Soci has successfully raised $120 million to boost its artificial intelligence skills aimed at enhancing its digital marketing capabilities.
In Brief
The rise of omnichannel marketing has posed significant challenges for brands that previously depended on larger national and global strategies for their outcomes.
In the latest funding loop, Soci, the marketing automation platform, has amassed $120 million, led by JMI Equity and backed by Vertical Venture Partners, Blossom Street Ventures, and Renew Group Private.
With this new investment round, Soci’s total funding has now reached almost $240 million. Their plans include utilizing this mix of debt and equity funding to enhance their artificial intelligence capabilities, pursue mergers and acquisitions, and continue expanding internationally.
As more consumers turned to online shopping during the pandemic, there was a marked shift in how they interact with brands. This transformation signified a need for a different marketing approach, leading to the diminishing impact of traditional global and national brands, as customers now expect tailored and localized experiences through search engines and social media platforms.
Afif Khoury According to the founder and CEO of Soci, brands looking to thrive must consistently deliver localized marketing efforts that resonate with local audiences while marketers strive to streamline workflows and improve local channels. This is precisely where Soci's platform proves to be invaluable.
Khoury mentioned that the pandemic pushed consumers toward online engagement, hastening the shift to digital channels and fundamentally altering how they connect with brands. Soci became a crucial ally for brands during this evolution, highlighting the increasing reliance on technology for managing their local digital marketing strategies. TechCrunch .
Soci aims to streamline the creation of localized marketing campaigns across various digital platforms while adhering to branding standards, optimizing local search results, and integrating valuable data. They now cater to over 700 businesses with multiple locations and enterprises across various sectors, including the food and beverage industry, which collectively comprises more than three million locations. Notable clients include major brands like Ace Hardware, Kumon, and Ford.
Central to Soci’s efforts is its newly launched 'Genius' suite of products, which emphasizes data science, artificial intelligence, and automation as its key competitive advantages. The platform enables local data analysis and marketing automation, freeing up clients to focus on other critical areas of their businesses. Khoury elaborated that Soci’s AI models are utilized not only to inform but also to automate marketing processes, drawing from inputs across various locations and numerous marketing channels.
The company has invested heavily in advanced data science models that analyze data correlations to various outcomes, including customer interactions, foot traffic, clicks, and other metrics related to customer loyalty and revenue generation.
Recently, Soci has introduced a new review response management tool as part of its Genius line that integrates seamlessly with various platforms. This tool can aggregate reviews and data analytics across multiple review sites and automatically respond in a thoughtful and customizable manner. OpenAI’s ChatGPT 'With this tool, individuals managing reviews across 5,000 locations will no longer need to individually respond, thus reducing the workload on thousands of employees to just a few,' stated Khoury.
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