strong, and I decided to launch my agency 11 years ago.
Tell us something more about LunaSol Media, its mission, and its vision.
LunaSol Media is a boutique digital agency that leverages the power of Email, SMS, Affiliates, and Influencers to connect brands to Hispanic / Latino consumers. Our team’s diversity and years of experience in the multicultural market are what sets us apart.
Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the management niche through your expertise in the market.
I am a team builder and love every part of creating and nurturing the right team. You have to find people you trust with the spirit of the company. You risk the entire team if there isn’t a fit, so I take that very seriously.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?
Being in digital marketing for over 20 years, I have been able to stay on top of many new trends and developments. Two things have changed the landscape for connecting with Latinos: mobile and Influencer marketing. Before that, targeting this incredibly diverse market was limited to Spanish language media, which is not representative of the 60.5 million Latinos in the US who represent 18.4 percent of the population. Of that number, about 29% speak English only.
What, according to you, could be the next big change in virtual operations? How is LunaSol Media preparing to be a part of that change?
The pandemic certainly accelerated things like working virtually. The technology has been around for well over a decade, but companies were slow to adopt it. It created an opportunity for much smaller firms that were able to make the switch much faster. For example, our company has been a remote team for ten years, so we had zero changes to make in that respect.
Aside from that, there are so many new opportunities popping up. Web 3.0 is a great example where brands will have additional opportunities to connect with consumers in creative ways. The key thing we always look at is how effective it will be. Since we are smaller, that makes us more agile and able to make changes and test theories to see what works.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for LunaSol Media?
I am passionate about elevating the Latino community, and I have had the privilege of making it part of my work. It guides me as we work on creating more opportunities for brands to connect with multicultural consumers in ways that consumers are looking for. That includes showing Latinos how the brands are showing up for their communities.
It is very rewarding to partner with brands to create scholarships and grant opportunities along with creative campaigns and deliver on the promise of elevating the Latino professional community with tangible solutions while giving brands the connections they want with the communities they sell to.
