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Category: B2BMarketingTrends

B2BMarketingTrends

  • Go Where Your Customers Are… the Mobile Phone

    Go Where Your Customers Are… the Mobile Phone

    At the recent Social Media Day Jacksonville 2018 conference, Carlos Gil, founder of Gil Media Company, spoke about current social media marketing strategies. In an entertaining and informative talk, Gil spoke about the challenge of getting companies like Win-Dixie to understand that they should be engaging with their customers on the device their customer is always paying attention to, and that’s the cell phone.

    It’s not about advertising either, it’s about being part of the conversation, being a brand that matters. Here are selected excerpts from Gil’s talk below that highlight this challenge:

    The Only Metric that Matters Is Sales

    The only metric that matters today is sales. Most of us, if not all of us, know that the reason why we’re on social media is that we want to drive more revenue for our businesses. You go to any CMO or CEO and for them, social media is just nice to have. The reality is that social media is the lifeline between you and your customers.

    Oftentimes, we see metrics being referred to as reach, clicks, impressions, but the only metric that really matters is the sale.

    I often get asked by businesses and marketers, should I be on Instagram, Snapchat, or something else? My answer to them is very simple, go where your audience is. Each one of these social networks gives you reach and helps put you in front of people who are potential buyers or existing buyers from your brand or your competition. If you are targeting millennials, Snapchat and Instagram might be good to focus on.

    Simply think about your business and go where your audience is.

    Revise Strategy from One-To-Many to One-To-One

    We’re talking about sales, we’re talking about driving revenue. Since the beginning of time sales has always been one-on-one. I think the biggest mistake that marketers are making is they think I’m going to get on social media and I’m gonna have access to reach all of these people. I have all of these followers, but the reality is that most people are not paying attention to the content that you’re posting. This is why you should revise your strategy from being about one-to-many but more one-to-one, and you should stop focusing on the numbers.

    Recently, I was working with a client that said to me, we have 30 million social media followers globally but we’re reaching a very small percentage. I looked at the CMO and said, you don’t have 30 million followers, in reality, you have like 300 or less. Their jaw dropped and they were shocked because the reality is that you can’t touch everyone that’s out there.

    Social media operates in real time, and with the way content moves, content is relevant today and it’s irrelevant 15 seconds from now.

    Millennials Don’t Want to be Sold, They Want to be Engaged

    Millennials don’t want to be sold, they want to be engaged. Millennials are really at the forefront of a lot of what we do. For example, I work a lot with real estate agents and they often say that you have to look at the data of who is your target buyer. In the case of realtors, 30 years old is the average age of a first-time homebuyer. You’re not going to reach that customer sending them direct mail.

    However, if you run Facebook Ads, if you have any sort of presence in social meeting, you can find a way to get in front of them then. You have a much higher likelihood of promoting your brand and getting that lead. The same thing applies to most businesses.

    Go Where Your Customers Are… the Mobile Phone

    I work with both B2B and B2C and you have to go where the current is, you have to go where the customers are. The reality is this is your audience today. People aren’t paying attention to really what’s in front of them besides their cell phone.

    I’m sure if you go to any boardroom meeting today and you look around, what do people do when they show up, they put their iPhone first thing in front of them.

    When I was working at Winn-Dixie back in 2014, we’re doing this campaign where we’re trying to take market share away from Walmart, Target, Burger King and McDonald’s, I made a comment to our CMO at the time. I said why are we focusing so much on doing direct mail at home marketing and instead, why aren’t we doing SMS and push notification ads? Why aren’t we reaching people on the device that they go to the bathroom with and that they use all the time?

    We use cell phones for virtually everything that we do, so guess what, the light bulb has to go off if people are using this device all the time and they live by it your marketing has to now appeal to the device itself.

    It was funny because in 2014 that CMO looked at me and says huh, SMS is never gonna take off, mobile marketing is never gonna take off!

    Marketing is Like Finding Your Match on Tender

    You’ve got this high propensity of customers, Millennials, they’re all using social media. I think the biggest challenge that we all face is how do we reach people at the right time and ensure that our content resonates with them? This is why I say that marketing is like finding your match on Tinder.

    Business marketing is very much like dating. You’ve got a lot of people out there in this digital ocean and if your content is not appealing to that audience then they’re gonna keep swiping.

  • Salesforce Launches Single Souce of Truth | Benioff: A Computer Science Holy Grail

    Salesforce Launches Single Souce of Truth | Benioff: A Computer Science Holy Grail

    Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says that Salesforce is now entering the fourth stage of computing, the pursuit of Single Source of Truth. The official name is Customer 360 Truth and it is a new set of capabilities that allow companies to connect, authenticate and govern customer data and identity across Salesforce. The goal is to provide a complete view and deeper understanding of every customer so that companies can deliver extremely personalized customer experiences.

    Marc Benioff, co-CEO of Salesforce, discusses Customer 360 Truth at their annual Dreamforce conference with Jim Cramer of CNBC:  

    Single Source of Truth – A Computer Science Holy Grail

    360 Truth is another amazing thing that we’re introducing here (at Dreamforce 2019) that has been the holy grail of computing. It’s what we call SSOT, the single source of truth. We’ve had three amazing waves of computing. They are stems of record, systems of engagement, and systems of intelligence including AI. We’re now entering the fourth stage of computing. It’s the pursuit of Single Source of Truth, and we’ve built that into our platform. 

    This is a computer science holy grail that we’ve been trying to put together for a long time. Now because we acquired MuleSoft and because we acquired Tableau we are closer to providing for our customers the Single Source of Truth for their customer information.

    Enables Companies To Build a Single Source of Truth

    The company describes Customer 360 Truth as a new set of data and identity services that enable companies to build a single source of truth across all of their customer relationships. They say it connects data from across sales, service, marketing, commerce and more to create a single, universal Salesforce ID for each customer.

    All of a customer’s previous interactions and shared preferences are brought together to create a complete view so companies can better serve and even predict their needs, whether addressing a customer service problem, creating a personalized marketing journey, predicting the best sales opportunities or surfacing product recommendations.

    Salesforce Launches Single Souce of Truth | Benioff: A Computer Science Holy Grail

    From the Salesforce Press Release:

    The Holy Grail of CRM: A Single Source of Truth

    Nearly 70 percent of customers say they expect connected experiences in which their preferences are known across touchpoints. However, organizational and technical complexity often gets in the way of meeting these expectations. Companies have legacy infrastructure and data silos, leading to fragmented data and fragile integrations between systems. Inconsistent methods for accessing, reconciling and activating customer data make it challenging for companies to deliver connected experiences across these systems. As a result, companies often have multiple usernames, email addresses, or purchase histories for the very same customer across different systems, and managing a customer’s consent and contact preferences across the business becomes harder as new data regulations come into play. 

    Having a source of truth—a single, trusted place that brings together all the customer data needed to deliver amazing experiences—has been the holy grail of CRM. Today Salesforce is delivering it.

    Deliver a Trusted, Personalized Customer Relationship With Customer 360 Truth

    Customer 360 Truth enhances data management across Salesforce apps and other systems, and provides instant access to consistent, reconciled customer data. Services include:

    • Customer 360 Data Manager: Delivers the ability to access, connect and resolve a customer’s data across Salesforce and other systems, using a canonical data model and a universal Salesforce ID that represents each customer. With a click-based user interface for app and data management, admins can easily establish trusted connections between data sources to prepare, match, reconcile and update the customer profile. The reconciled profile across apps enables employees to pull up relevant data at the time of need from any connected system, such as when a service agent may need to pull a list of past purchases from an order system to better assist in solving a problem.
    • Salesforce Identity for Customers: Removes friction from the login experience and enables a single, authenticated and secure relationship between a customer and all of a company’s websites, e-commerce stores, mobile apps and connected products. Instead of having separate logins and profiles that lead to disconnected experiences, customers now have one login across all of a company’s digital properties. Identity for Customers also elevates trust and compliance with a simple to use two-factor authentication. And it allows companies to obtain valuable customer insights with the ability to analyze engagement and usage with identity reporting and analytics.
    • Customer 360 Audiences: Builds unified customer profiles across known data such as email addresses and first party IDs and unknown data such as website visits and device IDs. It then creates customer segments and marketing engagement journeys from those profiles and delivers AI-powered insights, like lifetime value and likelihood to churn. Customer 360 Audiences goes beyond traditional customer data platform (CDP) capabilities and extends the power of CRM to connect customer interactions across various touchpoints — for example, a customer who was redirected from an email campaign onto the website through a service interaction — and make the profile data available in real-time to optimize the experience. 
    • Privacy and Data Governance: Enables companies to collect and respect customer data use and privacy preferences, as well as apply data classification labels to all data in Salesforce. Companies can easily understand what types of data they have, what uses of data customers have approved and how best to interact with them. These capabilities can help customers address obligations from regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), with respect to data governance and customer consent.

    Introducing the Cloud Information Model

    Salesforce Customer 360 Truth is powered by the Cloud Information Model (CIM), an open source data model that standardizes data interoperability across cloud applications. The publication of CIM is enabled by MuleSoft’s open source modeling technology, providing multiple file formats to make it easy to adopt CIM with varying applications. By easily integrating data in the cloud, developers can build new products that deliver connected and personalized customer experiences. CIM reduces the complexities of integrating data across cloud applications by providing standardized data interoperability guidelines to connect point-of-sale systems, digital marketing platforms, contact centers, CRM systems and more. Developers no longer need to spend months creating custom code. Instead, they can adopt and extend the CIM within days to create data lakes, generate analytics, train machine learning models, build a single view of the customer and more.

    Unleash the Power of Customer 360 Truth with MuleSoft Anypoint Platform

    Customer 360 Truth allows companies to connect siloed customer data sources to a single source of truth, across Salesforce apps or third-party data using MuleSoft. With MuleSoft Anypoint Platform™, organizations can easily build APIs that connect any application, data, or device to Customer 360 in an application network, creating a truly complete customer view.

    At Dreamforce, MuleSoft also announced new innovations and learning modules, empowering anyone to become an Integration Trailblazer and create connected customer experiences.

    Comments on the News

    • “Having a complete view of the customer is not a new idea, but it has been difficult to achieve. Companies have siloed data; disconnected apps; a complex, patchwork of sometimes incompatible services; and no way to connect it all,” said Patrick Stokes, EVP, Platform Shared Services, Salesforce. “Customer 360 Truth overcomes those challenges, creating a single source of truth that is the foundation for delivering smart, personalized customer experiences across every touchpoint.”
    • “In order to truly succeed with delivering a great customer experience, you have to adopt an agile platform that fosters growth and supports constant innovation,” said Rick Fuson, President and Chief Operating Officer, Pacers Sports & Entertainment. “With the Salesforce Customer 360 platform, Pacers Sports & Entertainment has real-time visibility into all aspects of our business and can operate more efficiently across channels, increase per customer loyalty and drive innovation across the organization.”
    • “Connecting customer data and managing consent is more important than ever in light of changing customer expectations and increasing regulations,” said Alan Webber, Program Vice President for Digital Strategy and Customer Experience, IDC. “As a result, companies are prioritizing data unification in ways that will lead to more loyal and valuable customer relationships. Salesforce Customer 360 Truth will help companies break down data silos and deliver the experiences customers expect.”

    Salesforce Customer 360 

    Customer 360 Truth is part of the Salesforce Customer 360, which includes industry-leading apps spanning sales, service, marketing and commerce, and across every customer touchpoint. The Customer 360 Platform is an underlying set of services and APIs including AI, blockchain, mobile, security, voice and other capabilities that allow companies to connect every customer, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation. Salesforce will power more than two trillion B2B and B2C transactions this year for more than 150,000 companies and millions of Trailblazers—those individuals and their organizations who are using Salesforce to drive innovation, grow their careers and transform their businesses.

  • Foursquare CEO: We’re 99% NOT Social Media or Location Check-Ins

    Foursquare CEO: We’re 99% NOT Social Media or Location Check-Ins

    “We’re 99 percent not social media or location check-ins,” says Foursquare Labs CEO Jeff Glueck. “We are rather a location technology platform that helps other companies with location technology, marketing tools, analytics tools, and the like. We’re actually more ubiquitous than ever. We are like a location layer underneath, an Intel Inside for location. The company today is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and we’re very different, so much more than the check-in app that everybody remembers.”

    Jeff Glueck, CEO of Foursquare Labs, discusses how the company has shifted from a consumer app to a B2B technology company as it celebrates its 10-year anniversary. Glueck was interviewed on Bloomberg Technology:

    We’re 99 Percent Not Social Media or Location Check-Ins

    The company today is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and we’re very different, so much more than the check-in app that everybody remembers. Now we’ve passed over $100 million in revenue. We’re bigger than ever. We’re 99 percent NOT social media or location check-ins, but a location technology platform that helps other companies with location technology, marketing tools, analytics tools, and the like. We’re actually more ubiquitous than ever. We are like a location layer underneath, an Intel Inside for location. 

    Foursquare, because we started ten years ago as a consumer company, had a head start in thinking about all the ways that location could make our lives better but also all of the potential abuses and the privacy implications where consumers should be in control. We’ve been thinking about this and really trying to build an ethical tech company. Internally, we talk a lot about the ethics and privacy of approaching this stuff. I know that in this day and age that’s unusual but that is what we’re about. 

    It has been in a way a benefit to our business because we are hoping that developers and marketers are actually taking a really close look at how they add value with location, whether they have adequate user opt-in, and whether there are user controls. We’ve been advocates in fact that there should be more regulation in the United States, not less. So for us, it’s staking out a position where privacy and ethics are very core to what we’re doing. We’re kind of welcoming the scrutiny and I actually hope they’ll be even more.

    Placed Is The Leader In Measuring In-Store Visits

    When we raised a $150 million from investors led by the Rain Group this year we acquired from Snap, the parent of Snapshot a B2B business called Placed. The Placed product is the leader in measuring in-store visits after you have seen an ad, whether it’s on TV or digital or on outdoor billboards and the like. It helps marketers make better decisions about what’s working and, as they say, which half of my marketing spend isn’t working. We combine that with Foursquare attribution which was growing fast and together we are the leader in helping marketers and product companies understand what’s working. 

    We work with about 50 of the Fortune 100 in the United States, 14 of the top 20 retailers, and 18 the top 20 QSR and dining brands to help them understand which of their ads is actually inspiring new consumers or regulars to come back in the door and their storefront. With Placed, we really have taken a big leap forward in being the number one by far in that space. We also added a bunch of very talented people including our new president David Shim.

    Foursquare CEO: We’re 99% NOT Social Media or Location Check-Ins

  • How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy (And Stick to It)

    How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy (And Stick to It)

    In recent years, content marketing has become one of the most powerful techniques for growing your business. Because of its effectiveness, businesses are now allotting as much as 40 percent of their advertising budget on content marketing. The investment makes sense because well-executed content marketing can bring more traffic to a website, raise brand awareness among consumers, position your business as an expert, raise customer loyalty, and greatly improve sales.

    However, in order to get the most of your content marketing efforts, you’ll need to have a clear and defined strategy. And, you’ll need to stick to it! This will not only make it easier to create more content but also help you analyze, set goals, and measure your ROI.

    How to Build Content Marketing Strategy

    Determine Your Objectives

    The first step to developing a content marketing strategy is to determine your company’s objective. In other words, you’ll need to have an end goal. Are you trying to create more awareness about your brand? Or, are you trying to gain more subscriptions to a service you provide? Decide on one or two core goals that will affect your bottom line and two or three supporting objectives you want to meet.

    Content Marketing Trends Most Important Objectives

    Define Your Target Market

    You want to market to the right customer using the right content at the right time. To do so, you would need to define your target market. You can do this by creating buyer personas and using them as a model for your content marketing plan. Conduct qualitative research to build these personas. Make use of surveys, customer feedback, focus groups, social media activity, and customer interviews. Even user profiles and transaction histories will help you in understanding who your real customers are.

    Study What Your Customers Need

    Make use of social media, search browsers, surveys, customer conversations and insight from your sales and customer service personnel to understand what your customers need. You can then use the collected data to segment your customers and send them content that is specific to their needs.

    Decide on What Content to Prioritize

    Once you have determined your end goal and identified your buyers, you can start focusing on content. There are a lot of content types to choose from—blogs, ebooks, infographics, games, courses, mobile apps, webinars, podcasts, and newsletters to name a few. Choose two or three types that are most suited or relevant to your audience to ensure you can always provide high-quality content. Once you have decided on the content channels you want, you can start creating a content schedule.

    According to a 2018 B2C survey by Conductor, businesses use blogs and videos 3 times more than any other type of content marketing.

    b2c content marketing

    Develop a Plan for Executing Content

    Utilize your buyer personas and customer information to design a plan for executing your content. Start brainstorming for ideas, like what keywords to use or topics for your blog. Think about how and where your audience will receive their information. Consider that customers require different kinds of content per funnel stage.

    Design Ways to Measure Your Content Marketing

    Your objectives will help define your metrics. Develop a measurement framework to help you keep track of how your strategy is helping with your goals. There are different categories of content marketing metrics that you can find online.

    common-content-marketing-goalsAmplify Your Content 

    It’s not enough to just develop content. Even an in-depth blog post or expertly edited video will fall on deaf ears unless you amplify its reach. Consider that there are at least 4 million blog posts published every day, how will you get your post to rise above the noise? You can get the word out through social media channels or explore other avenues, like using influencers or creating events.

