G5 Search Marketing Secures $15 Million From Volition Capital
G5 Search Marketing is poised to further leverage its growth in several high-yield verticals after announcing a $15 million investment from Volition Capital to close out its first round of financing.
CEO Dan Hobin told BIA/Kelsey that the company plans to use the proceeds to “enhance the current content management system and search products” in its suite of services, as well as introduce new mobile and social applications for the platform. Mobile applications are expected to roll out later this year, with social tools to follow.
The local search marketing firm, which debuted as a specialist in the self-storage vertical, has since broadened to serve clients in multi-family housing and student housing. Capitalizing on the online migration of mid-market companies, G5 now serves more than 160 clients and 2,400 properties in its vertical sectors and nearly doubled its total revenues over the past year.
Hobin emphasized that Volition’s investment will enable G5 to explore growth into additional verticals, with no concrete timeline for when and where expansion could occur.
The Bend, Oregon, company touts its holistic G5 Platform, a five-tenet framework that allows SMBs to “manage, measure and optimize” their local online marketing strategy through SEO, SEM, tracking phone calls, measuring cost-per-customer acquisition and a host of other services. “People are getting more sophisticated and want better data and control,” Hobin said. “They’re looking for a platform that does everything … a complete solution.”
$15 million investment just to “enchance the current content management system and search products … as well as introduce new mobile and social applications for the platform”? Isn’t too much??!
I think another point of note is their exploration and expansion into new verticals. What, when, and how are yet to be determined (though G5 tends to pick verticals that have very similar business models), but the company has enjoyed explosive growth when it has expanded similarly in the past.
“Oh it is a major milestone. To date we have 80 full time employees, I think we have 85 including contractors. We are looking at doubling by 2011.” G-5 Marketing Vice President Amy Trenz says they specialize in helping specific industries find customers “online”. She estimates by 2013 that over $16-billion will be spent by medium sized business on Internet marketing.
Really impressive! I’m wondering what is the hardest part: to get to such a level or to get the $15 million investment?
This company contacted us through a multiple page document about how our web presence was terrible, even though we continued to tell them we weren’t interested. After an extensive search we found that they do nothing but make themselves look good online, but don’t back it up, nor did their ‘extensive report’ persuade our web knowledgeable department to sway.