Dani Wawryk
January 10, 2022
Embedded Files
What the change means for Vendastians, partners, and our fast-evolving platform
What the change means for Vendastians, partners, and our fast-evolving platform
The Modern Customer Journey has long served as a guide for how local businesses and our partners alike can find and keep customers. It helps guide product development, some of the vendors we aim to attract to Marketplace, the user experience in our Business App, and the Marketing Services we offer.
The digital marketing stack associated with this journey has become a checklist for any business – especially in a world where people are flocking online to find what they need.
Our partners have always been hungry for digital advertising because it represents the shotgun pistol for any customer or client. If they don’t know about you—well—it can all end there. It’s a big reason why advertising is #1 in revenue among our fulfillment services.
Until now, we’ve relied solely on third-party vendors, internal smarts, and our Advertising Intelligence dashboard to fill the ad tech market need. Now, we’ll be adding to those valuable solutions in a big way with an old friend.
A match made in heaven
A match made in heaven
On the cusp of the new year, Vendasta quietly acquired MatchCraft, an electric deal that will eventually bring exciting search, display, and social media advertising solutions to our channel partners, and Vendasta’s platform and solutions to theirs.
MatchCraft is a US-based company with a 23-year history in our space. They provide industry-leading technology to partners headquartered in 22 countries running campaigns in more than 20 languages and dialects across the globe. MatchCraft’s technology has managed hundreds of thousands of campaigns for an impressive list of clients. Names like Trudon, McClatchy, Heartland (which powers Pulse Local Marketing), Vivial, and OMG National are on their roster, and ours too!
Walking in lockstep
Walking in lockstep
The shared partnerships are just the start of the synergies between the two tech companies. There’s a lot of overlap in other parts of our business, too. Just look at how our north stars align:
Vision: To be the single source of truth for local business.
Mission: To be the #1 platform for selling digital solutions to local businesses.
Vision: To be the single source of truth for local business.
Mission: To be the #1 platform for selling digital solutions to local businesses.
On top of that, our friendship goes waaaay back.
Who are these blurry-looking fellows in this ancient Blackberry snapshot?
(From left) Vendasta CMO/Cofounder Jeff Tomlin, MatchCraft Senior VP of Global Business Development Brad Peterson, alongside BigFiveDigital Cofounder and Localogy Analyst Charles Laughlin (another great friend of Vendasta) way back in 2009 at BIA/Kelsey!
MatchCraft and Vendasta have been working in lockstep more than a decade, sharing dinners on the conference circuits and goals in business. In fact, MatchCraft was even featured as a vendor at our Vendasta conferences.
MatchCraft showing off their wares at VendastaCon 2018
Not to mention, our digital ads team has been using MatchCraft behind the scenes for several years.
You could say that the partnership we’re celebrating today was fortuitous, if not inevitable.
Changes to come
Changes to come
This deal is different than our confetti-popping announcement of the CalendarHero acquisition announced in October. While CalendarHero joins the Vendasta family as a point solution with platform integrations on the horizon, MatchCraft will continue operating as an autonomous company.
Our partners, like theirs, can expect ‘business as usual,’ while we explore and solidify the details of this exciting chapter. The news of the acquisition remains confidential until Tuesday, Jan. 11 at 9:00 a.m. CST (10:00 a.m. EST) when it’s published to our Newsroom and on social media. We hope you’ll help us celebrate the occasion then by sharing the news on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and by answering any questions your partners may have!
Partners with questions? Here’s a handy guide
Partners with questions? Here’s a handy guide
(yes, you can share the info below with partners after the announcement on Tuesday!)
“What’s MatchCraft?”
“What’s MatchCraft?”
MatchCraft is now a Vendasta Company, and it provides a best-in-class marketing platform that enables companies to successfully sell and manage search, display, and social campaigns for their advertisers. Unlike other marketing technology platforms, MatchCraft’s platform AdVantageTM helps organizations efficiently manage campaigns of all sizes, enabling clients to deliver results to their advertisers. MatchCraft’s sophisticated real-time bidding algorithms, and a team of digital marketing enthusiasts, work relentlessly to deliver exceptional ROI for merchants around the world.
“Is it in Vendasta’s Marketplace? Where do I find it?”
“Is it in Vendasta’s Marketplace? Where do I find it?”
These are early but exciting days! We anticipate that MatchCraft’s tools—including its flagship AdVantage™ platform—will be available directly to our partners in the second half of 2022. We’ll be sure to keep you informed as the partnership evolves. While we work to fully integrate MatchCraft's solutions into Vendasta's Marketplace, we can support your campaigns today powered by MatchCraft. Look at Vendasta's advertising fulfillment services to get started today with the ability to run campaigns on Google, Bing, Instagram, Facebook, Google display, and Yelp."
“What if I want to sign up for MatchCraft right now?”
“What if I want to sign up for MatchCraft right now?”
(MatchCraft qualifies enterprise/platinum-level companies only at this time, so be sure that the partner qualifies before referring them!)
If they do NOT qualify as platinum/enterprise:
MatchCraft’s flagship AdVantage platform is best suited for enterprise-level companies as it exists right now, but that will change. Have you considered Vendasta’s advertising fulfillment services? We use the power of MatchCraft behind the scenes to make sure your clients are getting the best ROI.”
If they DO qualify as platinum/enterprise:
You’re welcome to contact MatchCraft for a demo! You can do that at matchcraft.com or by contacting info@matchcraft.com.
“My clients use other advertising services through Vendasta’s Marketplace. What’s going to happen to them?”
“My clients use other advertising services through Vendasta’s Marketplace. What’s going to happen to them?”
There will be no changes to the current Marketplace offerings. Our ad tools and services are as varied as the Partners and SMBs we serve.
Questions?
Questions?
Submit a question we can address at All Hands or one-on-one via Vox Populi!
Page updated
Report abuse