    3 Tips on How to Stick to Your Strategy

     Image result for stick to the plan

    Once you have established your content marketing strategy, you’ll have to stick to it to reap the benefits. Unfortunately, this is where a lot of companies falter. Here are three tips to help you stay on your path:

    1. Make sure everybody knows what to expect

    Every departments’ goals should align with each other. For instance, the goals of the marketing and sales department should be in tune with each other and should fall in line with that of the upper management. Every member should also know the metrics that will be used.

    2. Concentrate on initiatives that are already successful

    Check which previous marketing strategies gave you the best results and build from there. After all, why fix something that isn’t broken? For instance, if one PPC campaign resulted in a good ROI, update it by either boosting the ad spending or launching a similar campaign using a different product.

    3. Delegate or outsource

    Good marketers know they should play to their strengths and delegate or outsource the rest. For instance, if you have good graphic design skills, make your own business logo or visual banners. If you are terrible at getting your ideas across in words, hire a writer. There’s no reason to do it all yourself when you can tap the services of others who can do a better job.

    Conclusion

    A solid content marketing strategy is essential to a successful business. Brainstorm for ideas and do not be afraid to experiment with different approaches or try a variety of tools. Keep track of customer engagement to ensure that you will stick to the strategy you devised. These will help in the continued improvement of your content marketing strategy and the success of your business.

  • The Power is Going From Companies To Consumers, Says Drift CEO

    The Power is Going From Companies To Consumers, Says Drift CEO

    “The most important thing for us and the reason we exist is that all the power is going to all of us, the buyers and consumers,” says Drift CEO David Cancel. “It’s going from companies to consumer buyers. We (as consumers) dictate everything now so every company in the world has to modify how they sell and service to make us happy. This is good news for us but it is a radical shift especially in B2B.”

    David Cancel, CEO of Drift, discusses their new partnership with Adobe and the launch of their joint product called Conversational ABM in an interview with Jeff Barrett:

    The Power is Going From Companies To Consumers

    We’ve been working a while now with Marketo and now that Adobe and Marketo have come together it’s going to the next level. We announced a joint product today called Conversational ABM which is the next step we are taking. We’ve been working mainly with the Marketo side which is B2B and now we are going to start to work with the B2C side with Adobe. We will be working with consumer companies and business companies. We will be doing both.

    The most important thing for us and the reason we exist is that all the power is going to all of us, the buyers and consumers. It’s going from companies to consumer buyers. We (as consumers) dictate everything now so every company in the world has to modify how they sell and service to make us happy. This is good news for us but it is a radical shift especially in B2B. We are not going to put up with it anymore. We have infinite choice. We have lots of options. We just want to deal with companies that are going to make us feel better and have amazing experiences.

    Removing Things That Prevent Real Conversations

    We do a lot of stuff with bots and AI. What’s exciting there to me is not just that part but removing the friction and removing the things that prevent real conversations and real relationships from happening. We’ve been spending so much time putting things into Excel spreadsheets and databases that we have lost sight that business is human to human. It’s you and me. Bots are not buying from each other. So until the bots buy from each other and the world is over it’s all about all of us.

    Right now we are moving and prioritizing. We are going back to basics. We are going back to how selling, marketing, and how business has operated for all of time. We’ve just been in a weird 10-20 year bubble where we’ve extracted that away. We’ve removed the humanity out of it. Now we are now going back to what it was before.

    You Just Have To Be a Normal Human

    It’s kind of funny because you just have to be a normal human. You’ve got to take away the business hat. You’ve got to take away the things we did before which is what adds so much complexity in the tool space. What is the most authentic relationship that we are going to have? How would I want to be treated? When you start to do that it becomes obvious and the tools are not that complicated. We overcomplicate it because we are used to selling to people in a way that makes it this kind of world.

    But guess what, an entirely new generation is coming online now who doesn’t think this is normal. There are entirely new generations coming online globally around the world who don’t think this is normal. So we have to wake up. They think that personally buying is normal. To think that on the business side of things you can only buy from 9-5 when there isn’t a holiday when there is someone available and when they want to talk to you. It made sense to a certain generation. It is now the thing that is going away.

    The Power is Going From Companies To Consumers, Says Drift CEO David Cancel
  • Without Data, There is No Great AI, Says Informatica Exec

    Without Data, There is No Great AI, Says Informatica Exec

    “Without data, there’s no great AI, says Amit Walia, President, Products & Marketing at Informatica. “Now that AI is really becoming pervasive and at scale, you really need to give it relevant good contextual data. We see that happening a lot in the world of enterprise. Finally, enterprise is arriving at the point where they want to use AI for B2B use cases, not just consumer use cases that we are used to. AI is a part of everything that we do in data.”

    Amit Walia, President, Products & Marketing at Informatica, discusses how data is the lifeblood of the enterprise in an interview on theCUBE at Informatica World 2019:

    Without Data There is No Great AI

    The language that AI needs or speaks is data. Without data, there’s no great AI. This is something that we’ve known all this while, but now that AI is really becoming pervasive and at scale, you really need to give it relevant good contextual data. We see that happening a lot in the world of enterprise. Finally, enterprise is arriving at the point where they want to use AI for B2B use cases, not just consumer use cases that we are used to. AI is a part of everything that we do in data.

    It has really helped to improve productivity and automate mundane tasks. There’s a massive skills gap and I think you look around the economy is fully saturated with jobs. There is still so much work to be done with more data and different data. AI is helping make some of those mundane activities become a lot easier and autonomous.

    Data is Becoming a Platform of Its Own

    Our data scientists have gone from heroes to superheroes. Think about it. What we are seeing in this world is that data is becoming a platform of its own. It is getting decoupled from the databases, from the applications, and from the infrastructure. To truly be able to leverage AI and build applications on top you cannot let it be siloed and be held hostage to its individual infrastructure components. We’ve seen that fundamental change happening where data as a platform is coming along.

    In that context, the catalog becomes a very pivotal start because you want to get a fuller view of everything. You’re not going to be able to move all of your data to one place. It’s impossible. But understanding that metadata is where enterprises are going and then from there you can have a customer experience journey with MDM. You can also have an analytics journey in the cloud with an AWS or an Azure. You can have complete governance and security and privacy journey while understanding anomalous activity.

    Metadata Is the New OS

    Data is everywhere. It’s like the blood flowing through your body. You’re not going to get all the data in one place to do any kind of analytics. You’re going to let it be there. We say that metadata is the new OS. Bring the metadata, which is data about the data in one place, and from there let AI run on it. What we think about AI is this; LinkedIn is a beautiful place where they leverage the machine learning algorithm to create a social graph about you and me. If I’m connected to John I know now that I can be connected with you. The same thing can happen to the data layer.

    When I’m doing analytics and I’m basically searching for some report, through that same machine learning algorithm at the catalog level now we can tell you that this is another table or another report or another user and so on. We can give you help back ratings within that environment for you to do what I call analytics on your fingertips at enterprise scale. That’s an extremely powerful use case of taking analytics, which is the most commonly done activity in an enterprise and make it accurate at enterprise scale.

    Without Data, There is No Great AI, Says Informatica’s Amit Walia
  • How To Keep Your Remote Employees Feeling Connected

    How To Keep Your Remote Employees Feeling Connected

    Video meetings, persistent team chat, and consistent in-person connections are all important for keeping a connected feeling with remote employees, says Lisa Walker, Vice President of Brand & Corporate Marketing at Fuze. “Remote employees will always talk about how they feel disconnected from HQ and disconnected from the company,” notes Walker. “That’s just one of the things you always hear from people who are remote.”

    Lisa Walker, Vice President of Brand & Corporate Marketing at Fuze, discusses how to keep your remote employees feeling connected in an interview with Logan Lyles of Sweet Fish Media on the B2B Growth Podcast:

    There is Just a More Personal Connection With Video

    What’s really interesting in managing a distributed team is the importance of video meetings. We know that if a leader turns on video then the rest of the employees on the call will turn on video as well. You have to lead by example there. The nice thing about video is that you are seeing everybody. There is just a more personal connection when you are able to see everyone.

    What I say to both managers and employees participating in video call is that it is all about creating the perfect frame. You don’t have to have a clean house, but you have to have a clean shot of yourself in the video. There is kind of a personal brand here. If you have a large team on a video conference from around the country or around the world, everyone has that opportunity to present a personal brand moment. You should be curating at least one good frame. There could be chaos around that frame but there is an opportunity for you to be consistent on that weekly team call.

    Video Meetings Help Remote Teams Feel Connected

    Every time that team call happens and that video flips on you know what you are getting from people. That’s what we are talking about in terms of work mode. You have to create environments where you can be productive. One of those important environments is video. I think it is really important as a manager to have those video meetings. In those video meetings when you get together, start with a few of those conversations that are more personal and then segway into company updates.

    Remote employees will always talk about how they feel disconnected from HQ and disconnected from the company. That’s just one of the things you always hear from people who are remote. Make sure that you are getting ahead of things your team may be hearing about the company. It’s important that you give a very transparent company update when starting a video call. Then get into the team stuff. Just do those first two things off the bat to make sure the team is feeling connected.

    Keep a Persistent Team Chat Going

    Second, for me is chat. Some people do it over Slack. We obviously here do it over Fuze. There are lots of different tools out there. Keeping a persistent team chat going in that asynchronous communication is just a great way to have the team feel bonded. They will talk about personal and professional in that chat stream and that’s fine. For specific projects where it needs to be more formal, you can create those project chat streams that are separate.

    Fuze Team Chat Platform

    Bring People Together In Person

    The third thing, which is the hardest, because it cost more money, is bringing people together in person as often as you can. For us, within the marketing team at Fuze, we do that twice a year at a minimum. We just did that this past week. It was wonderful. We had our sales kickoff and then we stayed together as a marketing team yesterday and had that time together. Make sure that you are finding those opportunities and making the case for budget if you need to.

    The other thing that a lot of managers don’t do and is a potential missed opportunity is that when you are out in other cities meeting with customers or at a conference if you have an employee within striking distance, meet them. Even if there is no office there, take them to coffee or lunch. Take those opportunities, don’t just fly in and out. If you have employees in that region, find a way to go have a personal connection with them and meet face to face.

    >> Listen to the complete B2B Growth podcast interview.

    What is Fuze?

    Fuze sees itself as part of the future of work movement. Digital technologies are generating significant opportunities for both people and companies alike. Employees are demanding consumer-like experiences to match technology in their personal lives, with greater flexibility on where and how they work. Work is personal and employees want the opportunity to choose their workstyles, schedules, and tools.

    Fuze – Part of the Future of Work Movement


  • How to Use Email Segmentation to Drive Conversions

    How to Use Email Segmentation to Drive Conversions

    Email is still a very powerful marketing tool. Contrary to proclamations that it’s a dying or dead channel, email is still more relevant and effective than Twitter or Facebook. Most of the bad propaganda about email is due to how marketers misuse it. These days, eblasts sent out simultaneously to hundreds or thousands of random people doesn’t convert very well and might even be viewed as spam. To get the most out of your email marketing campaign, you have to learn segmentation.

    Image source: LyfeMarketing

    What is Email Segmentation

    Email segmentation is an organizing system wherein email subscribers are placed in different categories and messages customized to speak to each group directly.

    The main purpose of email segmentation is personalization. You divide your email list into groups based on the available customer data, like their professional backgrounds, purchase preferences, buying habits, and their familiarity with your brand. These groups can be as large or as small as you want, depending on the category you chose.

    Why Businesses Need Email Segmentation

    Segmentation can be the tipping point that determines the success or failure of a company’s email marketing strategy. Here’s a list of reasons why your business needs to divide its email list:

    1. One Size Doesn’t Fit All

    The odds are high that you’ll have numerous shopper personas on your email list, as well as buyers who are at different stages of the sales cycle. Delivering the same message to everyone on your list just won’t cut it. A survey by Hubspot shows that consumers simply won’t respond to messages that aren’t relevant to them.

    2. Enhances Your Brand’s Reputation

    Your brand’s reputation will also receive a boost if you utilize email segmentation. Marketers who segment their subscribers received fewer complaints and have lower unsubscribe rates. And since segmentation means that people on your list receive messages right for them, they will trust your brand more.

    3. Improved Open Rates

    Your email might be full of important information but it will remain useless unless the recipients open their emails. With segmentation, you can tailor the subject lines to resonate with the specific group you’re targeting, thus enticing them to open your email.

    4. More Conversions

    Email segmentation can boost the odds that the right content is sent to the right customer at the right time. One company who nailed this was Isotoner. The company saw their email marketing profits rise by as much as 7,000% when they segmented their emails based on the products their customers checked during their visit.

    5. Reduces Unsubscribe Rates

    People unsubscribe for two main reasons – there’s a deluge of emails or the messages they’re receiving aren’t relevant to them. You’re dealt a blow everytime a prospective client unsubscribes. Not only are you blocked from having a direct in to their inbox, they’re also leaving a key marketing channel. Email segmentation will ensure that you won’t be guilty of these practices since your messages are customized.

    Image source: Business2Community

    How to Increase Conversion Through Email Segmentation

    Group People into the Right Segments

    Placing your subscribers in the right segment can give your email marketing campaign several advantages, like ensuring that each group receives the message most relevant to them and enabling you to respond to subscriber behaviors appropriately.

    There are several ways you can group people:

    • By Geography: Create a category based on specific cities or states, time zones, or regions.
    • By Purchase History: This is particularly helpful in segregating new shoppers from loyal customers.
    • By Abandoned Carts: There are many reasons why customers don’t complete their transactions. However, an email reminding them of their abandoned cart can guide them back to your site to finish their purchase.

    Image result for how to segment your email campaign

    Image source: Email Monday

    Be Clear on What Your Email Marketing Service Provider Can Do

    There are so many email marketing providers right now, and most of them offer tools and services that can make email segmentation a walk in the park. For instance, companies like Aweber, iContact, and MailChimp have integrated tools that can assist you in growing your email list and communicating with prospective clients and loyal consumers easily.

    Some providers also offer software that help determine your demographic and test and measure your email marketing campaign’s effectivity. They can also provide you with the critical data needed to assess your progress. However, you have to understand clearly how they manage email segmentation as well as their regulations. These will help you adjust your strategies and settings so it complies with their rules and ensures your marketing campaign goes smoothly.

    Use Segmentation to Customize Messages and Improve Customer Experience

    Email segmentation is a key component to improving customer experience. Personalizing a user’s experience entails tailoring your marketing strategy based on the wants and requirements of various segments.

    The idea here is to supply visitors with the right content that will capture their attention and entice them to take action. For instance, emails to new customers could include a banner offering them a 10 percent discount on their first purchase. Meanwhile, you offer loyal customers a discount based on their purchases reaching a specific amount.

    Conclusion

    Most businesses that switch to segmenting their email campaigns will see a significant jump in their conversions. Chances are, if you sell a wide variety of products and you have a relatively large subscriber list, you’ll need to segment. Take a close look at your current list of subscribers and use the information above to help determine what groups of customers are most important to your business and segment them accordingly.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • Adobe CEO: “Adobe Has Really Been on a Tear”

    Adobe CEO: “Adobe Has Really Been on a Tear”

    Digital marketing pioneer Adobe has really been on a tear says Adobe President and CEO, Shantanu Narayen. In May Adobe acquired commerce cloud platform Magento for $1.68 billion and in September of this year, they acquired Marketo, a leading B2B marketing automation company, for $4.75 billion.

    Previous to these acquisitions Adobe has primarily been a B2C focused company, but now Adobe is excited by the opportunity to help enterprises around the world engage digitally with their customers.

    Shantanu Narayen, Adobe President, and CEO discussed how they are helping businesses to transform in a recent interview (watch below):

    Adobe Has Really Been on a Tear

    Adobe has really been on a tear and we have two big growth initiatives. We are empowering people to create, which has been the heritage and history of the company, and we are enabling businesses to transform.

    The key imperative, whether you are a government, educational institution, or an enterprise is to engage digitally with your customers across every screen and mobile device. Adobe pioneered digital marketing as a category. What we now have is the ability for enterprises to create content, to measure the efficacy of that content, and to acquire customers.

    Digital Experience Opportunity is North of $60 Billion

    With Magento and Marketo we extended in two very significant ways. With Magento, we now make every experience to be shoppable and complete the last mile of actually doing the commerce part of it. With Marketo, we extend from B2C companies, which is where the focus primarily was, to B2B companies. It’s an exciting time for Adobe.

    We think the available opportunity for Adobe just in the digital experience category is well north of $60 billion. When you think about it, whether you are a financial institution that is offering financial services directly digitally, whether you’re a travel or automotive, whether you’re hospitality, the imperative for everybody, including in the media business, is to engage with their customers directly.

    Adobe Enabling Enterprises to Engage with Their Customers

    Adobe always pioneered the aspects of creating that content and now we bring content and data together. It’s a market we pioneered and we are the clear leaders. While there are others looking at that same opportunity we think that we will continue to innovate at a pace that will keep us distant from the competition.

