Companies to Watch
Consumer behaviour trends are driving marketers and product managers to rethink the way they use to do business. Companies ahead of the game aren’t simply looking at driving sales, they are working towards driving the entire industry forward. Martechvibe looks at companies that are establishing patents, moulding best practices and solving emerging marketing challenges. Here’s […]
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Consumer behaviour trends are driving marketers and product managers to rethink the way they use to do business. Companies ahead of the game aren’t simply looking at driving sales, they are working towards driving the entire industry forward. Martechvibe looks at companies that are establishing patents, moulding best practices and solving emerging marketing challenges.
Here’s a look at the companies to watch out for;
Founded: 2016
Founder: Megan Neale, Roger Beadle
Segment: GigCX platform
Limitless claims to be building the future of customer service engagement. Their on-demand cloud platform and app is transforming the way businesses deliver customer service by offering their most loyal customers the opportunity to earn money and rewards by acting as brand ambassadors. Companies sign on to scale support quickly, reduce cost and improve customer experience. Interested customers come on board to provide customer service on-demand for the products they believe in. Through a dashboard company, CRMs and the community are connected, and appropriate enquiries are routed to its customer brand ambassadors. These brand ambassadors can then engage with other customers via the on-demand app.
The Gig CX industry has been gaining traction in the last few years. For companies, it allows for great flexibility in staffing during busy and slow times. For giggers, it allows the flexibility of being called on when needed, extra earnings, and work that can be tailored to fit into their lifestyle. For customers, it means a better service experience. Even during busy times, the company is staffed to deliver fast support when the customer wants and needs it.
The platform is live in over 20 countries, and its major clients include Microsoft, Unilever and Sage. Current investors include Unilever Ventures, Downing Ventures and Albion Capital.
Also Read: How to Move Social Traffic to Sales Funnel: A 6-Step Guide
Founded: 2014
Founder: Michael Bamberger, Nis Frome, Thor Ernstsson
Segment: Agile Research Platform
Data can be daunting, especially for traditionally non-technical teams. Moreover, organisations looking to inculcate a data-first culture across departments must look at user-friendly tools that make the first step easier for employees. This is where Feedback Loop steps in. The company offers an agile approach to research for rapid consumer feedback delivery. Agile doesn’t simply mean fast, it refers to an iterative process. The traditional research lifecycle of planning, design, collection, analysis, and presentation is compression. Researchers have figured out which parts of the process they can make more efficient without cutting corners. Smaller-scale studies have become an essential part of the researcher’s toolkit. Here, agile refers to an approach by which products are built incrementally from the beginning, instead of being delivered as one large finished product at the end of a prolonged process.
For marketers and product managers, this approach promises to bring the voice of the consumer into critical market decisions and at scale. Here is how it works; users can create tests in minutes, target audiences based on demographic and behavioural criteria, get result outputs in formats such as charts, text responses, videos, sentiments, and machine learning-generated insights. Feedback Loop automates critical research processes such as generating surveys, sourcing research participants, and analysing and surfacing insights. It also introduces guardrails to eliminate human error while giving non-researchers direct access to consumer insights in days, rather than months. Brands like Uber, Ad Council, and Rhino are current clients.
Formerly known as Alpha, Feedback Loop was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York City and backed by Crosslink Capital, Spider Capital, and Calibrate Ventures. CEO Rob Holland brings his experience of working with insights teams at Bluecore, Oracle and Datalogix.
Founded: 2015
Founder: Li Haslett Chen
Segment: Subscription Technology Platform For Brands And Creators
Creators are the modern storefront. The creator economy has a tremendous impact on consumer trust today. From web-based formats like Wirecutter and Consumer Reports to video and social creators on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch – shoppers rely on creators to validate their buying decisions. Narrativ is built on this premise. It promises “honest and unbiased recommendations, represents diverse voices, and speaks with integrity and specificity”. The company offers brands the chance to connect with creators for unsponsored recommendations opportunities instead of buying out sponsored content at flat rates.
The platform works to identify independently produced online reviews and link them to the relevant eCommerce sites. Reviewers can opt in to earn a percentage of any sales driven by their link. Last year, Narrativ won a patent on its dynamic links technology. Current clients include Samsung, Best Buy, and Sephora.
Also Read: Is Data The Key To Customer Conversion And Acquisition?
Founded: 2016
Founder: Niklas Bakos
Segment: In-game Advertising Technology Platform
This year has seen strong demand for advertising opportunities within the gaming vertical. Adverty is an in-game platform for advertisers, agencies and game developers. It’s a company worth knowing about because it studies how to count an ad as seen and establish industry standards. Last year, the company was granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its in-game ad viewability technology called BrainImpression. The algorithm determines ad viewability and impressions within complex gaming environments. The method of decision is based on the ad size, time in view and position on display for the user. Depending on the size of the ad on display, the ad is classified as seen after various time intervals, triggering an ad impression by the system. The patent covers specific methods for adverts in the three-dimensional gaming space.
Earlier this year, Averty announced a new deal with global media and technology company Verizon Media. It will connect to Verizon Media’s Sell-Side Platform (SSP), enabling its unique and unobtrusive ad offering to reach wider audiences within gameplay, to maximise brand exposure and publisher monetisation.
Also Read: Companies To Watch
Founded: 2014
Founders: Russell Brunson, Todd Dickerson
Segment : SaaS-based Marketing Funnel
From small local businesses to large enterprises, everyone is trying to crack the code on optimising a sales funnel which can bring people to a page on demand, take them through a series of steps and sell to the prospect. Since the pandemic nudged more businesses to go online, the demand has only doubled. ClickFunnels is a software that lets users design, develop and launch end-to-end sales funnels.
The company walks members through the options in their funnel editor which let’s them build modular funnels depending on their objective; generate leads, generate sales, or run an event. It offers tested and templatised frameworks depending on the nature of the business. Think of it as a growth playbook; the solution also offers specific routes for follow-up funnels. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Russel Brunson, is a popular marketing influencer with a 2015 bestseller entitled DotCom Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Growing Your Company Online.
