What’s The ROI for SMB Ad Campaigns? Bizible Launches Tracking Program

Sometimes the ability to track the ROI of a local campaign is as important as the campaign itself. That is part of the assumption behind Bizible, a Seattle stat-up which works with SMBs to track lead sources from different media campaigns, and provide reports on their effectiveness. The company announced today that it has raised $1.7 Million in a new round lead by Madrona Venture Group, which has also funded AdReady and Mixpo. MHS Capital and various Seattle angel investors are also participating in the round.

Launched by Microsoft AdCenter vets Aaron Bird and Peter Thompson, Bird suggests that SMBs typically have no idea where they are getting their revenue. “You have no insights into what your keywords bring you. Or Clicks. Or maybe even your calls,” he says. Bizible will track this activity vis email, adding additional channels later. “This can be as simple as emailing the customer an invoice or as elaborate as using email to answer questions before and after the sale,” he adds.

The initial focus on email means that the company will be targeting service based industries that are more dependent on email, including such categories as insurance, real estate, home services and contractors. Bars, restaurants and retail are more call-focused.

“We don’t bring you customers,” adds Bird. “You buy them on the Internet. But we have the analytics telling you how much each campaign is generating.” He envisions a reporting capability that will eventually provide SMBs with the level of detail that e-commerce companies get. They “can track the source of sales through online conversion tracking technology. Because of these they have a wealth of data on what’s working, down to the keyword, ad copy, social post, etc, and they have great revenue and conversion data to optimize their efforts.”

The service carries a rate card ranging from $149 to $999 a month depending on the number of accounts and locations involved. It is being sold directly to SMBs, and indirectly via agencies, Yellow Pages and other resellers, which may bundle the costs into their other fees.