    I think what Amazon has done very effectively is demonstrate the benefits of digital engagement with their particular customers. What we do is we enable that on behalf of every other enterprise who wants to create that engagement with their customers. We give them the tools and the platform. We have a tremendous ecosystem of partners that enables them to do that.

    Whether you are a sports franchise, an airline, or a bank you want to create that digital presence. We don’t view ourselves as competitive with Amazon, we view ourselves as enabling all these other enterprises to create that engagement with their customers.

    Security and Data Privacy are Core Competencies of Adobe

    Security and data privacy are definitely core competencies that Adobe has invested in very heavily. On the data privacy part, we do it in two ways. We have millions of customers that engage with us on the creative cloud and the document cloud and keeping that data and being transparent about how we use that data is something that is front and center for us.

    On the other side, we enable all of these enterprises that are our customers to understand what are the new regulations. Whether that be GDPR in Europe or something else, we help companies understand how they can engage in a transparent way while keeping the data secure.

    It’s one of those areas that we have invested very heavily from a research and development point of view and we have to constantly stay ahead of what’s happening with regulatory environments around the world. We were compliant with GDPR right in time for the May 25th rollout here in Europe.

    We have to be circumspect as to what the rules and regulations are, but I think good sense will prevail in all of these particular cases because when you have boundaries that are down and when you have unfettered access to markets that’s what I think will continue to drive innovation and technology in the global economy.

    Customers and Citizens Have the Imperative to Deal Digitally

    At the macro level, the first thing we all have to remember is that digital is the gale wind in this trend where you cannot put the genie back in the bottle. Customers and citizens, billions all around the world, have the imperative to deal digitally with any business that they are dealing with.

    I think it is incumbent on companies like Adobe to help them to do that. Help the citizens to get the engaging experiences that they want and to help the enterprises to deliver that.

  • 4 Inbound Marketing Tactics to Use for Your B2B Company

    4 Inbound Marketing Tactics to Use for Your B2B Company

    According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, eight out of 10 Americans now shop online. This means that the traditional ways of marketing—cold calls, trade shows, TV, radio—are not as effective as they used to be. In fact, more companies are now turning to inbound marketing to generate leads and close deals.

    To stay ahead of your competition, it’s now essential to have a good inbound marketing strategy in place. Here are four B2B marketing tactics you should be using right now:

    1. Create and Curate

    Useful and well-written content is a powerful weapon in B2B marketing. Posting long-format articles and discussing issues more deeply attracts more visits to your website and leads to higher conversions. A study by Moz showed a distinct correlation between social shares and content length. 

     

    According to the data, readers love this type of content and are more likely to share it.

    You should also post articles to your blog more frequently. A Hubspot report showed that businesses that blogged 10 or more times a month enjoyed three times more traffic than those that blog only once a month.

    And, you can continue to reap the benefits of your old blog posts for years to come. Assuming that they’re good, consider repurposing older posts to generate more organic traffic by sending the content to your email list or posting them on social media.

    However, creating good content takes time and effort, and sometimes a company might not have enough manpower to handle this. No need to worry, though, as curating content will work just fine. It’s a strategy that some marketers have used very effectively. Content curation involves sourcing content that is already on the web and organizing it in a meaningful way for your audience. Curating helps add new content to your site, builds value, converts readers, and helps generate traffic.

    2. Collaborate With People Who Matter

    Connecting and collaborating with experts and influencers creates more opportunities for your brand to be shared with a bigger market. 

    Look for authorities or influencers in your niche and reach out to them. Discuss how working together will benefit all parties involved. Invite an influencer to host a podcast, write a guest blog or take over your social media page for a day. This will add more quality content to your site and boost awareness of your brand.

    3. Get Video Ready

    Scientific research shows that most people process the information they see 60,000 times faster than what they read. So it’s a good idea to incorporate videos and eye-catching graphics in your marketing strategy.

    In 2017, video became the most popular type of content on social media, and the demand for it will only continue to rise among consumers. Because of this, more companies are using the medium to showcase their product, disseminate information, teach consumers, and reach prospective clients. 

    Image result for video most popular type of content on social media 2017

    Don’t forget other visuals like infographics and slides. Infographics have become popular over the last few years because they are an effective way of communicating a lot of data within a short time. These visuals are also easy to share and can be used to recycle your content and make them fresh and engaging.

    4. Improve Your Site’s Speed and Load Time

    A fast website is crucial for any business. People prefer sites that have a quick loading time. Studies have shown that consumers are only willing to wait three seconds for a page to load. Any slower and they are highly likely to abandon the site and search elsewhere. Plus, Google also takes into account the site’s speed in their rankings. So if you want to keep your visitors and rank high in search engines, make sure your website is optimized for speed.

    Consumers today know what they want and how to get it. If you want to capture their attention, you have to step up your inbound marketing game. Adding visuals and writing longer posts are simple tactics but they can go a long way in generating leads and traffic.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • GDPR Takes Effect in May, Is Your Business Ready?

    GDPR Takes Effect in May, Is Your Business Ready?

    A major change is on the business horizon. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be in effect on May 25, 2018, bringing with it major changes to data protection laws. The question now is whether your company is ready for it.

    How it Affects US-Based Businesses

    Europe’s GDPR is designed to consolidate and bolster data protection for people within the European Union (EU). It’s easy to assume that the new regulation will only affect EU-based businesses and multinational companies and not American companies that do not have any direct operations in the EU. However, that’s not the case. US companies with a web presence and which markets their services and products on the internet would have to comply with the rules of the GDPR.

    This is due to the geographic reach of GDPR. Article 3 of the new data protection law states that any company that collects behavioral data or personal information from any individual in an EU member country is mandated to follow the requirements of the GDPR. However, this doesn’t apply to EU citizens who are outside of the region when data was collected.

    The kind of marketing US businesses conduct will also be under a microscope. Generic marketing is safe. For instance, it’s not a violation when a German user comes across a US company’s English-language website. But when said company specifically collects data by marketing in that country’s native language and there are references to EU users, then GDPR rules apply.

    US companies would also have to adjust their interactions and online marketing forms in order to secure explicit consent from the consumer. According to the GDPR, user consent has to be “freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous.”

    How Companies Can Get Ready for GDPR

    Despite the GDPR being ratified by the European Parliament in 2016, many companies are still unprepared for this new law. A Forrester report revealed that a mere 15 percent of B2B marketers are GDPR compliant while 18 percent are still at a loss on what to do.

    Luckily, there are things you can do to get your company ready to comply with the GDPR.

    • Get Familiar With Your Data Sources: You’ll be able to comply more easily with the new data protection rules if you know what kind of information you have and where to access it.
    • Make a Plan for Managing Old Data: Come up with a way to handle data that’s no longer relevant or required. Archiving is not a good idea because it will remain vulnerable to data breach. It should be purged via a secure method instead. Processes should also be put in place to prevent accumulation of out-of-date information.
    • Categorize Information: Not all data are created equal. Categorizing information based on its relevance and value will minimize the threat of security breaches.
    • Hire a Data Protection Officer: A company with more than 250 personnel should hire a data protection officer. He or she will be the key resource person for all activities and concerns revolving around data protection.
    • Train Your people: Have your personnel undergo training so that they understand what the new regulations are, the procedures and policies and how it will affect them and the company.

    Watch the video below to gain more insight.

  • Should You Outsource Digital Marketing for Your Business?

    Should You Outsource Digital Marketing for Your Business?

    For most companies, digital marketing is essential to growing and retaining their customer base. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses are in the dark when it comes to implementing and managing this type of marketing strategy. As a matter of fact, an informal poll conducted by Smart Insights revealed that half of the businesses that use digital marketing don’t have a working marketing plan to go on.

    But before you hash out the details on when and where to launch your digital campaigns, you’ll first need to figure out who will get the job done for you. There are two approaches to tackling this problem: go in-house or outsource.

    The Case for In-House Digital Marketing

    A lot of companies take advantage of the abundant resources, current online technology and available information on strategies and techniques to manage an in-house digital marketing group. After all, there are several advantages to going this route, most important of which is saving money. Hiring a third-party marketing agency can be relatively expensive considering you’ll need to cover their costs as well as their “markups”. Another advantage would be having a dedicated team who knows the company’s specific goals and are working on a documented digital marketing plan. 

    However, one major problem that an in-house team often encounters is the steep learning curve employees without the relevant skill set face. More often than not, this would cause a slower ramp-up time for marketing campaigns. It’s also a sad fact that more than half of in-house digital marketers are ineffective because they learned about the system on-the-job, and did not undergo any official training.

    Choosing to Outsource Digital Marketing

    Outsourcing your digital marketing needs can be very beneficial, particularly if this task is not your forte. Tapping the services of a digital marketing group can give you several advantages, like having a team of experts readily available. This means that you won’t have to worry about a marketer going on a vacation or taking a sick leave. Your marketing needs will always come first, regardless of whether there’s a holiday or not.

    One big advantage of using a digital marketing agency is the insight it can give your business. Employers are often so consumed by the day-to-day running of the company that they don’t have time to understand the business more deeply, like studying what brings prospective clients to the site or how to optimize the company’s online presence. An unbiased set of eyes will give you a new outlook on how to handle your marketing needs. These marketing experts are also likely to be more up-to-date on the latest techniques and strategies being utilized in digital marketing circles.

    Perhaps the most important benefit outsourcing your digital needs give is that you get to focus on what’s crucial to your company. Businesses who opt to outsource do so in order to keep the marketing process separate from the company’s core operations. By being distinct, the marketers have more freedom to develop and execute winning marketing strategies and keep up with changing business needs.

    Graphic via Quartsoft.com

    Should You Outsource Your Digital Marketing Needs?

    Before you make a decision on whether to outsource your digital marketing needs, take the time to determine what you really need in terms of marketing. You should also consider the following when you begin your search for an outside marketing agency:

    • Your Company’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Knowing what your KPIs are will help narrow down what you need help with and what the marketing agency can do for you. KPIs will influence the strategy the agency will suggest, as conversions, traffic, cost and revenue per lead are key KPIs for businesses. Which means this is the first question any reputable digital marketing company would ask. Consider it a red flag if the agency doesn’t inquire about it. Conversely, you should also ask digital marketing specialists what they think about your KPIs and how to optimize it. A good company would help you pinpoint weaknesses in your current marketing strategy and introduce new ideas and strategies to help you get the best results for your business.
    • The Digital Agency’s Track Record: Don’t take recommendations at face value. Do your due diligence and check the marketing company’s track record. Ask what types of clients they have handled before and their success record. Most agencies would have case studies and a portfolio on hand. But bear in mind that some clients do ask for non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). However, agencies that can’t provide a single client to show or refer should not be taken seriously.

    While there are other factors to consider, the bottom line is that outsourcing your digital marketing needs would depend on what you actually need. If you want to hit targets consistently and predictably then maybe an in-house team is the way to go. But if you want to focus all your energy on the core aspects of your business, then a digital marketing agency can save you time and offer more flexiblity.

  • Buying an eCommerce Website Vs. Starting One

    Buying an eCommerce Website Vs. Starting One

    Over the last few years, the eCommerce model has been giving brick-and-mortar retailers a run for their money. A recent forecast estimates the eCommerce market will surpass $2 trillion in revenue for 2017 and increase its worth to $6.7 trillion by 2020. The eCommerce market has gained such a massive following that companies from different industries can no longer ignore it. In fact, the total number of online shoppers in the US is projected to rise to 224 million in 2019. By 2020, around 168.7 million mobile users will have made at least one purchase from an online store.

    Number of digital shoppers in the United States from 2014 to 2019 (in millions)

    The great thing about the eCommerce platform is that it gives start-up entrepreneurs immediate entry into the global marketplace. At present, only 28% of small businesses in the U.S. are selling their products online. For a budding entrepreneur, there is still a wide window to get started and establish an online brand. Once you decide to give it a go, the only question left is, should you buy an existing eCommerce website or start from scratch? The following insights could help you come to a resolution.

    Buying an Existing eCommerce Business

    The Pros

    An established eCommerce site has already proven itself profitable. Buying one in your target niche lets you take over an operation that has already generated cash flow. Of course, you would have to assess their operation metrics and financial history first. But the good thing is that it has already overcome the challenges usually encountered by start-ups. You do not have to invest time and money into keyword research, advertising, site development, finding suppliers, SEO services, and others. With a proven business model, your customer base, supplier relationships, software codes, and traffic will already be organized.

    Acquiring an existing eCommerce site allows you to take advantage of opportunities the seller may have overlooked. This gives you a strategic edge in growing the business and increasing your profits. If you already own an eCommerce business, buying another site also increases your cross selling and cross promotion capabilities. You get to expand your reach by gaining access to additional traffic and customers.

    The Cons

    Buying an existing eCommerce business also has its downside. Let’s start with the operative word “buy,” which means you will likely need significant upfront capital. Convenience comes with a price, especially if you are eyeing a well-performing site. Next, finding the right online business to purchase that is reasonably successful may take some time. If you do find one, expect to inherit some errors made by the previous owner, such as lack of customer service, poor quality content and backlinks, soured relationships with suppliers, to name a few.

     

    Starting Your Own Online Business

    The Pros

    Image result for ecommerce website management

    One of the many things that attract entrepreneurs to starting their own eCommerce site is the low startup costs required. With the help of the internet, you can purchase a domain and obtain hosting for less than $100 per year. Outsourcing website development, web design, content creation, and basic SEO services can be achieved for under $300. A setup for a small business—with catalog and light traffic—through a popular eCommerce platform will only cost you around $2,000.

    Another advantage when it comes to setting up your own eCommerce site is you gain full control over your products and services. For instance, you can decide to avoid managing inventory or shipping through drop shipping. You choose which direction to take the business and handle SEO, monetization, and customer service using your own strategies. And if your site becomes a success, you can sell it for a lump sum.  

    The Cons

    A newly set up eCommerce business will start off with no traffic or customers. Marketing your brand and bringing traffic to your site can take a lot of work and money. You may need to invest in social media management and search engine marketing just to get the word out. You could spend several months building your eCommerce sites only to find that none of them end up being profitable. Another disadvantage is that it is a highly competitive market. It can be exhausting just to think of ways to stand out from the rest.

    New and experienced entrepreneurs should realize that neither option is better than the other, as both can provide significant returns on investment. In the end, your choice may depend on the time and attention you are willing to invest, how much money you are willing to risk, and the level of experience you have. The eCommerce market has the potential to become a huge boon for a business, given that every detail of the business is monitored closely.

  • Small Businesses Better Reconsider Social Media

    Small Businesses Better Reconsider Social Media

    B2B research and reviews firm Clutch has released some interesting data-driven findings from their Social Media for Small Business: 2017 Survey. The firm surveyed 350 small business owners/managers across the United States to determine digital marketing habits and goals for 2017. Respondents included 40% of companies with 10 or fewer employees, 27% with 11-50 employees, 25% with 51-250 employees, and 8% with 251-500 employees. The survey found that:

    – 24% of small businesses have not used social media for their business
    – Over 90% of small businesses using social media are on Facebook
    – Over 50% plan to increase investment in Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube in 2017
    – 41% share content, engage with followers multiple times a day
    – Audience growth and clicks to website are most popular metrics for small businesses
    – Over 50% rely on in-house staff for social media marketing

    Some of these findings might not be a surprise…especially the first two listed above. We all know someone whose small business isn’t exactly keen on the whole social media, Facebook concept. And it’s without question that many small businesses have a Facebook account that’s more of a placeholder than an active component of their revenue building. But what can be pulled and analyzed from these findings should be noted by all SMBs.

    Clutch has accurately determined that there are three key reasons why small businesses need social media: its cost effectiveness, growing popularity, and ability to target customers.

    Joshua Dirks, co-founder and CEO of Project Bionic, a Seattle-based creative marketing agency points out that “An active social media presence has the potential to drastically improve your marketing abilities at a much lower cost than traditional media”. And in what is a extremely profound point: “Many [small business owners] read the headlines from five to six years ago about ‘likes’ not mattering and bought into that. They are missing out because of their own viewpoint on the topic, [made] from believing five- to six-year-old headlines and not recapturing the maturation of the space”. That right there should make any owner or manager want to reconsider social media marketing as part of their business.

    Another fact that is missing from the mindset of a lot of SMB owners/managers is the readily available data in social media that can easily boost a business’ marketing and sales. “Social is one of the few forms that allows you to look at the data,” said Keith Kakadia, Founder and CEO of Sociallyin, a Mississippi-based social media agency. “It allows you to determine whether there’s a return on investment (ROI) for the money spent. When you have a small budget, every single dollar needs to be spent on what works”.

    The Clutch analysis goes on with some extremely valuable recommendations and takeaways from the study that are well worth considering. In summary, SMBs that aren’t using social media, or aren’t using it effectively, need to change that because the marketing and sales opportunities are undeniable there.

  • What Marketers Can Expect From LinkedIn in 2017

    What Marketers Can Expect From LinkedIn in 2017

    With the backing of Microsoft, LinkedIn has big plans to increase its effectiveness for marketers in 2017. Russ Glass, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions’ Head of Products, was interviewed by LinkedIn Account Executive at Vivek Venugopal:

    Venugopal: What about LinkedIn has kept you excited about being here? What gets you up in the morning and into work everyday?

