Things are heating up in the customer acquisition space, with Quora announcing this week that it has launched an ad retargeting platform that will allow online business owners and advertisers to segment customers to a particular landing page or within a specific time frame, as well as track ad conversions from such targeted campaigns. Not to be left out, Reddit announced their release of a native video hosting platform. Users will now be able to upload original content directly to the site rather than having to link out, which will be an opportunity for business owners to expand promotional content through a major B2C video channel.
On the other side of the coin, the advertising platform giant Facebook is taking a more strict approach to changes on its video platform in an attempt to increase the quality of sponsored content. The use of AI in their increasingly stringent ad protocol will track down fake play buttons on ads and images uploaded as a video for retargeting purposes. Business owners advertising on Facebook must comply with new policies to ensure continued distribution of their campaigns. If you would like to learn more about these advertising initiatives, continue reading below.
In SaaS news this week, Founder Thomas Smale was featured in an interview on Indie Hackers, where online entrepreneur Brennan Dunn discusses the merits of selling smaller businesses to free up time and capital to focus on larger projects. Brennan sold his SaaS business through FE in late 2015 and now focuses his time on Double Your Freelancing and his new SaaS product, RightMessage.io. Thomas’ reputation for helping entrepreneurs in their exit planning efforts continues to draw successful SaaS, content, and e-commerce business owners who are ready to sell and have the resources to innovate on their next big idea.
New businesses listed this week include two B2B SaaS business. The first is in the workflow organization space, with $11K MRR and low churn rate of just 7.7%. The second is in the digital marketing niche with $4.5K MRR and low owner involvement. Both of these high-quality listings are garnering significant buyer traction, so be sure to request more information today if you are interested!
We are getting excited as our Boston E-Commerce Meetup approaches next Wednesday, August 23rd at WeWork South Station. This month’s panel discussion will focus on how you can create trustworthy personal and company brands. If you enjoyed networking at our last meetup, you will be happy to know that this next one promises to be an even bigger event. Panelist opportunities are always open, so if you would like to participate or know someone who has great experience to share, let us know!
Continue reading for more on Quora’s new ad retargeting capability, Reddit’s addition of a native video platform, Facebook’s video clickbait restrictions, Target’s strategic acquisition of Grand Junction, and an interesting article on the futuristic “SaaS in the sky” company Altaeros, who this week announced that they will deliver internet via blimps to users in remote areas.
Deal Highlights
New:
SaaS – B2B Workflow Solutions – $11K MRR
- MRR growth of c.23% for the period June 2016 to June 2017
- Strong, highly diverse traffic driving over 115,000 visitors in the last 12 months
- Growing customer lifetime value
- Declining customer churn rate, averaging c.7.7% over the last 12 months
Yearly net profit: $68,000
Asking price: $300,000
B2B SaaS – Digital Marketing – $4.5K MRR
- Stable MRR
- Diversified customer base with c.150 customers
- Strong traffic with over 120,000 sessions in the last 12 months
- Low owner involvement
Yearly net profit: $17,000
Asking price: $63,000
Sold:
B2B SaaS – Lead Conversion – $3.3K MRR
Affiliate – Automobile Accessories – $1.9K gross/mo
Affiliate – Outdoor Sports & Recreation – $1.8K gross/mo
Display Advertising – Scholarships – $1.29K gross/mo
Affiliate – Camping Equipment – $1.24K gross/mo
Affiliate – Home Furnishing – $870 gross/mo
In the News…
Quora Ups Ad Targeting Capabilities
Quora has recently announced that their advertising platform will support ad retargeting. Advertisers will now be able to easily create curated audiences based on users who have visited different parts of their website, and then run a campaign to reach people who have visited those specific pages. Audiences can be broken up in several ways, from the timeframe to the landing page they visit. For instance, if you want to zero in on traffic to the product purchase page on your site, you can create an ad campaign focused on conversion and aim it at that specific sector of visitors.
Alongside the release of this new capability comes Quora’s integration with Segment, an analytics API and customer data software that collects customer data and allows website owners to integrate client data with a variety of products. Quora’s collaboration with Segment is set to make tracking conversions from ads on Quora much easier.
Reddit, Set, Watch
Reddit has launched its own native video hosting platform. In light of their recent $200 million in funding from a number of Silicon Valley VC firms, the ubiquitous forum site promised that video capabilities on desktop and mobile would be one of its major initiatives following their largest round of funding ever. Since video and GIFs comprise a significant portion of the content shared on Reddit, this initiative was deployed with the aim of streamlining the process of uploading and sharing video content.
Video uploading, which previously had to be done through third party platforms, was tested in a limited beta in early June. Following successful testing, the site has now announced that video uploads will be supported across all platforms, including desktop, iOS, and Android. Features include uploading videos taken on mobile, mobile recording directly onto the site, trimming uploaded videos, picture-in-screen multi-tasking, and MP4 and MOV files up to 15 minutes long. Reddit reportedly hopes that this will encourage users to upload more content directly to the site.
Facebook Video Clickbait Bites the Bullet
In the saga of Facebook cracking down on low quality ads, the social media giant has recently announced they will be decreasing visibility of video clickbait ads. Using artificial intelligence to assess the quality of users’ newsfeeds, Facebook will be hiding ads that rely on a fake “play” button to coax clicks. Advertisers or users who post content that involves a fake play button “should expect the distribution of those clickbait stories to markedly decrease.”
Additionally, images that are uploaded as videos in an attempt to track viewers more easily will be similarly discredited. If Facebook is one of your main advertising channels, ensure that your impressions tracking does not violate the terms of use, or your ads might be heavily demoted from distribution and rendered ineffective.
SaaS in the Cloud(s)
Altaeros, a Somerville-based SaaS startup, announced this week that they plan to deliver internet via blimps overhead in order to provide access to Internet services in more remote areas. Where cell towers are out of reach or not yet built, Altaeros will rent Internet to telecommunications services as “SaaS in the sky.”
What was initially intended as an airborne wind-turbine startup has pivoted to the telecommunications sector, and has received $7.5 million in funding from SoftBank Group this week. The company’s aim is to provide broadband access to rural communities worldwide, a mission that Ben Glass, the CEO and CTO, believes will ultimately prove profitable due to the low maintenance costs of just a one-time installation. Interestingly, this futuristic approach could mean that online businesses have a larger user base available, as Internet becomes more ubiquitously accessible all over the world.
Target’s Targeted Acquisition
Target has recently acquired their second e-commerce company. The discount distribution giant announced this week that they would be buying Grand Junction, a San Francisco-based startup that connects different distributors to a network of over 700 carriers throughout North America. Grand Junction’s capability of handling same day deliveries will supplement Target’s current online selling presence.
This deal is part of Target’s larger strategy to seemingly overhaul logistics with the aim of a more efficient online e-commerce presence capable of competing with Amazon. Just last quarter, their online sales rose 22%, and it would appear they are keeping their aim set on making expedited delivery more efficient. Brick and mortar giants like Target and Walmart are working hard to catch up to Amazon’s enticing Prime option for consumers, even as Amazon continues to expand through acquisitions like that of Whole Foods earlier this summer.
This acquisition is Target’s second e-commerce investment of 2017 (after a successful $75 million bid on Casper Sleep Inc.), however this most recent tactical play comes with the added benefit that Grand Junction will have to cease working with competitors like CVS and Office Depot. The startup reportedly doubled its capacity over the last two years, now handling roughly 6 million local deliveries per month. Whether Target can grow their distribution channels enough to position themselves as a viable alternative for same day delivery remains to be seen.