Consolidation among customer experience technology vendors continued today with two acquisitions.
Hootsuite acquired a Snapchat analytics solution created by Naritiv, a Los Angeles startup that has helped companies understand and enhance the impact of their digital campaigns on Snapchat. It's the third buy of the year for Vancouver, British Columbia-based Hootsuite, a social media management provider which acquired both LiftMetrix, a social analytics vendor, and Facebook advertising partner AdEspresso last month.
New York City-based Conversocial, a social customer engagement platform, acquired HipMob, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company that developed an integrated live chat platform for websites and mobile apps. The acquisition will facilitate the integration of live chat into the Conversocial platform, enabling brands to engage with customers across all channels, including web, iOS and Android, the company said.
Hootsuite's Snapchat Play
Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes said buying Naritiv's analytics solution will help Hootsuite customers leverage Snapchat in their digital marketing campaigns. He added that "brands are turning to video-centric networks like Snapchat to engage with their audiences."
Snapchat is attracting global celebrities as power-users and the world’s most prestigious brands as advertising partners.
Snap Inc. — the company behind Snapchat — claims its app reaches 41 percent of 18 to 34 year olds on a daily basis — making Snapchat a wide window into the millennial world. Moreover, Snapchat’s unique interface empowers brands to connect with that Millennial audience in ways that Facebook and Instagram don’t support.
Dan Altmann, CEO and co-founder of Naritiv, said his company's Snapchat solution complements what Hootsuite already offers to brands and agencies. It also provides a way to take Naritiv's "technology to the next level," he said.
As part of the acquisition, members of the Naritiv product team will join Hootsuite's newly opened Los Angeles office. The Los Angeles office follows the recent opening of the Hootsuite Toronto office, joining Hootsuite's footprint in major markets around the world including New York, London, Paris, Hamburg, Singapore and its Vancouver headquarters.
Conversocial: Messaging Is the Future of Customer Service
Conversocial CEO Joshua March said his company's acquisition of live chat and in-app messaging startup HipMob will help it stay ahead of the social customer service curve.
After brining business enterprise to social and integrating of private messaging, Conversocial is addressing what it believes to be "a crucial yet neglected area of customer service — in-app, live chat, at scale," March said.
As companies increasingly experience social volumes spikes during crisis situations, it's critical that customer care teams are able to seamlessly shift between channels, he added.
Conversocial was founded in the UK in 2011 but is now headquartered in New York City, although it still maintains a London presence.
Founded in 2012, Y Combinator-backed HipMob offered live chat features and integrations with CRM and customer support software to mobile businesses and app developers. Ayo Omojola, the company's CEO and co-founder, has designed and helped develop mobile apps and services since 2008.
Omojola said becoming a part of Conversocial’s platform shows "the power of multi-channel engagement" and will "broaden and strengthen the relationship between customer and brand."
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