    Glass: I think LinkedIn Marketing Solutions specifically. It’s also very exciting because our mission is to be the most effective platform for marketers to reach professionals. It’s one of those issues you can actually accomplish. We’ve got this global network of professionals, this incredible platform that they come to on a frequent basis, that has great content and great information.

    We have an opportunity now to take all of those assets and put great capabilities around it for marketers to be successful. Every day we are a little better than we were the day before and I think we are going to continue to see that kind of growth.

    Venugopal: Can you tell us a little bit about what marketers can expect to see out of the LMS platform in 2017 and talk a little bit about the Microsoft acquisition and how that might impact the roadmap?

    Glass: I could talk a long time about what we’re doing next year and all the opportunities with Microsoft, but maybe I’ll focus on the most important stuff, the stuff I’m most excited about. The first half of 2017 we will launch more product than the entirety of 2016.

    We’re focused on a couple of key areas, the first of which is data. How do we allow marketers to bring their own data to LinkedIn so that they are targeting audiences more effectively and then combine that with LinkedIn datasets in order to do things you just can’t do on any other platform? Such as bring their own email data, bring their own account lists, connect with their CRM systems, connect with their marketing automation systems and use website pixels so they can retarget visitors on the LinkedIn platform. Then layer LinkedIn’s unique understanding of a professional and who they are in their business life so that you can get in front of exactly the right audiences and you can put content in front of exactly right audiences.

    The second big area is reporting and analytics. We have a ton of analytics and reporting efforts that we’re going to start rolling out early next year including website audience analytics and conversion tracking, which we started to roll out and will continue to iterate on.

    The third big area is return on investment. How do we help marketers, particularly lead-gen marketers, that are trying to convert our members into the buyer’s or download case studies or register for events. How do we let them do that more effectively? We’re launching products like our lead-gen form product where without leaving LinkedIn and without having to go to a landing page a user can submit their LinkedIn profile information to a marketer. It goes right into their CRM system and right into their marketing automation system. It’s an incredible product particularly for the B2B marketer.

  • LinkedIn Launches Account Targeting For Ads

    LinkedIn just announced the launch of Account Targeting, a new way to run account-based marketing campaigns on LinkedIn itself (they recently announced the end of Network Display).

    According to the company, the launch enhances its native ad products by “marrying them with data-based capabilities and offering customers increased flexibility in the way they reach their desired audiences.”

    “With this feature, companies will now have the flexibility to tailor their Sponsored Updates or Sponsored InMail campaigns to a priority list of accounts,” a spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews.

    How it works is that advertisers provide a list of priority accounts they want to engage on LinkedIn using one or more of the available ad products, and LinkedIn’s platform cross-references the list against its over 8 million Company Pages and creates an account target segment based on the match.

    The offering also allows marketers to layer additional profile info (job function, seniority, etc.) to get content in front of the appropriate people in an organization.

    “LinkedIn’s accessibility to millions of C-level executives, opinion leaders and decision makers makes this tool ideal for marketers and advertisers looking to engage a B2B professional audience,” the spokesperson says.

    Ahead of general availability, companies like Salesforce, Comcast, and Swrve have been participating in a pilot program for the offering. The results have apparently been favorable so far.

    Advertisers interested in giving the tool a try need to get in touch with their LinkedIn Marketing Solutions account executive or fill out this form.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • LinkedIn Study Looks At The B2B Buyer’s Journey

    LinkedIn Study Looks At The B2B Buyer’s Journey

    LinkedIn is sharing the results of its B2B Buyer Research study, which found that despite an apparent alignment between sales and marketing, “some of the same issues still persist.”

    The company surveyed over 6,000 buyers, marketers, and salespeople in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

    Based on the findings, LinkedIn says that marketers must rethink many of the ways they communicate with their customers and how they align with their colleagues in sales.

    “Marketers must strive to reach the entire buying team, not just the key decision maker, as there are now an average of 3-5 additional departments influencing the buying decision depending on the industry,” a spokesperson for the company said in an email. “In order to improve relationships with buyers, marketers and sellers must look to social media as a critical tool for converting leads (67 percent of buyers used social media for awareness, more than any other channel).”

    “B2B buyers tend to be more engaged on LinkedIn than other average users of the platform,” the spokesperson added. “In fact, buyers are 9x more likely to share content and 7x more connected than the typical LinkedIn member.”

    The company has an eBook available looking at the B2B buyer’s journey, but if you don’t want to read the whole thing, they sum up six takeaways from it in a blog post here.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • Slack Launches App Platform, Directory, Fund

    Slack Launches App Platform, Directory, Fund

    It’s a big week for Slack. The company hosted an event and made some major announcements. these include the Slack Platform and App Directory as well as a new fund and a new framework.

    Slack claims it has hit 2 million active users, and is likely to continue to grow rapidly if media attention is any indication.

    As previously reported, Slack is bringing third-party apps into the fold. This goes beyond the previously available integrations.

    The new Slack App Directory gives Slack users access to over 160 apps sorted by category, popularity, and staff favorites. Categories include: Analytics, Communication, Customer Support, Design, Developer Tools, File Management, HR, Marketing, Office Management, Payments & Accounting, Productivity, Project Management, Security & Compliance, and Social & Fun.

    You can find the directory at Slack.com/apps, and you can search for apps from within Slack by searching /apps <keyword>. It will return the three most popular apps related to that keyword.

    The new Slack Fund is $80 million set aside to support and encourage developers to build apps that interact with Slack. It’s backed by Slack itself with Slack investors Accel, Andreessen-Horowitz, Index Ventures, KPCB, Spark, and Social+Capital.

    “If you’re a developer or small company deciding whether to make a bet on the Slack platform, the Slack Fund is a new source of support to help you get started building apps,” the company says in a blog post. “The Slack Fund will fund both ‘Slack-first’ apps as well as B2B and enterprise tools that make Slack integrations a core part of their offering.”

    The new framework for Slack development is called Botkit, which comes from Howdy.

    “It greatly simplifies the creation of apps (especially bots) with a flexible codebase that handles things like authenticating apps to a team and the sending, receiving, and processing of messages with our API,” Slack says. “With Botkit, developers can stop reinventing the wheel on basic functionality and instead get a head start on writing code for what their bots actually do and how their apps interact with Slack. Botkit will also provide a simplified way for new developers to get into programming for Slack by building off the impressive collection of tools available in it.”

    While not part of the announcements, Slack is said to have a new enterprise version on the way as well.

    Images via Slack

  • Groupon Gets New CEO, Releases Earnings

    Groupon Gets New CEO, Releases Earnings

    Groupon released its Q3 earnings and announced that it has named Rich Williams as its new CEO as Eric Lefkofsky steps down.

    Williams was appointed by the board, effective immediately as Lefkofsky returns to his role as Chairman of the Board.

    “Rich is the right and natural choice for Groupon’s future, and he has the unanimous support of the Board of Directors. We are fully confident we have identified the best leader for our employees, customers, partners and shareholders,” said Ted Leonsis, outgoing Chairman of the Board, who is now Lead Independent Director. “Over the last two years, Eric has worked tirelessly for the company and the business is much stronger today because of it.”

    “I am honored to be leading the company as Groupon evolves into a daily habit in our customers’ lives,” said Williams. “Under Eric, we made significant strides in establishing our marketplace. That work will continue with a greater focus than ever. As CEO, my top priority is to unlock the long-term growth potential in the business by demonstrating everything the new Groupon has to offer. We have a great team here and I look forward to the opportunities ahead of us.”

    “Cracking the code in local commerce is not easy. We’ve come a long way in building a leading local commerce marketplace in the last two years,” said Lefkofsky. “With his deep experience in e-commerce — both in and outside of Groupon — and expertise in marketing, operations and technology, Rich was the obvious choice to lead Groupon.”

    “I’m assuming the CEO role with three immediate priorities,” Williams said. “First, we will renew our investment in customer acquisition to introduce more new customers to our marketplace and accelerate growth. Second, we will increase our focus on streamlining our international operations to ensure we are operating as lean and efficiently as possible. Finally, we will shift our Shopping category away from lower margin ‘empty calorie’ products to grow a sustainable, healthy Goods business with stronger margins.”

    As for Groupon’s financials, the company announced gros billings of $1.47 billion, revenue of $713.6 million, GAAP loss per share of $0.04 and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.05.

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) today announced financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

    The company also announced that Chief Operating Officer Rich Williams will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer. Outgoing CEO Eric Lefkofsky will once again serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Outgoing Chairman Ted Leonsis will now serve as Lead Independent Director.

    “Over the past few years, we’ve repositioned the business for success and strengthened our foundation. On a trailing twelve-month basis, we generated $3.1 billion in revenue, $1.4 billion in gross profit, $283 million in adjusted EBITDA and $228 million in free cash flow,” Lefkofsky said.

    “We’ve successfully transformed Groupon to support our next stage of growth. The business is stable, the marketplace is scaling, and we are ready to take our next big step. Now is the right time for me to return to my role as Chairman, and let Rich, who has done a tremendous job over the past four years, lead Groupon during this next stage.”

    Third Quarter 2015 Summary

    • Gross billings, which reflect the total dollar value of customer purchases of goods and services, was $1.47 billion in the third quarter 2015, compared with $1.49 billion in the third quarter 2014. Gross billings declined 2% globally, but grew 6% excluding the unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter. On this F/X neutral basis, North America billings increased 12%, EMEA declined 1% and Rest of World was approximately flat.
    • Revenue was $713.6 million in the third quarter 2015, compared with $714.3 million in the third quarter 2014. Revenue was approximately flat, but grew 7% excluding the unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter. On this F/X neutral basis, North America revenue increased 11%, EMEA increased 2% and Rest of World declined 5%.
    • Gross profit was $328.9 million in the third quarter 2015, compared with $355.3 million in the third quarter 2014. Excluding the $26.4 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, gross profit would have been$355.4 million.
    • Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, was $56.3 million in the third quarter 2015, compared with $63.9 million in the third quarter 2014.
    • Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $27.6 million, or $0.04 per share. Non-GAAP earnings attributable to common stockholders was $32.5 million, or $0.05 per share.
    • Third quarter 2015 results include pre-tax charges of $24.1 million and $37.5 million related to the previously announced restructuring program and securities litigation, respectively, a $13.7 million pre-tax gain from the sale of a controlling stake in Groupon India and a$17.8 million income tax benefit from a reduction in liabilities for uncertain tax positions.
    • Operating cash flow for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2015 was $316.4 million. Free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, was negative $35.3 million in the third quarter 2015, bringing free cash flow for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2015 to $227.8 million.
    • Cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2015 was $963.6 million and borrowings against our revolving credit facility were $195.0 million.

    “We delivered a solid third quarter and one that was largely in line with our expectations,” said Groupon interim CFO Brian Kayman. “Our fourth quarter guidance reflects increased investments in marketing, and a tighter focus on margin improvement, both domestically and abroad.”

    Definitions and reconciliations of all non-GAAP financial measures are included below in the section titled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and in the accompanying tables.

    Highlights

    • Units: Global units, defined as vouchers and products sold before cancellations and refunds, increased 1% year-over-year to 52 million in the third quarter 2015. North America units increased 11%, EMEA units increased 1% and Rest of World units declined 23%.
    • Active deals: At the end of the third quarter 2015, on average, active deals were nearly 570,000 globally, with over 290,000 in North America. Both include the addition of approximately 80,000 Coupons.
    • Active customers: Active customers, or customers that have purchased a voucher or product within the last twelve months, grew 4% year-over-year, to 48.6 million as of September 30, 2015, comprising 25.2 million in North America, 15.4 million in EMEA, and 8.0 million in Rest of World.
    • Customer spend: Third quarter 2015 trailing twelve month billings per average active customer was $132, compared with $137 in the third quarter 2014.

    Share Repurchase

    During the third quarter 2015, Groupon repurchased 44,149,663 shares of its Class A common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $192.9 million. Up to $268.1 million of Class A common stock remains available for repurchase under Groupon’s share repurchase program throughAugust 2017. The timing and amount of any share repurchases are determined based on market conditions, share price and other factors, and the programs may be discontinued or suspended at any time.

    Outlook

    Groupon’s outlook for the fourth quarter reflects current foreign exchange rates, as well as expected marketing investments in customer acquisition.

    For the fourth quarter 2015, Groupon expects revenue of between $815 million and $865 million. This guidance anticipates nearly 400 basis points of unfavorable impact on the year-over-year growth rate from changes in foreign exchange rates. Groupon expects Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter 2015 of between $40 million and $60 million, and non-GAAP earnings per share of between negative $0.01 and positive$0.01.

    Conference Call

    A conference call will be webcast live today at 4:00 p.m. CST / 5:00 p.m. EST, and will be available on Groupon’s investor relations website athttp://investor.groupon.com. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the Company’s financial and operating results.

    Groupon encourages investors to use its investor relations website as a way of easily finding information about the company. Grouponpromptly makes available on this website, free of charge, the reports that the company files or furnishes with the SEC, corporate governance information (including Groupon’s Global Code of Conduct), and select press releases and social media postings.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    In addition to financial results reported in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP), we have provided the following non-GAAP financial measures in this release and the accompanying tables: foreign exchange rate neutral operating results, adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income attributable to common stockholders, non-GAAP earnings per share and free cash flow. These non-GAAP financial measures, which are presented on a continuing operations basis, are intended to aid investors in better understanding Groupon’scurrent financial performance and its prospects for the future as seen through the eyes of management. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures facilitate comparisons with our historical results and with the results of peer companies who present similar measures (although other companies may define non-GAAP measures differently than we define them, even when similar terms are used to identify such measures). However, non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be a substitute for those reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For reconciliations of these measures to the most applicable financial measures under U.S. GAAP, see “Non-GAAP Reconciliation Schedules” and “Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics” included in the tables accompanying this release.

    We exclude the following items from one or more of our non-GAAP financial measures:

    Stock-based compensation. We exclude stock-based compensation because it is primarily non-cash in nature and we believe that non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information about our operating performance and liquidity.

    Acquisition-related expense (benefit), net. Acquisition-related expense (benefit), net is comprised of the change in the fair value of contingent consideration arrangements and external transaction costs related to business combinations, primarily consisting of legal and advisory fees. The composition of our contingent consideration arrangements and the impact of those arrangements on our operating results vary over time based on a number of factors, including the terms of our business combinations and the timing of those transactions. We exclude acquisition-related expense (benefit), net because we believe that non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information about our operating performance and facilitate comparisons to our historical operating results.

    Depreciation and amortization. We exclude depreciation and amortization expenses because they are non-cash in nature and we believe that non-GAAP financial measures excluding these items provide meaningful supplemental information about our operating performance and liquidity.

    Interest and Other Non-Operating Items. Interest and other non-operating items include: interest income, interest expense, gains and losses related to minority investments, and foreign currency gains and losses. We exclude interest and other non-operating items from certain of our non-GAAP financial measures because we believe that excluding these items provides meaningful supplemental information about our core operating performance and facilitates comparisons to our historical operating results.

    Items That Are Unusual in Nature or Infrequently Occurring. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, items that we believe to be unusual in nature or infrequently occurring were (a) charges related to our restructuring program, (b) the gain on our disposition of Groupon India, (c) the write-off of a prepaid asset related to a marketing program that was discontinued because the counterparty ceased operations and (d) the expense related to a significant increase in the contingent liability for our securities litigation matter. We exclude items that are unusual in nature or infrequently occurring because we believe that excluding those items provides meaningful supplemental information about our core operating performance and facilitates comparisons to our historical results.

    Descriptions of the non-GAAP financial measures included in this release and the accompanying tables are as follows:

    Foreign exchange rate neutral operating results show our current period operating results as if foreign currency exchange rates had remained the same as those in effect in the comparable prior-year period. We present foreign exchange rate neutral information to facilitate comparisons to our historical operating results.

    Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure that we define as net income (loss) from continuing operations excluding income taxes, interest and other non-operating items, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, acquisition-related expense (benefit), net and other items that are unusual in nature or infrequently occurring. Our definition of Adjusted EBITDA may differ from similar measures used by other companies, even when similar terms are used to identify such measures. Adjusted EBITDA is a key measure used by our management and Board of Directors to evaluate operating performance, generate future plans and make strategic decisions regarding the allocation of capital. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and Board of Directors.

    Non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share adjust our net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders and earnings (loss) per share to exclude the impact of:

    • stock-based compensation,
    • amortization of acquired intangible assets,
    • acquisition-related expense (benefit), net,
    • items that are unusual in nature or infrequently occurring,
    • non-operating foreign currency gains and losses related to intercompany balances and reclassifications of cumulative translation adjustments to earnings as a result of business dispositions,
    • non-operating gains and losses from minority investments that we have elected to record at fair value with changes in fair value reported in earnings,
    • income (loss) from discontinued operations and
    • the income tax effect of those items.

    We believe that excluding these items from our measures of non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders and earnings (loss) per share provides useful supplemental information for evaluating our operating performance and facilitates comparisons to our historical results by eliminating items that are non-cash in nature, relate to discrete events or are otherwise not indicative of the core operating performance of our ongoing business.

    Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure that comprises net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing operations less purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software from continuing operations. We use free cash flow, and ratios based on it, to conduct and evaluate our business because, although it is similar to cash flow from operations, we believe that it typically represents a more useful measure of cash flows because purchases of fixed assets, software developed for internal-use and website development costs are necessary components of our ongoing operations. Free cash flow is not intended to represent the total increase or decrease in Groupon’s cash balance for the applicable period.

    Note on Forward-Looking Statements

    The statements contained in this release that refer to plans and expectations for the next quarter, the full year or the future are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those discussed. The words “may,” will,” should,” “could,” “expect,” anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” intend,” “continue” and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, volatility in our revenue and operating results; risks related to our business strategy, including our marketing strategy and spend and the productivity of those marketing investments; the impact of our shift away from lower-margin products in our Goods category; effectively dealing with challenges arising from our international operations including fluctuations in currency exchange rates; retaining existing customers and adding new customers, including as we increase our marketing spend and shift away from lower-margin products in our Goods category; retaining and adding new and high quality merchants; cyber security breaches; incurring expenses as we expand our business; competing successfully in our industry; maintaining favorable payment terms with our business partners; providing a strong mobile experience for our customers; delivery and routing of our emails; maintaining a strong brand; managing inventory and order fulfillment risks; integrating our technology platforms; managing refund risks; retaining, attracting and integrating members of our executive team; litigation; compliance with domestic and foreign laws and regulations, including the CARD Act and regulation of the Internet and e-commerce; tax liabilities; tax legislation; maintaining our information technology infrastructure; protecting our intellectual property; completing and realizing the anticipated benefits from acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and strategic investments; seasonality; payment-related risks; customer and merchant fraud; global economic uncertainty; our ability to raise capital if necessary; difficulties, delays or our inability to successfully complete all or part of the announced restructuring actions or to realize the operating efficiencies and other benefits of such restructuring actions; higher than anticipated restructuring charges or changes in the timing of such restructuring charges; and the impact of our ongoing strategic review and any potential strategic alternatives we may choose to pursue. For additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties, we urge you to refer to the factors included under the headings “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s Investor Relations web site at http://investor.groupon.com or theSEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. Groupon’s actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.

    You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although Groupon believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Moreover, neither the company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements reflect Groupon’s expectations as of November 3, 2015. Groupon undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in its expectations.

    About Groupon

    Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is a global leader of local commerce and the place you start when you want to buy just about anything, anytime, anywhere. By leveraging the company’s global relationships and scale, Groupon offers consumers a vast marketplace of unbeatable deals all over the world. Shoppers discover the best a city has to offer on the web or on mobile with Groupon Local, enjoy vacations with Groupon Getaways, and find a curated selection of electronics, fashion, home furnishings and more with Groupon Goods.

    Groupon is redefining how traditional small businesses attract, retain and interact with customers by providing merchants with a suite of products and services, including customizable deal campaigns, credit card payment processing capabilities, and point-of-sale solutions that help businesses grow and operate more effectively. To search for great deals or subscribe to Groupon emails, visit www.Groupon.com. To download Groupon’s top-rated mobile apps, visit www.groupon.com/mobile. To learn more about the company’s merchant solutions and how to work with Groupon, visit www.GrouponWorks.com

    Groupon, Inc.
    Summary Consolidated and Segment Results
    (in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
    (unaudited)
    The financial results of Ticket Monster, including the gain on disposition and related tax effects, are presented as discontinued operations in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements and tables for the nine months ended September 30, 2015. Additionally, the assets and liabilities for Ticket Monster are presented as held for sale in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2014. All prior period financial information and operational metrics have been retrospectively adjusted to reflect this presentation.
     
    Three Months Ended September 30,     Nine Months Ended September 30,    
    2015 2014 Y/Y % Growth FX Effect(2) Y/Y % Growth
    excluding FX(2)
    2015 2014 Y/Y % Growth FX Effect(2) Y/Y % Growth
    excluding FX(2)
    Gross Billings(1):
    North America $ 869,203 $ 774,286 12.3 % $ (1,649 ) 12.5 % $ 2,659,436 $ 2,354,900 12.9 % $ (3,904 ) 13.1 %
    EMEA 414,482 489,423 (15.3 ) (72,345 ) (0.5 ) 1,307,207 1,486,266 (12.0 ) (256,158 ) 5.2
    Rest of World 183,849 226,638 (18.9 ) (43,127 ) 0.1 581,905 671,997 (13.4 ) (101,105 ) 1.6
    Consolidated gross billings $ 1,467,534 $ 1,490,347 (1.5 ) % $ (117,121 ) 6.3 % $ 4,548,548 $ 4,513,163 0.8 % $ (361,167 ) 8.8 %
    Revenue:
    North America $ 463,931 $ 418,494 10.9 % $ (405 ) 11.0 % $ 1,425,095 $ 1,273,487 11.9 % $ (943 ) 12.0 %
    EMEA 199,287 230,072 (13.4 ) (35,863 ) 2.2 619,554 688,655 (10.0 ) (124,694 ) 8.1
    Rest of World 50,377 65,703 (23.3 ) (12,004 ) (5.1 ) 157,697 196,753 (19.9 ) (28,147 ) (5.5 )
    Consolidated revenue $ 713,595 $ 714,269 (0.1 ) % $ (48,272 ) 6.7 % $ 2,202,346 $ 2,158,895 2.0 % $ (153,784 ) 9.1 %
    Income (loss) from operations $ (70,423 ) $ 1,049 (6,813.3 ) % $ 633 (6,873.7 ) % $ (74,354 ) $ (2,939 ) (2,429.9 ) % $ 679 (2,453.0 ) %
    Income (loss) from continuing operations (24,613 ) (12,573 ) (56,619 ) (45,039 )
    Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax (6,445 ) 133,463 (30,264 )
    Net income (loss) attributable toGroupon, Inc. $ (27,615 ) $ (21,208 ) $ 67,196 $ (81,878 )
    Basic net income (loss) per share:
    Continuing operations $ (0.04 ) $ (0.02 ) $ (0.10 ) $ (0.08 )
    Discontinued operations (0.01 ) 0.20 (0.04 )
    Basic net income (loss) per share $ (0.04 ) $ (0.03 ) $ 0.10 $ (0.12 )
    Diluted net income (loss) per share:
    Continuing operations $ (0.04 ) $ (0.02 ) $ (0.10 ) $ (0.08 )
    Discontinued operations (0.01 ) 0.20 (0.04 )
    Diluted net income (loss) per share $ (0.04 ) $ (0.03 ) $ 0.10 $ (0.12 )
    Weighted average number of shares outstanding
    Basic 644,894,785 669,526,524 664,302,630 675,814,535
    Diluted 644,894,785 669,526,524 664,302,630 675,814,535
    (1) Represents the total dollar value of customer purchases of goods and services, excluding applicable taxes and net of estimated refunds.
    (2) Represents the change in financial measures that would have resulted had average exchange rates in the reporting periods been the same as those in effect during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014.
    Groupon, Inc.
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (in thousands)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
    2015 2014 2015 2014
    Operating activities
    Net income (loss) $ (24,613 ) $ (19,018 ) $ 76,844 $ (75,303 )
    Less: Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax (6,445 ) 133,463 (30,264 )
    Income (loss) from continuing operations (24,613 ) (12,573 ) (56,619 ) (45,039 )
    Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
    Depreciation and amortization of property, equipment and software 30,475 25,355 84,241 68,731
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets 5,160 5,107 14,966 16,188
    Stock-based compensation 35,575 32,680 109,204 85,329
    Restructuring charges 24,146 24,146
    Gain on disposition of business (13,710 ) (13,710 )
    Deferred income taxes (15,202 ) (2,472 ) (15,252 ) (1,956 )
    Excess tax benefits on stock-based compensation 28 (2,641 ) (6,198 ) (12,573 )
    Loss on equity method investments 91 459
    Gain from changes in fair value of contingent consideration 435 (1,020 ) (268 ) (1,059 )
    Loss from changes in fair value of investments 2,564 2,114
    Impairments of investments 1,448 2,036
    Change in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:
    Restricted cash 1,392 6,014 4,555 7,686
    Accounts receivable 16,635 (4,337 ) 6,353 (26,557 )
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets (33,366 ) (27,040 ) (39,813 ) (22,883 )
    Accounts payable 5,371 (5,505 ) (944 ) (12,973 )
    Accrued merchant and supplier payables (51,319 ) (32,586 ) (101,852 ) (101,070 )
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 27,368 7,853 33,413 (21,103 )
    Other, net (18,551 ) 31,950 (1,242 ) 44,009
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing operations (7,612 ) 22,324 43,094 (20,775 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from discontinued operations (19,205 ) 23,142 (36,578 ) 22,777
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (26,817 ) 45,466 6,516 2,002
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities from continuing operations (98,028 ) (22,492 ) (146,012 ) (117,643 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities from discontinued operations (1,415 ) 244,470 (75,924 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (98,028 ) (23,907 ) 98,458 (193,567 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (14,821 ) (16,823 ) (185,990 ) (173,068 )
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents, including cash

    classified within current assets held for sale

    (6,923 ) (21,102 ) (27,338 ) (20,671 )
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents, including cash classified

    within current assets held for sale

    (146,589 ) (16,366 ) (108,354 ) (385,304 )
    Less: Net increase (decrease) in cash classified within current assets held for sale 20,649 (55,279 ) 43,324
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (146,589 ) (37,015 ) (53,075 ) (428,628 )
    Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 1,110,148 845,413 1,016,634 1,240,472
    Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 963,559 $ 808,398 $ 963,559 $ 811,844
    Groupon, Inc.
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
    (in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
    2015 2014 2015 2014
    Revenue:
    Third party and other $ 326,306 $ 362,903 $ 1,027,273 $ 1,133,109
    Direct 387,289 351,366 1,175,073 1,025,786
    Total revenue 713,595 714,269 2,202,346 2,158,895
    Cost of revenue:
    Third party and other 46,050 50,774 145,292 153,333
    Direct 338,633 308,217 1,043,729 918,362
    Total cost of revenue 384,683 358,991 1,189,021 1,071,695
    Gross profit 328,912 355,278 1,013,325 1,087,200
    Operating expenses:
    Marketing 61,587 55,258 171,127 182,142
    Selling, general and administrative 326,248 299,275 904,816 905,919
    Restructuring charges 24,146 24,146
    Gain on disposition of business (13,710 ) (13,710 )
    Acquisition-related expense (benefit), net 1,064 (304 ) 1,300 2,078
    Total operating expenses 399,335 354,229 1,087,679 1,090,139
    Income (loss) from operations (70,423 ) 1,049 (74,354 ) (2,939 )
    Other income (expense), net (1) (8,160 ) (20,056 ) (25,146 ) (21,919 )
    Income (loss) from continuing operations before provision

    (benefit) for income taxes

    (78,583 ) (19,007 ) (99,500 ) (24,858 )
    Provision (benefit) for income taxes (53,970 ) (6,434 ) (42,881 ) 20,181
    Income (loss) from continuing operations (24,613 ) (12,573 ) (56,619 ) (45,039 )
    Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax (6,445 ) 133,463 (30,264 )
    Net income (loss) (24,613 ) (19,018 ) 76,844 (75,303 )
    Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests (3,002 ) (2,190 ) (9,648 ) (6,575 )
    Net income (loss) attributable to Groupon, Inc. $ (27,615 ) $ (21,208 ) $ 67,196 $ (81,878 )
    Basic net income (loss) per share:
    Continuing operations $ (0.04 ) $ (0.02 ) $ (0.10 ) $ (0.08 )
    Discontinued operations (0.01 ) 0.20 (0.04 )
    Basic net income (loss) per share $ (0.04 ) $ (0.03 ) $ 0.10 $ (0.12 )
    Diluted net income (loss) per share:
    Continuing operations $ (0.04 ) $ (0.02 ) $ (0.10 ) $ (0.08 )
    Discontinued operations (0.01 ) 0.20 (0.04 )
    Diluted net income (loss) per share $ (0.04 ) $ (0.03 ) $ 0.10 $ (0.12 )
    Weighted average number of shares outstanding
    Basic 644,894,785 669,526,524 664,302,630 675,814,535
    Diluted 644,894,785 669,526,524 664,302,630 675,814,535
    (1) Other income (expense), net includes foreign currency losses of $5.2 million and $18.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and foreign currency losses of $22.1 million and $20.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively.
    Groupon, Inc.
    Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
    September 30, 2015 December 31, 2014
    (unaudited)
    Assets
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 963,559 $ 1,016,634
    Accounts receivable, net 76,121 90,597
    Deferred income taxes 19,349 16,271
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets 223,986 192,382
    Current assets held for sale 85,445
    Total current assets 1,283,015 1,401,329
    Property, equipment and software, net 202,714 176,004
    Goodwill 291,084 236,756
    Intangible assets, net 40,841 30,609
    Investments (including $149.2 million and $7.4 million at September 30, 2015 and December 31,

    2014, respectively, at fair value)

    163,789 24,298
    Deferred income taxes, non-current 28,791 41,323
    Other non-current assets 20,407 16,173
    Non-current assets held for sale 301,105
    Total Assets $ 2,030,641 $ 2,227,597
    Liabilities and Equity
    Current liabilities:
    Short-term borrowings $ 195,000 $
    Accounts payable 15,503 13,822
    Accrued merchant and supplier payables 640,044 772,156
    Accrued expenses 260,883 214,260
    Deferred income taxes 28,573 31,998
    Other current liabilities 142,925 127,121
    Current liabilities held for sale 166,239
    Total current liabilities 1,282,928 1,325,596
    Deferred income taxes, non-current 4,756 773
    Other non-current liabilities 142,005 129,531
    Non-current liabilities held for sale 6,753
    Total Liabilities 1,429,689 1,462,653
    Commitments and contingencies
    Stockholders’ Equity
    Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 2,000,000,000 shares authorized,

    714,074,671 shares issued and 620,933,460 shares outstanding at September 30, 2015 and

    699,008,084 shares issued and 671,768,980 shares outstanding at December 31, 2014

    71 70
    Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 10,000,000 shares authorized, 2,399,976

    shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014

    Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 2,010,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued

    and outstanding at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014

    Additional paid-in capital 1,933,994 1,847,420
    Treasury stock, at cost, 93,141,211 shares at September 30, 2015 and 27,239,104 shares at

    December 31, 2014

     

    (532,530 ) (198,467 )
    Accumulated deficit (854,764 ) (921,960 )
    Accumulated other comprehensive income 53,369 35,763
    Total Groupon, Inc. Stockholders’ Equity 600,140 762,826
    Noncontrolling interests 812 2,118
    Total Equity 600,952 764,944
    Total Liabilities and Equity $ 2,030,641 $ 2,227,597
    Groupon, Inc.
    Segment Information
    (in thousands)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
    2015 2014 2015 2014
    North America
    Gross billings (1) $ 869,203 $ 774,286 $ 2,659,436 $ 2,354,900
    Revenue 463,931 418,494 1,425,095 1,273,487
    Segment cost of revenue and operating expenses (2)(3)(4) 494,843 405,910 1,404,472 1,234,973
    Segment operating income (loss) (2) $ (30,912 ) $ 12,584 $ 20,623 $ 38,514
    Segment operating income (loss) as a percent of segment gross billings (3.6 )% 1.6 % 0.8 % 1.6 %
    Segment operating income (loss) as a percent of segment revenue (6.7 )% 3.0 % 1.4 % 3.0 %
    EMEA
    Gross billings (1) $ 414,482 $ 489,423 $ 1,307,207 $ 1,486,266
    Revenue 199,287 230,072 619,554 688,655
    Segment cost of revenue and operating expenses (2)(4)(5) 195,397 207,643 586,343 619,594
    Segment operating income (loss) (2) $ 3,890 $ 22,429 $ 33,211 $ 69,061
    Segment operating income (loss) as a percent of segment gross billings 0.9 % 4.6 % 2.5 % 4.6 %
    Segment operating income (loss) as a percent of segment revenue 2.0 % 9.7 % 5.4 % 10.0 %
    Rest of World
    Gross billings (1) $ 183,849 $ 226,638 $ 581,905 $ 671,997
    Revenue 50,377 65,703 157,697 196,753
    Segment cost of revenue and operating expenses (2)(4) 57,282 67,291 175,542 219,860
    Segment operating income (loss) (2) $ (6,905 ) $ (1,588 ) $ (17,845 ) $ (23,107 )
    Segment operating income (loss) as a percent of segment gross billings (3.8 )% (0.7 )% (3.1 )% (3.4 )%
    Segment operating income (loss) as a percent of segment revenue (13.7 )% (2.4 )% (11.3 )% (11.7 )%
    (1) Represents the total dollar value of customer purchases of goods and services, excluding applicable taxes and net of estimated refunds.
    (2) Segment cost of revenue and operating expenses and segment operating income (loss) exclude stock-based compensation and acquisition-related expense (benefit), net.
    (3) Segment cost of revenue and operating expenses for North America for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 includes a$37.5 million expense related to an increase in the Company’s contingent liability for its securities litigation matter.
    (4) Segment cost of revenue and operating expenses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 includes restructuring charges of $1.4 million in North America, $19.7 million in EMEA and $3.0 million in Rest of World.
    (5) Segment cost of revenue and operating expenses for EMEA for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 includes a $6.7 million expense for the write-off of a prepaid asset related to a marketing program that was discontinued because the counterparty ceased operations.
    Groupon, Inc.
    Non-GAAP Reconciliation Schedules
    (in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
    (unaudited)
    Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP earnings attributable to common stockholders and non-GAAP earnings per share are non-GAAP financial measures. The Company reconciles Adjusted EBITDA to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, “Net income (loss) from continuing operations” for the periods presented and the Company reconciles non-GAAP earnings per share to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, “Diluted net income (loss) per share,” for the periods presented.
    The following is a quarterly reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, “Net income (loss) from continuing operations.”
    Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015
    Income (loss) from continuing operations $ (12,573 ) $ 26,566 $ (16,739 ) $ (15,267 ) $ (24,613 )
    Adjustments:
    Stock-based compensation (1) 32,680 29,961 35,144 38,467 35,432
    Depreciation and amortization 30,462 30,122 32,200 31,372 35,635
    Acquisition-related expense (benefit), net (304 ) (809 ) (269 ) 505 1,064
    Restructuring charges 24,146
    Gain on disposition of business (13,710 )
    Prepaid marketing write-off 6,690
    Securities litigation expense 37,500
    Other expense (income), net 20,056 11,531 19,927 (2,941 ) 8,160
    Provision (benefit) for income taxes (6,434 ) (4,457 ) 2,107 8,982 (53,970 )
    Total adjustments 76,460 66,348 89,109 76,385 80,947
    Adjusted EBITDA $ 63,887 $ 92,914 $ 72,370 $ 61,118 # $ 56,334
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation classified within cost of revenue, marketing expense, and selling, general and administrative expense. Other expense (income), net, includes $0.02 million and $0.1 million of additional stock-based compensation for the three months endedJune 30, 2015 and the three months ended September 30, 2015, respectively.
    The following is a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders to non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders and a reconciliation of diluted net income (loss) per share to non-GAAP net income (loss) per share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015:
    Three Months Ended

