SMB-focused digital marketing powerhouse Hibu has announced that it acquired location-focused martech innovator RevLocal. The deal, priced at an undisclosed amount, accomplishes a few things including expanding Hibu’s reach and market share, while deepening its product set and underlying tech.
RevLocal meanwhile gains more resources to develop some of its strengths – particularly those that are complimentary with Hibu’s products. Since 2010, the Columbus, Ohio-based RevLocal has built out a lauded suite of SMB marketing products with particular strengths in social and search marketing.
Altogether, one outcome is the consolidation of complimentary sets of SMB marketing services. As these pieces are integrated, both companies’ existing customers will get a more robust and optimized set of options (including Amazon ads), while a stronger bundle is positioned to win new business.
The strength of that product suite will result from matching the synergies and complimentary pieces of each side… and from an inherent one-stop-shop appeal. In fact, Localogy’s Modern Commerce Monitor SMB survey consistently signals SMBs’ preference for single providers, which this deal works towards.
“We’ve known the team at RevLocal for many years and have long respected their position in the market, Hibu CEO Kevin Jasper told Localogy Insider. “Our two companies both have a strong culture of delivering value to our clients, innovation, and growth.”
North Star
Going deeper, the buy-versus-build deal accelerates and aligns with a few of Hibu’s longstanding strategic directions. Beyond growing its customer base and expanding its market share in one fell swoop, as noted, the deal has larger implications for product positioning. It’s all about having a deeper bench.
By that, we mean that RevLocal will both deepen Hibu’s tech stack for underlying product functionality, and broaden its set of offerings. The latter engenders more optionality for custom bundles for SMBs, which is a key North star for Hibu. One of its operating principles is to be demand/customer-driven.
Unpacking that last part, Jasper – along with key deputies like CPO Nick Hopkins – continues to emphasize the importance of needs-driven product sales. Rather than push a big bundle of services to boost ARPU – some of which SMBs may not need or want – it emphasizes the right bundle.
This leads to optimized – even if smaller – bundles. While it may lessen ARPU to not aggressively push bigger bundles, the tradeoff is customer value and satisfaction. And those factors engender the ultimate prize: retention and lifetime value. In other words, Hibu is thinking and acting to win the long game.
“Combining these two great companies, along with our recent acquisition of Signpost’s marketing technology platform last Fall, accelerates our expansion plans,” said Jasper, “as we continue to deliver market-leading digital marketing solutions to the SMB market.”
