Visible raises cash as new rivals emerge in social media space |
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Visible raises cash as new rivals emerge in social media space
Nearly every month a new entrant emerges in the social media measurement, monitoring and tracking business. Today, it was Seattle-based Marchex which put its stake in the sand with a $40 to $60 per month service that helps small businesses track discussions on blogs, Twitter, Yelp and other sites.
In fact, the sector is getting so crowded that a financing deal from another Seattle area company in the space nearly slipped under my radar this week. Visible Technologies yesterday announced that it raised an additional $2 million in debt financing, bringing total funding in the Bellevue company to $23.5 million.
I asked Visible's Senior Vice President of Marketing Blake Cahill about all of the new competition. "Create a market and they will come," said Cahill, noting that Microsoft recently entered the fray with a product dubbed LookingGlass and many of the SEO shops in town now offer tools to manage companies' social media strategies.
Visible -- backed by Ignition Partners, advertising giant WPP and others -- was an early entrant in the space. Founded in 2006, the company now counts more than 100 corporations (including the likes of Xerox and Autodesk) as clients.
About 90 percent of Visible's clients are large, corporate customers who need to get a handle on how their brands are being perceived online.
But Cahill said that the company -- like Marchex -- also offers a product for small and medium-sized businesses. That offering -- which costs about $500 per month for tracking 20,000 instances of content -- includes advanced features not found in the Marchex offering, he said.
"I think you need a little more robust technology," said Cahill, adding that Google Analytics offers a fairly deep technology service for free.
Obviously, as businesses spend more time conducting business online, their needs to manage brands in the digital universe increase. That trend doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon, which is one of the reasons why Visible's revenues are growing and new rivals are emerging.
We'll be following along as things develop. So, stay tuned for more details.
In fact, I am aware of yet another Seattle startup that plans to announce a new partnership for its social media analytics offering tomorrow.
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