    September 30, 2015

    Nine Months Ended

    September 30, 2015

    Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ (27,615 ) $ 67,196
    Stock-based compensation 35,575 109,204
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets 5,160 14,966
    Acquisition-related expense (benefit), net 1,064 1,300
    Restructuring charges 24,146 24,146
    Gain on disposition of business (13,710 ) (13,710 )
    Prepaid marketing write-off 6,690 6,690
    Securities litigation expense 37,500 37,500
    Intercompany foreign losses (gains) and

    reclassfication of translation adjustment to

    earnings (1)

    4,708   20,666
    Loss from changes in fair value of investments 2,564 2,114
    Income tax effect of above adjustments (43,541 ) (68,932 )
    Income from discontinued operations, net of tax (133,463 )
    Non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ 32,541 $ 67,677
    Diluted shares 644,894,785 644,302,630
    Incremental diluted shares 5,385,857 7,017,448
    Adjusted diluted shares 650,280,642 651,320,078
    Diluted net income (loss) per share $ (0.04 ) $ 0.10
    Impact of stock-based compensation,

    amortization of acquired intangible assets,

    acquisition-related expense (benefit), net,

    intercompany foreign currency losses (gains),

    items that are unusual in nature and infrequently

    occurring, income (loss) from discontinued

    operations and related tax effects

    0.09
    Non-GAAP net income (loss) per share $ 0.05 $ 0.10
    (1) For the nine months ended September 30, 2015, a $4.4 million loss related to the cumulative translation adjustment from the Company’s legacy business in the Republic of Korea was reclassified to earnings as a result of the Ticket Monster disposition.
    Foreign exchange rate neutral operating results are non-GAAP financial measures. The Company reconciles foreign exchange rate neutral operating results to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, “Gross billings,” “Revenue” and “Income (loss) from continuing operations,” respectively, for the periods presented. The Company reconciles “foreign exchange rate neutral Gross billings growth” and “foreign exchange rate neutral Revenue growth” to year-over-year growth rates for the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, “Gross billings growth” and “Revenue growth,” respectively, for the periods presented.
    The effect on the Company’s gross billings, revenue and income (loss) from changes in exchange rates versus the U.S. Dollar for the three months ended September 30, 2015 was as follows:
    Three Months Ended September 30, 2015 Three Months Ended September 30, 2015
    At Avg. Q3 2014

    Rates(1)

    Exchange Rate

    Effect(2)

    As

    Reported

    At Avg. Q2 2015

    Rates(3)

    Exchange Rate

    Effect(2)

    As

    Reported

    Gross billings $ 1,584,655 $ (117,121 ) $ 1,467,534 $ 1,478,528 $ (10,994 ) $ 1,467,534
    Revenue 761,867 (48,272 ) 713,595 716,702 (3,107 ) 713,595
    Income (loss) from operations $ (71,056 ) $ 633 $ (70,423 ) $ (71,189 ) $ 766 $ (70,423 )
    The effect on the Company’s gross billings, revenue and income (loss) from operations from changes in exchange rates versus the U.S. Dollar for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 was as follows:
    Nine Months Ended September 30, 2015 Nine Months Ended September 30, 2015
    At Avg. Q3 2014

    YTD Rates(1)

    Exchange Rate

    Effect(2)

    As

    Reported

    At Avg. Q4’14-Q2’15

    Rates(3)

    Exchange Rate

    Effect(2)

    As

    Reported

    Gross billings $ 4,909,715 $ (361,167 ) $ 4,548,548 $ 4,624,647 $ (76,099 ) $ 4,548,548
    Revenue 2,356,130 (153,784 ) 2,202,346 2,234,382 (32,036 ) 2,202,346
    (Loss) income from operations $ (75,033 ) $ 679 $ (74,354 ) $ (74,074 ) $ (280 ) $ (74,354 )
    (1) Represents the financial statement balances that would have resulted had average exchange rates in the reporting periods been the same as those in effect during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014.
    (2) Represents the increase or decrease in reported amounts resulting from changes in exchange rates from those in effect in the comparable prior periods.
    (3) Represents the financial statement balances that would have resulted had average exchange rates in the reporting periods been the same as those in effect during the three and nine months ended June 30, 2015.
    The following is a quarterly reconciliation of foreign exchange rate neutral Gross billings growth from the comparable quarterly periods of the prior year to reported Gross billings growth from the comparable quarterly periods of the prior year.
    Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015
    EMEA Gross billings growth, excluding FX 10 % 8 % 7 % 9 % (1 ) %
    FX Effect (9 ) (18 ) (19 ) (14 )
    EMEA Gross billings growth 10 % (1 ) % (11 ) % (10 ) % (15 ) %
    Rest of World Gross billings growth, excluding FX 1 % % (1 ) % 6 %   %
    FX Effect (4 ) (10 ) (11 ) (15 ) (19 )
    Rest of World Gross billings growth (3 ) % (10 ) % (12 ) % (9 ) % (19 ) %
    Consolidated Gross billings growth, excluding FX 12 % 13 % 10 % 10 % 6   %
    FX Effect (1 ) (5 ) (8 ) (8 ) (8 )
    Consolidated Gross billings growth 11 % 8 % 2 % 2 % (2 ) %
    The following is a quarterly reconciliation of foreign exchange rate neutral Revenue growth from the comparable quarterly periods of the prior year to reported Revenue growth from the comparable quarterly periods of the prior year.
    Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015
    EMEA Revenue growth, excluding FX 55 % 18 % 13 % 9 % 2   %
    FX Effect 1 (10 ) (19 ) (19 ) (15 )
    EMEA Revenue growth 56 % 8 % (6 ) % (10 ) % (13 ) %
    Rest of World Revenue growth, excluding FX (20 ) % (9 ) % (8 ) % (4 ) % (5 ) %
    FX Effect (4 ) (10 ) (10 ) (14 ) (18 )
    Rest of World Revenue growth (24 ) % (19 ) % (18 ) % (18 ) % (23 ) %
    Consolidated Revenue growth, excluding FX 21 % 19 % 10 % 11 % 7   %
    FX Effect (1 ) (4 ) (7 ) (8 ) (7 )
    Consolidated Revenue growth 20 % 15 % 3 % 3 %   %
    The effect on North America’s gross billings by category from changes in foreign exchange rates versus the U.S. Dollar for the three months ended September 30, 2015 was as follows:
    At Avg. Q3

    2014 Rates (1)

    Exchange

    Rate

    Effect (2)

    September 30, 2015

    As Reported

    September 30, 2014

    As Reported

    Y/Y %

    Growth

    Y/Y%

    Growth

    excluding

    FX

    Local:
    Third party and other $ 482,498 $ (890 ) $ 481,608 $ 446,573 7.8 % 8.0 %
    Travel:
    Third party 102,065 (264 ) 101,801 84,820 20.0 % 20.3 %
    Total services 584,563 (1,154 ) 583,409 531,393 9.8 % 10.0 %
    Goods:
    Third party 9,181 (495 ) 8,686 5,077 71.1 % 80.8 %
    Direct 277,108 277,108 237,816 16.5 16.5
    Total 286,289 (495 ) 285,794 242,893 17.7 % 17.9
    Travel:
    Third party 102,065 (264 ) 101,801 84,820 20.0 % 20.3 %
    Total gross billings $ 870,852 $ (1,649 ) $ 869,203 $ 774,286 12.3 % 12.5 %
    The effect on EMEA’s gross billings by category from changes in foreign exchange rates versus the U.S. Dollar for the three months endedSeptember 30, 2015 was as follows:
    At Avg. Q3

    2014 Rates (1)

    Exchange

    Rate

    Effect (2)

    September 30, 2015

    As Reported

    September 30, 2014

    As Reported

    Y/Y %

    Growth

    Y/Y%

    Growth

    excluding

    FX

    Local:
    Third party and other $ 211,548 $ (29,008 ) $ 182,540 $ 218,615 (16.5 ) % (3.2 ) %
    Travel:
    Third party 77,825 (12,909 ) 64,916 79,802 (18.7 ) % (2.5 ) %
    Total services 289,373 (41,917 ) 247,456 298,417 (17.1 ) % (3.0 ) %
    Goods:
    Third party 74,621 (10,703 ) 63,918 82,646 (22.7 ) % (9.7 ) %
    Direct 122,833 (19,725 ) 103,108 108,360 (4.8 ) 13.4
    Total 197,454 (30,428 ) 167,026 191,006 (12.6 ) % 3.4 %
    Travel:
    Third party 77,825 (12,909 ) 64,916 79,802 (18.7 ) % (2.5 ) %
    Total gross billings $ 486,827 $ (72,345 ) $ 414,482 $ 489,423 (15.3 ) % (0.5 ) %
    The effect on Rest of World’s gross billings by category from changes in foreign exchange rates versus the U.S. Dollar for the three months ended September 30, 2015 was as follows:
    At Avg. Q3

    2014 Rates (1)

    Exchange

    Rate

    Effect (2)

    September 30, 2015

    As Reported

    September 30, 2014

    As Reported

    Y/Y %

    Growth

    Y/Y%

    Growth

    excluding

    FX

    Local:
    Third party and other $ 115,909 $ (22,937 ) $ 92,972 $ 120,269 (22.7 ) % (3.6 ) %
    Travel:
    Third party 38,890 (8,181 ) 30,709 35,754 (14.1 ) % 8.8 %
    Total services 154,799 (31,118 ) 123,681 156,023 (20.7 ) % (0.8 ) %
    Goods:
    Third party 63,749 (10,654 ) 53,095 65,425 (18.8 ) % (2.6 ) %
    Direct 8,428 (1,355 ) 7,073 5,190 36.3 62.4
    Total 72,177 (12,009 ) 60,168 70,615 (14.8 ) % 2.2 %
    Travel:
    Third party 38,890 (8,181 ) 30,709 35,754 (14.1 ) % 8.8 %
    Total gross billings $ 226,976 $ (43,127 ) $ 183,849 $ 226,638 (18.9 ) % 0.1 %
    The effect on consolidated gross billings by category from changes in foreign exchange rates versus the U.S. Dollar for the three months endedSeptember 30, 2015 was as follows:
    At Avg. Q3

    2014 Rates (1)

    Exchange

    Rate

    Effect (2)

