LinkedIn Acquires Bizo To Support B2B Marketing Initiatives

On July 22, LinkedIn announced its purchase of Bizo, the large B2B marketing technology company focused on audience segments and marketing automation.  The tools enable the measurement of display and social online advertising and audience segments, and are mostly used by business-to-business marketers.

The transaction is valued by the companies at approximately $175 million, subject to adjustment, in a combination of about 10 percent stock and 90 percent cash.  According to a report by Mashable, the acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2014.

“It’s exciting for us to bring Bizo’s expertise and technology into our ecosystem,” said Deep Nishar, LinkedIn’s SVP of Product and User Experience.  “Our ability to integrate their B2B solutions with our content marketing products will enable us to become the most effective platform for B2B marketers to engage professionals.”

The close of the acquisition will mark the move of many of Bizo’s executive team members over to LinkedIn.  “The Bizo team has been part of our LinkedIn API Partner Program for some time now,” wrote David Thacker, vice president of products at LinkedIn.  “Through these interactions, we’ve gotten to know the team and their capabilities well, which surfaced the possibilities of a deeper relationship between the two of us.”

Bizo, the San Francisco-based marketing technology company, has products that are specifically designed for B2B professionals, and marketers use Bizo to nurture relationships with prospects to generate sales.  Russell Glass, Bizo’s Co-Founder and CEO, explained the partnership.  “We have been a LinkedIn partner for a while now and it became clear that our respective missions and cultures are really well aligned,” he said.  “I couldn’t be more thrilled that we are coming together to accelerate our ability to reach professional audiences, nurture prospects, and acquire customers in truly powerful ways.”

Bizo recently announced what it calls “record setting revenue” after the launch of its marketing automation platform in October 2013.  Over 25 companies adopted the new offering by February, including Avis, Rockwell Automation and Concur.  Avis saw near immediate return on investment, about 300% per Bizo.  Impressively, Bizo revenue rose about 75% in 2013 in comparison to the previous year, with the company reporting $9 million in annual revenue through agencies.

LinkedIn has stated that it will honor existing contracts that people have with Bizo, as well as integrating Bizo’s Media Solutions and Multi-Channel Nurturing products.  However, its Data Solutions business will not be carried over.

David Thacker’s blog post illustrates the company’s enthusiasm about the future possibilities of this partnership.  “Over the last few years, our Marketing Solutions products have helped companies build relationships with LinkedIn members all over the world,” wrote Thacker.  “Adding Bizo’s offerings into our portfolio of content and mobile products will allow us to offer a wider range of solutions to meet our customers’ marketing objectives.”