The success of business-to-business marketing campaigns isn’t measured in clicks. It’s about making connections that can be followed up by humans, about surfacing account prospects willing to talk to enterprise sales teams.
Demandbase, a San Francisco-based marketing software company, just raised another $30 million led by Sageview Capital to inspire those conversations.
The company’s account-based marketing technology automates three processes: identifying prospects with strong purchasing intentions, personalizing the message delivered to potential buyers, and notifying the appropriate sales representative when it’s time to act. “In B2B, it’s all about the quality of the accounts you’re trying to target,” said Demandbase founder and CEO Chris Golec.
Notable Demandbase reference accounts include Avery, Dell, General Electric, Kelly Services and a growing number of financial services organizations. It’s not unusual for customers to experience a twofold increase in engagement, while reducing the abandonment rate associated with campaigns, Golec said.
One example comes from electronic-signature software company DocuSign, which drove a 22% increase in its sales pipeline using the platform, according to a case study about its deployment.
An estimated $35 billion is spent annually on B2B digital marketing. More than 60% of businesses intend to boost the amount dedicated to account development activities. With a customer retention rate of well above 100%, Demandbase is well positioned to capitalize, said Sageview founding partner Ned Gilhuly, who is joining the Demandbase board of directors.
The company “has best-in-class metrics in growth, customer retention, and their margin profile,” Gilhuly said. “The data assets that they have are unique. What they have is very compelling. Most marketing solution companies tend to focus on point solutions. They have broader validation.” Demandbase claims an 80%-plus revenue increase for the first six months of 2015.
Sageview’s prior marketing-related investments include Brightcove and comScore.
Demandbase will use the new money to accelerate growth and investment in expansions into Europe and Asia, Golec said. The company is also evaluating acquisitions to extend its data services and real-time analytics capabilities.
The new round also includes existing investors Adobe Systems, Altos Ventures, Costanoa Venture Capital, Greenspring Associates, Salesforce.com Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, and Sigma West. This is the fifth infusion for Demandbase, bringing total funding to $90 million.
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