    September 30, 2015

    As Reported

    September 30, 2014

    As Reported

    Y/Y %

    Growth

    Y/Y%

    Growth

    excluding

    FX

    Local:
    Third party and other $ 809,955 $ (52,835 ) $ 757,120 $ 785,457 (3.6 ) % 3.1 %
    Travel:
    Third party 218,780 (21,354 ) 197,426 200,376 (1.5 ) % 9.2 %
    Total services 1,028,735 (74,189 ) 954,546 985,833 (3.2 ) % 4.4 %
    Goods:
    Third party 147,551 (21,852 ) 125,699 153,148 (17.9 ) % (3.7 ) %
    Direct 408,369 (21,080 ) 387,289 351,366 10.2 16.2
    Total 555,920 (42,932 ) 512,988 504,514 1.7 % 10.2 %
    Total gross billings $ 1,584,655 $ (117,121 ) $ 1,467,534 $ 1,490,347 (1.5 ) % 6.3 %
    (1) Represents the financial statement balances that would have resulted had average exchange rates in the reporting period been the same as those in effect during the three months ended September 30, 2014.
    (2) Represents the increase or decrease in reported amounts resulting from changes in exchange rates from those in effect in the comparable prior year period.
    Groupon, Inc.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics (9)(10)
    (financial data in thousands; active customers in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015
    Segments
    North America Segment:
    Gross Billings (1):
    Local (2) Gross Billings $ 446,573 $ 499,250 $ 512,558 $ 499,378 $ 481,608
    Travel Gross Billings 84,820 80,296 96,678 102,908 101,801
    Gross Billings – Services 531,393 579,546 609,236 602,286 583,409
    Gross Billings – Goods 242,893 369,033 284,741 293,970 285,794
    Total Gross Billings $ 774,286 $ 948,579 $ 893,977 $ 896,256 $ 869,203
    Year-over-year growth 16 % 20 % 14 % 12 % 12 %
    % Third Party and Other 69 % 62 % 69 % 68 % 68 %
    % Direct 31 % 38 % 31 % 32 % 32 %
    Gross Billings Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) $ 3,143,621 $ 3,303,479 $ 3,415,687 $ 3,513,098 $ 3,608,015
    Revenue (3):
    Local Revenue $ 161,912 $ 170,946 $ 180,864 $ 172,461 $ 163,786
    Travel Revenue 17,627 17,165 19,989 21,958 21,394
    Revenue – Services 179,539 188,111 200,853 194,419 185,180
    Revenue – Goods 238,955 362,863 279,029 286,863 278,751
    Total Revenue $ 418,494 $ 550,974 $ 479,882 $ 481,282 $ 463,931
    Year-over-year growth 16 % 24 % 11 % 14 % 11 %
    % Third Party and Other 43 % 35 % 42 % 41 % 40 %
    % Direct 57 % 65 % 58 % 59 % 60 %
    Revenue TTM $ 1,717,271 $ 1,824,461 $ 1,873,281 $ 1,930,632 $ 1,976,069
    Gross Profit (4):
    Local Gross Profit $ 138,189 $ 147,582 $ 154,776 $ 147,574 $ 138,798
    % of North America Local Gross Billings 30.9 % 29.6 % 30.2 % 29.6 % 28.8 %
    Travel Gross Profit 14,000 14,187 15,791 18,385 17,644
    % of North America Travel Gross Billings 16.5 % 17.7 % 16.3 % 17.9 % 17.3 % %
    Gross Profit – Services 152,189 161,769 170,567 165,959 156,442
    % of North America Services Gross Billings 28.6 % 27.9 % 28.0 % 27.6 % 26.8 %
    Gross Profit – Goods 23,953 34,404 23,923 30,598 34,801
    % of North America Goods Gross Billings 9.9 % 9.3 % 8.4 % 10.4 % 12.2 %
    Total Gross Profit $ 176,142 $ 196,173 $ 194,490 $ 196,557 $ 191,243
    Year-over-year growth 3 % 13 % 8 % 9 % 9 %
    % Third Party and Other 87 % 83 % 88 % 85 % 83 %
    % Direct 13 % 17 % 12 % 15 % 17 %
    % of North America Total Gross Billings 22.7 % 20.7 % 21.8 % 21.9 % 22.0 %
    EMEA Segment:
    Gross Billings:
    Local Gross Billings $ 218,615 $ 242,119 $ 217,598 $ 198,553 $ 182,540
    Travel Gross Billings 79,802 72,710 65,065 59,544 64,916
    Gross Billings – Services 298,417 314,829 282,663 258,097 247,456
    Gross Billings – Goods 191,006 245,712 176,526 175,439 167,026
    Total Gross Billings $ 489,423 $ 560,541 $ 459,189 $ 433,536 $ 414,482
    Year-over-year growth 10 % (1 ) % (11 ) % (10 ) % (15 ) %
    Year-over-year growth, excluding FX 10 % 8 % 7 % 9 % (1 ) %
    % Third Party and Other 78 % 74 % 77 % 76 % 75 %
    % Direct 22 % 26 % 23 % 24 % 25 %
    Gross Billings TTM $ 2,051,979 $ 2,046,807 $ 1,992,408 $ 1,942,689 $ 1,867,748
    Revenue:
    Local Revenue $ 90,002 $ 95,572 $ 82,536 $ 75,543 $ 70,781
    Travel Revenue 16,960 16,321 14,717 13,100 13,561
    Revenue – Services 106,962 111,893 97,253 88,643 84,342
    Revenue – Goods 123,110 160,582 118,967 115,404 114,945
    Total Revenue $ 230,072 $ 272,475 $ 216,220 $ 204,047 $ 199,287
    Year-over-year growth 56 % 8 % (6 ) % (10 ) % (13 ) %
    Year-over-year growth, excluding FX 55 % 18 % 13 % 9 % 2 %
    % Third Party and Other 53 % 46 % 51 % 48 % 48 %
    % Direct 47 % 54 % 49 % 52 % 52 %
    Revenue TTM $ 939,860 $ 961,130 $ 946,457 $ 922,814 $ 892,029
    Gross Profit:
    Local Gross Profit $ 83,956 $ 90,150 $ 77,356 $ 70,270 $ 66,288
    % of EMEA Local Gross Billings 38.4 % 37.2 % 35.5 % 35.4 % 36.3 %
    Travel Gross Profit 15,440 15,226 12,400 11,939 12,323
    % of EMEA Travel Gross Billings 19.3 % 20.9 % 19.1 % 20.1 % 19.0 % %
    Gross Profit – Services 99,396 105,376 89,756 82,209 78,611
    % of EMEA Services Gross Billings 33.3 % 33.5 % 31.8 % 31.9 % 31.8 %
    Gross Profit – Goods 32,252 38,154 25,481 21,878 24,905
    % of EMEA Goods Gross Billings 16.9 % 15.5 % 14.4 % 12.5 % 14.9 %
    Total Gross Profit $ 131,648 $ 143,530 $ 115,237 $ 104,087 $ 103,516
    Year-over-year growth 6 % (6 ) % (18 ) % (26 ) % (21 ) %
    % Third Party and Other 85 % 82 % 87 % 86 % 86 %
    % Direct 15 % 18 % 13 % 14 % 14 %
    % of EMEA Total Gross Billings 26.9 % 25.6 % 25.1 % 24.0 % 25.0 %
    Rest of World Segment:
    Gross Billings:
    Local Gross Billings $ 120,269 $ 105,420 $ 99,735 $ 100,403 $ 92,972
    Travel Gross Billings 35,754 32,313 32,946 31,263 30,709
    Gross Billings – Services 156,023 137,733 132,681 131,666 123,681
    Gross Billings – Goods 70,615 77,816 66,154 67,555 60,168
    Total Gross Billings $ 226,638 $ 215,549 $ 198,835 $ 199,221 $ 183,849
    Year-over-year growth (3 ) % (10 ) % (12 ) % (9 ) % (19 ) %
    Year-over-year growth, excluding FX 1 % % (1 ) % 6 % %
    % Third Party and Other 98 % 96 % 98 % 97 % 96 %
    % Direct 2 % 4 % 2 % 3 % 4 %
    Gross Billings TTM $ 910,670 $ 887,546 $ 861,032 $ 840,243 $ 797,454
    Revenue:
    Local Revenue $ 39,034 $ 32,264 $ 30,281 $ 28,499 $ 26,372
    Travel Revenue 7,243 5,757 6,495 6,363 6,135
    Revenue – Services 46,277 38,021 36,776 34,862 32,507
    Revenue – Goods 19,426 21,758 17,478 18,204 17,870
    Total Revenue $ 65,703 $ 59,779 $ 54,254 $ 53,066 $ 50,377
    Year-over-year growth (24 ) % (19 ) % (18 ) % (18 ) % (23 ) %
    Year-over-year growth, excluding FX (20 ) % (9 ) % (8 ) % (4 ) % (5 ) %
    % Third Party and Other 92 % 86 % 91 % 87 % 86 %
    % Direct 8 % 14 % 9 % 13 % 14 %
    Revenue TTM $ 270,211 $ 256,532 $ 244,326 $ 232,802 $ 217,476
    Gross Profit:
    Local Gross Profit $ 34,373 $ 27,175 $ 26,161 $ 24,567 $ 22,568
    % of Rest of World Local Gross Billings 28.6 % 25.8 % 26.2 % 24.5 % 24.3 %
    Travel Gross Profit 5,544 3,815 4,906 5,012 4,859
    % of Rest of World Travel Gross Billings 15.5 % 11.8 % 14.9 % 16.0 % 15.8 %
    Gross Profit – Services 39,917 30,990 31,067 29,579 27,427
    % of Rest of World Services Gross Billings 25.6 % 22.5 % 23.4 % 22.5 % 22.2 %
    Gross Profit – Goods 7,571 7,416 6,612 6,784 6,726
    % of Rest of World Goods Gross Billings 10.7 % 9.5 % 10.0 % 10.0 % 11.2 %
    Total Gross Profit $ 47,488 $ 38,406 $ 37,679 $ 36,363 $ 34,153
    Year-over-year growth (26 ) % (24 ) % (16 ) % (20 ) % (28 ) %
    % Third Party and Other 100 % 96 % 99 % 99 % 99 %
    % Direct % 4 % 1 % 1 % 1 %
    % of Rest of World Total Gross Billings 21.0 % 17.8 % 18.9 % 18.3 % 18.6 %
    Consolidated Results of Operations:
    Gross Billings:
    Local Gross Billings $ 785,457 $ 846,789 $ 829,891 $ 798,334 $ 757,120
    Travel Gross Billings 200,376 185,319 194,689 193,715 197,426
    Gross Billings – Services 985,833 1,032,108 1,024,580 992,049 954,546
    Gross Billings – Goods 504,514 692,561 527,421 536,964 512,988
    Total Gross Billings $ 1,490,347 $ 1,724,669 $ 1,552,001 $ 1,529,013 $ 1,467,534
    Year-over-year growth 11 % 8 % 2 % 2 % (2 ) %
    Year-over-year growth, excluding FX 12 % 13 % 10 % 10 % 6 %
    % Third Party and Other 76 % 70 % 75 % 74 % 74 %
    % Direct 24 % 30 % 25 % 26 % 26 %
    Gross Billings TTM $ 6,106,270 $ 6,237,832 $ 6,269,127 $ 6,296,030 $ 6,273,217
    Year-over-year growth 7 % 8 % 7 % 6 % 3 % %
    Revenue:
    Local Revenue $ 290,948 $ 298,782 $ 293,681 $ 276,503 $ 260,939
    Travel Revenue 41,830 39,243 41,201 41,421 41,090
    Revenue – Services 332,778 338,025 334,882 317,924 302,029
    Revenue – Goods 381,491 545,203 415,474 420,471 411,566
    Total Revenue $ 714,269 $ 883,228 $ 750,356 $ 738,395 $ 713,595
    Year-over-year growth 20 % 15 % 3 % 3 % (0 ) %
    Year-over-year growth, excluding FX 21 % 19 % 10 % 11 % 7 %
    % Third Party and Other 51 % 42 % 48 % 46 % 46 %
    % Direct 49 % 58 % 52 % 54 % 54 %
    Revenue TTM $ 2,927,342 $ 3,042,123 $ 3,064,064 $ 3,086,248 $ 3,085,574
    Year-over-year growth 20 % 18 % 13 % 10 % 5 %
    Gross Profit:
    Local Gross Profit $ 256,518 $ 264,907 $ 258,293 $ 242,411 $ 227,654
    % of Consolidated Local Gross Billings 32.7 % 31.3 % 31.1 % 30.4 % 30.1 %
    Travel Gross Profit 34,984 33,228 33,097 35,336 34,826
    % of Consolidated Travel Gross Billings 17.5 % 17.9 % 17.0 % 18.2 % 17.6 %
    Gross Profit – Services 291,502 298,135 291,390 277,747 262,480
    % of Consolidated Services Gross Billings 29.6 % 28.9 % 28.4 % 28.0 % 27.5 %
    Gross Profit – Goods 63,776 79,974 56,016 59,260 66,432
    % of Consolidated Goods Gross Billings 12.6 % 11.5 % 10.6 % 11.0 % 13.0 %
    Total Gross Profit $ 355,278 $ 378,109 $ 347,406 $ 337,007 $ 328,912
    Year-over-year growth (1 ) % % (5 ) % (8 ) % (7 ) %
    % Third Party and Other 88 % 84 % 89 % 87 % 85 %
    % Direct 12 % 16 % 11 % 13 % 15 %
    % of Total Consolidated Gross Billings 23.8 % 21.9 % 22.4 % 22.0 % 22.4 %
    Marketing $ 55,258 $ 59,812 $ 52,533 $ 57,007 $ 61,587
    Selling, general and administrative $ 299,275 $ 285,472 $ 289,847 $ 288,721 $ 326,248
    Adjusted EBITDA $ 63,887 $ 92,914 $ 72,370 $ 61,118 $ 56,334
    % of Total Consolidated Gross Billings 4.3 % 5.4 % 4.7 % 4.0 % 3.8 %
    % of Total Consolidated Revenue 8.9 % 10.5 % 9.6 % 8.3 % 7.9 %
    Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure. The following is a reconciliation of free cash flow to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, “Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing operations.”
    Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing operations $ 22,324 $ 273,272 $ 40,711 $ 9,995 $ (7,612 )
    Purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software from continuing operations (18,638 ) (20,117 ) (18,294 ) (22,452 ) (27,735 )
    Free cash flow $ 3,686 $ 253,155 $ 22,417 $ (12,457 ) $ (35,347 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing operations (TTM) $ 157,500 $ 252,497 $ 307,782 $ 346,302 $ 316,366
    Purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software from continuing operations (TTM) (83,374 ) (83,560 ) (85,761 ) (79,501 ) (88,598 )
    Free cash flow (TTM) $ 74,126 $ 168,937 $ 222,021 $ 266,801 $ 227,768
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities from continuing operations $ (19,046 ) $ (35,175 ) $ (19,443 ) $ (28,541 ) $ (98,028 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities $ (16,823 ) $ (21,088 ) $ (32,942 ) $ (138,227 ) $ (14,821 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities from continuing operations (TTM) $ (137,527 ) $ (149,372 ) $ (105,821 ) $ (102,205 ) $ (181,187 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (TTM) $ (228,512 ) $ (194,156 ) $ (185,606 ) $ (209,080 ) $ (207,078 )
    Other Metrics:
    Active Customers (6)
    North America 23.5 24.1 24.6 24.9 25.2
    EMEA 14.9 15.2 15.3 15.5 15.4
    Rest of World 8.2 8.1 8.2 8.2 8.0
    Total Active Customers 46.6 47.4 48.1 48.6 48.6
    TTM Gross Billings / Average Active Customer(7)
    North America $ 145 $ 147 $ 147 $ 148 $ 148
    EMEA 142 139 134 130 123
    Rest of World 108 105 101 98 99
    Consolidated 137 137 135 133 132
    Global headcount as of September 30, 2015 and 2014 was as follows:
    Q3 2014 Q3 2015
    Sales (8) 4,420 4,168
    % North America 29 % 33 %
    % EMEA 43 % 42 %
    % Rest of World 28 % 25 %
    Other 6,228 6,301
    Total Headcount 10,648 10,469
    (1) Represents the total dollar value of customer purchases of goods and services, excluding applicable taxes and net of estimated refunds.
    (2) Local represents deals from local merchants, deals with national merchants, and deals through local events. Other revenue transactions include advertising, payment processing, point of sale and commission revenue.
    (3) Includes third party revenue, direct revenue and other revenue. Third party revenue is related to sales for which the Company acts as a marketing agent for the merchant. This revenue is recorded on a net basis. Direct revenue is primarily related to the sale of products for which the Company is the merchant of record. These revenues are accounted for on a gross basis, with the cost of inventory included in cost of revenue. Other revenue primarily consists of advertising revenue, payment processing revenue, point of sale revenue and commission revenue.
    (4) Represents third party revenue, direct revenue and other revenue reduced by cost of revenue.
    (5) Represents the change in financial measures that would have resulted had average exchange rates in the reporting periods been the same as those in effect in the prior year periods.
    (6) Reflects the total number of unique user accounts who have purchased a voucher or product from us during the trailing twelve months.
    (7) Reflects the total gross billings generated in the trailing twelve months per average active customer over that period.
    (8) Includes merchant sales representatives, as well as sales support from continuing operations.
    (9) Financial information and other metrics have been retrospectively adjusted to exclude Ticket Monster, which has been classified as discontinued operations.
    (10) The definition, methodology and appropriateness of each of our supplemental metrics is reviewed periodically. As a result, metrics are subject to removal and/or change.

    Groupon
    Investor Relations
    Genny Konz
    Tom Grant
    312-999-3098
    [email protected]
    or
    Public Relations
    Bill Roberts
    312-459-5191

    Source: Groupon

  • LinkedIn Impresses With Earnings, Reaches 400 Million Members

    LinkedIn Impresses With Earnings, Reaches 400 Million Members

    LinkedIn just released its Q3 financial results, and knocked them out of the park. Shares quickly began to skyrocket in after hours trading after the company posed massive beats.

    Adjusted earnings per share of $0.78 topped the expected $0.45 while revenue was $780 million, well ahead of the expected $756 million.

    $41 million of the revenue came from Lynda.com. Talent Solutions revenue was $502 million, up 46% from the same period last year. Marketing Solutions revenue was $140 million, up 28%. Premium subscriptions revenue was $138 million, an increase of 21%.

    “LinkedIn delivered strong results in the third quarter, and recently announced several products focused on delivering increased member and customer value,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “Our commitment to investing in our long-term roadmap continues to lay the foundation for future growth of the company.”

    “LinkedIn achieved strong performance across all three product lines during the quarter,” said CFO Steve Sordello. “We remain focused on pursuing long-term investments to achieve future growth and increased profitability.”

    LinkedIn also announced that it has reached over 400 million members.

    In a blog post about that, Aatif Awan writes, “Our vision at LinkedIn is to create economic opportunity for every member of the 3.3 billion strong global workforce. To realize this vision, we’re creating the world’s first economic graph by digitally mapping the global economy, identifying the connections between people, jobs, companies, skills, schools, and knowledge. You, our members, make up the core of the economic graph, and play an important role in bringing this vision to life.”

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 29, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD), the world’s largest professional network on the Internet reported its results for the third quarter of 2015. The transcript with prepared remarks is contained within this release. In addition, a supplemental presentation will be made available on the investor relations section of the LinkedIn website at http://investors.linkedin.com.

    “LinkedIn delivered strong results in the third quarter, and recently announced several products focused on delivering increased member and customer value,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “Our commitment to investing in our long-term roadmap continues to lay the foundation for future growth of the company.”

    LinkedIn added a number of enhancements across our member value propositions during the quarter, including replacing the email inbox with a new messaging experience, expanding the publishing platform to include German, French, and Portuguese languages and developing the next generation of LinkedIn’s mobile flagship experience.

    Total revenue increased 37% year-over-year to $780 million, which includes $41 million in revenue from lynda.com.

    Talent Solutions revenue increased 46% year-over-year to $502 million.

    • Hiring contributed $461 million in revenue, up 34% year-over-year, driven by continued operational improvement from our field sales organization and strong online growth.
    • Learning & Development contributed $41 million in revenue, in its first full quarter of contribution post acquisition.

    Marketing Solutions revenue grew 28% year-over-year to $140 million.

    • Sponsored Updates performance once again exceeded 100% year-over-year growth, partially offset by expected premium display headwinds.

    Premium Subscriptions revenue improved 21% year-over-year to $138 million.

    • Sales Navigator continued to gain traction with large enterprises and saw improvements in customers’ satisfaction.

    Adjusted EBITDA was $208 million, or 27% of revenue which is consistent with last year. GAAP net loss attributable to common stockholders was $41 million and non-GAAP net income was $103 million.

    GAAP diluted EPS was $(0.31), below last year’s performance of $(0.03). Non-GAAP diluted EPS improved to $0.78 compared to $0.52 last year.

    “LinkedIn achieved strong performance across all three product lines during the quarter,” said Steve Sordello, CFO of LinkedIn. “We remain focused on pursuing long-term investments to achieve future growth and increased profitability.”

    Business Outlook

    LinkedIn is providing guidance for the fourth quarter and full year 2015. Further details can be found in the transcript below and the supplemental presentation, which will be made available on the investor relations section of the LinkedIn website at http://investors.linkedin.com:

    • Q4 2015 Guidance: Revenue is expected to range between $845 million and $850 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately $210 million. Non-GAAP EPS is expected to be approximately $0.74. The company expects depreciation of approximately $78 million, amortization of approximately $47 million, and stock-based compensation of approximately $135 million. The company also expects approximately 132 million GAAP fully-diluted weighted shares and 134 million non-GAAP fully-diluted weighted shares.
    • Full Year 2015 Guidance: Revenue is expected to range between $2.975 billion and $2.980 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately $740 million. Non-GAAP EPS is expected to be approximately $2.63. The company expects depreciation of approximately $281 million, amortization of approximately $135 million, and stock-based compensation of approximately $510 million. The company also expects approximately 129 million GAAP fully-diluted weighted shares and 131 million non-GAAP fully-diluted weighted shares.

