Since its founding in 2004 as a DVD shop, Europe-based distributor DVDErotik.com has grown immensely, with a vast library of adult movies offering diverse niches, popular porn stars and major studios.
As content became increasingly digital, the company shifted efforts into its newer site, Erotik.com, with downloadable and streaming options.
Over half of our sales are coming from European studios, as we are very strong in German language countries.
In addition to keeping their site updated with the latest technology and customer-requested features, the company promotes content through numerous marketing channels. Among these endeavors is the DVDErotik Awards which began in 2017, spanning 22 categories, with fan voting and a €10,000 raffle.
From porn star interviews to improved product-to-customer matching, Erotik.com is always looking to elevate its brand. And now, in this exclusive XBIZ company profile, the European platform reveals its history, as well as its future plans.
XBIZ: Tell us about the origins of the Erotik.com brand. What was your vision for the company during its founding?
Erotik: Erotik.com is the newest site from KNPB Media B.V. that will take the place of DVDErotik.com. Originally founded in 2004 as a DVD shop, it soon became our vision to create Europe’s most complete source for porn.
XBIZ: How has the overall site design evolved over the years and what inspired the change from DVDErotik.com to Erotik.com?
Erotik: With the name change we not only do justice to the fact that the VOD part of our site is now our most important section, but also introduce many new features and a fresh look for our customers.
Over the years, DVDErotik.com has always developed new features and grown into a huge site. At some point, it became very challenging to integrate all the features we wanted and we decided to create a new frontend with a more contemporary feel to it.
When designing the site we asked the question, “How can we get customers to actually pay for porn?” and the answer is, “Create a product that adds value to each movie that we are listing and make it easy for the customer to find what they really like.”
We need to get better at doing this all the time and the use of the latest technologies on the new site enables us to further develop Erotik.com a lot quicker.
XBIZ: Between DVDs, downloads and streams, what are your top revenue sources? How do you promote each avenue differently?
Erotik: The DVD business has been very stable for us over the last 14 years and we have seen shrinking sales in this section for the first time last year. On the other site, our VOD section is growing very fast and is now, for the first time, our largest revenue stream.
With the new site, we want to move away from promoting either DVD or download sales, instead promoting the movie itself — after all, we don’t care which format the customer buys, as long as they buy from us. This is also an attempt to make it as easy as possible for the customer to switch to VOD once they are ready.
XBIZ: Discuss your marketing approach via social media, as well as print or online advertising.
Erotik: We have a very active Twitter presence and are starting to increase our efforts with influencers on Instagram. We buy some traffic, but mostly rely on our own free sites, which feed Erotik.com.
The area where we put most effort is the engagement of our customers and true porn fans. We produce monthly porn star interviews and other content catering to porn enthusiasts.
In 2017, we created the DVDErotik awards with 22 categories. Combined with a €10,000 raffle, fans could vote for their favorite stars, studios and movies. The award was a great success within the industry and porn fans alike.
XBIZ: How do you partner with studios and producers to highlight their best content?
Erotik: Working with over 600 studios and wholesalers can sometimes become challenging. Everyone feels their product should be featured as prominently as possible and we do our best to give every product the best visibility possible.
We are investing a lot in better product-to-customer matching and creating more individual promotions. People don’t pay attention anymore to any form of ad or newsletter if you don’t get the content matched to their taste.
Even small niche products, which could not be featured in a general newsletter in the past, are now finding their way to the right costumers.
XBIZ: Which studios and stars are your top sellers usually? Any particular titles that have performed strongly this year?
Erotik: Over half of our sales are coming from European studios, as we are very strong in German language countries. Among our top sellers you will always find studios live MMV, Marc Dorcel or Magma Film. These studios are doing well on both DVD and VOD. When it comes to U.S. content, the usual suspects like Blacked, Evil Angel and Digital Sin are still doing well on DVD.
XBIZ: What kind of content seems to sell the most, as far as niches and categories?
Erotik: Our customers love story-based movies in their own language. This is an important factor when it comes to sales on Erotik.com. There is not much of this content out there anymore and it’s easy for studios to land a hit on our site if they produce this kind of product. Other than that, there are some niches that always deliver: big tits, beautiful babes and MILFs.
XBIZ: How do you stay ahead of the curve, in the highly competitive movie distribution market?
Erotik: There are only a handful of sites out there with the amount of content we have. Being based in Europe, we have a closer relationship with local producers and can offer a content mix that nobody else has.
We are not only investing in the latest technologies, but are always trying to improve the quality of our data and presentation of the content. Being in business for such a long time builds a lot of trust among customers who are super loyal to our site.
We have our own warehouse, shipping and VOD infrastructure, as well as our fantastic customer support team. Controlling all aspects of the business and knowing the local markets, we can ensure an outstanding quality of product and service for customers in Europe.
XBIZ: What new business strategies have proven most effective in the past few months, for increasing sales on Erotik?
Erotik: With the rebranding and the launch of our new frontend, we are taking a big step forward. People love our new custom trailers, porn star sites and curated pictures from every scene.
Focusing on the real porn enthusiasts has been a big win for us. They spend more money and return more often if we manage to cater to their specific needs.
XBIZ: Talk about what’s on the horizon for Erotik, in the coming year, as far as new features and big plans.
Erotik: Our list of features that we want to add to Erotik.com is almost endless. It’s important to keep the conversation open with the customer and find out what’s really important to them. Sometimes, it’s the small things that matter. Sometimes, big changes are needed. Our new technology opens doors for us as a company, creating new opportunities and collaborations in the B2B field.
We just started to represent some great German studios and help them with their international VOD strategy, for example. There is more to come in 2019 that will mix up the distribution market, at least here in Europe.