    Prepared Remarks — Jeff Weiner, CEO LinkedIn Corporation

    Q3 was a strong quarter for LinkedIn. Our member-facing product pipeline has never been stronger, and recent roll-outs are driving continued positive engagement trends. In terms of our business lines, Talent Solutions performed well, while Marketing Solutions remained stable. We also made good progress in Sales Solutions and lynda.com, our more nascent opportunities, which are future growth drivers for the company.

    For Q3, overall revenues grew 37% to $780 million. We delivered adjusted EBITDA of $208 million, and non-GAAP EPS of $0.78 cents.

    Q3 cumulative members grew 20% to 396 million, and last week reached the 400 million member milestone. Unique visiting members grew 11% to an average of 100 million per month, and member page views grew 33%. This has yielded 20% year over year growth in page views per unique visiting member, continuing a pattern of accelerated growth throughout 2015. This is in part a result of placing more emphasis on quality engagement for our members and less on transactional engagement generated by emails. Mobile continues to grow at double the rate of overall member activity, and now represents 55% of all traffic to LinkedIn.

    LinkedIn’s value proposition is simple – connect to opportunity. For our members, this means three things: connect to your professional world, stay informed through professional news and knowledge, and get hired and build your career. In 2015, we made substantial progress on delivering these value propositions. Here are a few highlights of the progress we’ve made since our last earnings call.

    We continued to expand the LinkedIn network globally. Since our last call, China has continued to accelerate the absolute number of signups, and now has more than 13 million members, up more than 3x since early 2014 when we launched our local language version. Though still early, we are also seeing strong sign-ups and engagement for Chitu, our first professional networking app designed specifically for the Chinese market.

    In Q3, we replaced the traditional Inbox with Messaging, a more lightweight and casual communications interface. While still early, but we have already seen a double digit percentage increase in the number of messages sent between members, and a significant lift in one day reply rates. Messaging is already available for our English-language members, and we are in the process of completing the roll out globally.

    Finally, a few weeks ago, we previewed the next generation of LinkedIn’s mobile flagship experience. This new app was developed mobile first; does fewer things better; and is faster, simpler, and more personalized. It’s structured around five key pillars – the Feed, Profile, My Network, Messaging, and Search – and will launch next month. In 2016, these pillars will also serve as the foundation for the ongoing evolution of our desktop site.

    Connecting our members to relevant news, knowledge, and skills is another strategic priority integral to creating member value.  Our publishing platform is central to this effort. In Q3, the number of long-form posts published per week reached more than 150,000. We also recently added the ability to post long-form content in more languages, including Portuguese, French, and German. And last week, we welcomed Oprah Winfrey to the Influencer platform.

    Lastly, helping members get hired is one of the fastest growing areas of engagement on LinkedIn. We continue to increase the scale of jobs on the platform, with more than 4 million active job listings today, compared to roughly 1 million a year ago. Monthly job page views were up over 90% year over year in September, and we have seen a 75% year over year increase in applications to those jobs.

    Creating value for our members enables us to transform the way our customers Hire, Market, and Sell on a global basis through our three diverse product lines. In Q3, Talent Solutions grew 46% to $502 million, inclusive of Learning & Development revenue from lynda.com;  Marketing Solutions was up 28% to $140 million; and Premium Subscriptions, which includes Sales Solutions, increased 21% to $138 million.

    For Talent Solutions, Q3 saw continued strength stemming from the sales force realignment done at the start of the year. We have been investing in Talent Solutions R&D throughout 2015, and we now have the most powerful pipeline of new products for recruiters in our history. At Talent Connect, we announced two of our biggest – LinkedIn Referrals, and a completely revamped Recruiter platform. Both products enable employers to more easily leverage better data and employee relationships to hire the right talent faster. Referrals is expected to launch in November, and the new Recruiter early next year.

    The ongoing integration of lynda.com progressed in Q3 with the launch of new LinkedIn Influencer courses and new features for our members. And the enterprise business remains strong; last quarter, lynda signed an existing customer to multi-year renewal for more than four million dollars, the largest deal in its history.

    For Marketing Solutions, we continue to create a more scalable business and become the most effective platform for marketers to engage professionals. In Q3, Sponsored Updates accounted for approximately half of all Marketing Solutions revenue, and continues to grow in excess of 100% year over year.

    In Sales Solutions, we launched a new Sales Navigator homepage with integrated Social Selling Index data. Sales Navigator customer satisfaction continued to increase during Q3. In addition, the field sales team is seeing early success with a “land and expand” go to market strategy.

    Additionally, just this week, LinkedIn and EY agreed on the largest single deal in our history, leveraging Sales Navigator as a platform, as well as a go-to-market alliance to help accelerate our respective growth in the business-to-business enterprise market.  Our collaboration with EY will enable us to leverage EY’s extensive capabilities, footprint and global reach.  Together, we’ll help companies develop deeper and more trusted customer relationships through social and data analytics.  We believe this strategic relationship will lead to collaboration and co-creation of solutions, generating opportunities for both of our organizations.

    Lastly, LinkedIn @ Work, our newest value proposition for our customers, continues to gain momentum. In August, we launched LinkedIn LookUp, a standalone app that allows members to find and contact co-workers. And in September, we announced the general availability of LinkedIn Elevate to all large enterprises. Nearly all of the pilot partners up for renewal have purchased the product.

    As we think about 2016, we expect to accelerate our focus on how we integrate all of these assets to help enterprises hire, market, and sell by using LinkedIn to connect to opportunity.

    Finally, a word about our Talent, our most important operating priority. In Q3, we made strong progress on hiring senior level engineering talent, as well as hiring a record number of engineering managers, both of which are key objectives for us in 2015. This  traction enables us to scale faster and deliver our product roadmap more effectively.

    And now, I’ll turn it over to Steve for a deeper dive into our operating metrics and financials.

    Prepared Remarks — Steve Sordello, CFO LinkedIn Corporation

    Today I will discuss growth rates on a year-over-year basis unless indicated otherwise, and non-GAAP financial measures exclude items such as stock-based compensation expenses, amortization of intangibles, and the tax impacts of these adjustments.

    During the third quarter, we demonstrated strong financial performance, and made significant progress on our long-term product roadmap for both members and customers.

    With respect to revenue, in Q3 we generated $780 million in total sales, an increase of 37% year-over-year, or 43% on a constant currency basis. While lynda contributed approximately $41 million to revenue in its first full quarter post acquisition, the vast majority of our out performance relative to guidance was driven by the core business.

    Talent Solutions, showed strong performance, with revenue of $502 million growing 46% year-over-year, and represented 64% of sales versus 61% last year.

    Within our Hiring business, revenue grew 34% year-over-year, or 39% on a constant currency basis.

    In our field sales channel, we saw nice year-over-year improvement in both churn and the net ratio. We also saw steady growth in new customers as we approach nearly 40,000 enterprise accounts under contract.

    Our online channel is where small companies turn to LinkedIn on a self-serve basis, and in Q3 showed solid growth. All three online products – Recruiter Lite, Job Seeker, and online jobs – exhibited strength, the result of an upgraded customer experience.

    Learning & Development contributed $41 million in the first full quarter following the lynda acquisition. Our product and go-to-market teams have focused on growing lynda’s existing business, and we plan to begin launching more integrated consumer and enterprise products in 2016.

    Marketing Solutions grew 28% to $140 million, or 34% on a constant currency basis, and represented 18% of revenue versus 19% last year.

    Sponsored Updates maintained strong momentum, and continues to be the driver of our advertising business. Sponsored Updates represented nearly 50% of marketing revenue, and once again grew in excess of 100% year-over-year. Recent growth has been driven by increased customer demand, aided by the launch of our new online campaign manager.

    As expected, CPM-based premium display continued to face secular-driven headwinds. We experienced similar trends as compared with last quarter with revenue decreasing in the mid 30% range year-over-year. Premium display now represents approximately 15% of the Marketing Solutions mix compared with approximately 30% last year. As Sponsored Updates continues to grow, we expect premium display to contribute a smaller portion of our long-term mix.

    We also remained focused on the B2B opportunity and continue to evolve our recently launched LinkedIn Lead Accelerator product. During the quarter, we saw churn decrease due to the emphasis on annual vs. quarterly campaigns.

    Premium Subscriptions grew to $138 million up 21% year-over-year, or 26% growth on a constant currency basis, and contributed 18% of revenue versus 20% last year.

    Sales Solutions remained the faster growing component of Premium, now representing over one-third of this revenue line. We continue to make both product and go-to-market gains as this new business enters its second year.

    In addition to introducing Sales Navigator to new enterprise customers like EY, we continue to gain traction with our land and expand play book. Microsoft provides a terrific example, having grown their social selling practice from 15 Sales Navigator seats to more than 3,000 in less than two years. In the process, their social selling reps have seen a nearly 40% increase in productivity when compared to traditional sales reps.

    General subscriptions still represents the majority of premium revenue, though since launching the new on-boarding experience late last year, we continue to see the individual subscriber mix shift towards Job Seeker and Recruiter Lite which are both reported within Talent Solutions.

    In terms of geography, revenue generated outside the US represented 38% of overall revenue versus 40% last year, or 40% this quarter on a constant currency basis. EMEA performed well showing acceleration during the quarter, and APAC showed nice improvement as well.

    By channel, field sales contributed 62% of revenue versus 60% last year. While a smaller portion of our revenue, higher margin online products performed well during the quarter, especially within Talent Solutions.

    Moving to the non-GAAP financials, Adjusted EBITDA was $208 million, a 27% margin. This exceeded our expectations with revenue driving over half of our out performance, the vast majority coming from the core business, with especially strong performance from high-margin online products. The remainder of over performance was tied to lower expenses oriented across several areas including lynda and facilities.

    Depreciation and Amortization totaled $118 million while stock compensation was $127 million.

    GAAP net loss was $41 million, resulting in a $0.31 loss per share, compared to a loss of $4 million and $0.03 last year.

    Non-GAAP net income was $103 million, resulting in earnings of $0.78 per share, compared with $66 million and $0.52 last year.

    The balance sheet remains well positioned with $3.1 billion of cash and marketable securities. Operating cash flow was $240 million versus $181 million a year ago, and free cash flow was $73 million, up from $61 million last year. Note, capex increased meaningfully quarter over quarter as we began the buildout of our third self-managed data center.

    I will end the call with guidance for the fourth quarter and an updated outlook for 2015.

    For the fourth quarter:

    • We expect revenue between $845 and $850 million, 32% growth at the midpoint.
    • We expect Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $210 million, a 25% margin.
    • For non-GAAP EPS, we expect approximately $0.74 per share.

    For the full year:

    • We expect revenue between approximately $2.975 and $2.980 billion, representing growth of 34% year-over-year.
      • This represents an increase of $35 – $40 million compared to prior guidance. The majority of the out performance was driven by Q3 results, with the remaining increase from a slight up-tick in our Q4 outlook for both our core business and lynda.
    • We expect Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $740 million, a 25% margin.
      • This represents an increase of approximately $75 million compared to prior guidance, with Q3 out performance of about $60 million.
    • For non-GAAP EPS, we expect approximately $2.63 per share.

    I will now provide some additional context on guidance.

    With respect to revenue in the fourth quarter:

    • Within Hiring, Learning & Development, and Sales Solutions, we expect healthy underlying trends to continue, albeit compared against a particularly strong Q4 in 2014.
    • For Marketing Solutions specifically, we expect Sponsored Updates to continue to drive our growth, offsetting consistent secular display headwinds and our first full quarter with a year-over-year comparison post the Bizo acquisition last year.
    • We also expect an approximately 5% growth headwind relative to F/X, unchanged from our previous Q4 outlook.

    With respect to Adjusted EBITDA guidance:

    • We expect greater expense impact from a heavier quarter of sales rep hiring, greater field sales seasonality after a particularly strong online quarter in Q3, and ongoing investments in key areas including China and our member platform as we launch the new flagship app.

    Lastly, I want to touch on how improvements to member-facing products will impact engagement metrics in the short-term:

    1. First, we are streamlining our new mobile app thereby decreasing the number of page views necessary to deliver a high quality experience. Specifically, more intuitive tabbed browsing replaces a dedicated navigation page, creating more seamless interaction.
    2. Second, we continue to remove emails and other transactional pages that generate lower value engagement to the site. This creates a better experience and long-term value for members, but will have a short-term impact on page view growth, especially when compared against a heavy transactional period like Q4’2014.

    Both initiatives reflect our commitment and investment in the member platform. Throughout 2015, we have increasingly seen deeper member interaction across our core value propositions, including greater than 90% growth in traffic to jobs, and publishing content growing two times faster than the overall site. We look forward to sharing continued progress as we further innovate on our member platform.

    Additional guidance incorporates:

    • Depreciation of approximately $78 million for Q4 and $281 million for the full year, with fourth quarter amortization of approximately $47 million and $135 million for the full year.
    • Stock based compensation of approximately $135 million for Q4 and approximately $510 million for the full year.
    • Other expense of approximately $16 million for Q4 and $57 million for the full year, including GAAP-only convertible accretion of $12 million in Q4 and $46 million for the full year.
      • In addition in Q4 we are evaluating and may adopt new accounting guidance with regard to our China JV, which increases the volatility of non-cash other expense.
    • A Non-GAAP tax rate of 23% for Q4 and the full year.
    • Capex of approximately 20% of revenue for the full year, reflecting the 2nd half data center build-out.
    • And for the share count:
      • On a GAAP basis, we expect 132 million fully diluted weighted shares in Q4, and an average of 129 million for the full year.
      • On a non-GAAP basis, we expect 134 million fully diluted weighted shares in Q4 and an average of 131 million for the full year.

    In closing, LinkedIn delivered strong performance during the third quarter.  As we end the year, our focus remains on the long-term realization of our mission and vision. This is an exciting period for LinkedIn as our product innovation takes root with complete re-designs of both our flagship mobile app and recruiter platform. We will continue to focus on areas that drive the greatest long-term business impact, while scaling our platform to create the most value for our members and customers.

    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
    As of
    September 30,
    2014
    December 31,
    2014
    March 31,
    2015
    June 30,
    2015
    September 30,
    2015
    ASSETS
    CURRENT ASSETS:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 526,837 $ 460,887 $ 1,017,287 $ 450,991 $ 631,725
    Marketable securities 1,736,958 2,982,422 2,512,588 2,582,435 2,457,607
    Accounts receivable 344,773 449,048 424,787 449,500 457,975
    Deferred commissions 40,810 66,561 60,259 58,585 56,453
    Prepaid expenses 55,571 52,978 62,800 75,669 72,752
    Other current assets 79,795 110,204 141,798 118,718 136,225
    Total current assets 2,784,744 4,122,100 4,219,519 3,735,898 3,812,737
    Property and equipment, net 557,017 740,909 755,396 793,034 906,189
    Goodwill 356,369 356,718 359,739 1,492,972 1,508,946
    Intangible assets, net 140,802 131,275 122,826 456,233 418,050
    Other assets 67,080 76,255 80,684 78,645 70,788
    TOTAL ASSETS $ 3,906,012 $ 5,427,257 $ 5,538,164 $ 6,556,782 $ 6,716,710
    LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTEREST, AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    CURRENT LIABILITIES:
    Accounts payable $ 106,658 $ 100,297 $ 85,104 $ 109,715 $ 123,329
    Accrued liabilities 188,983 260,189 206,826 256,958 296,794
    Deferred revenue 463,576 522,299 585,812 629,671 621,411
    Total current liabilities 759,217 882,785 877,742 996,344 1,041,534
    CONVERTIBLE SENIOR NOTES, NET 1,081,553 1,092,715 1,104,010 1,115,439
    DEFERRED TAX LIABILITIES 41,327 55,100 46,645
    OTHER LONG-TERM LIABILITIES 105,043 132,100 143,704 180,101 185,187
    Total liabilities 905,587 2,096,438 2,114,161 2,335,555 2,388,805
    COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
    REDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTEREST 5,327 5,427 5,536 25,784 26,296
    STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY:
    Class A and Class B common stock 12 13 13 13 13
    Additional paid-in capital 2,957,524 3,285,705 3,420,045 4,268,731 4,405,911
    Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) 685 (198 ) 1,085 (2,877 ) 6,632
    Accumulated earnings (deficit) 36,877 39,872 (2,676 ) (70,424 ) (110,947 )
     Total stockholders’ equity 2,995,098 3,325,392 3,418,467 4,195,443 4,301,609
    TOTAL LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTEREST, AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY $ 3,906,012 $ 5,427,257 $ 5,538,164 $ 6,556,782 $ 6,716,710
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
    (In thousands, except per share data)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    September 30,
    2014
    December 31,
    2014
    March 31,
    2015
    June 30,
    2015
    September 30,
    2015
    Net revenue $ 568,265 $ 643,432 $ 637,687 $ 711,735 $ 779,595
    Costs and expenses:
    Cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below) 74,904 86,902 88,406 100,086 111,368
    Sales and marketing 199,168 224,227 229,636 261,271 265,454
    Product development 136,542 150,289 165,580 190,133 202,682
    General and administrative 89,266 96,722 97,313 142,389 118,871
    Depreciation and amortization 59,782 71,118 73,972 99,004 117,901
    Total costs and expenses 559,662 629,258 654,907 792,883 816,276
    Income (loss) from operations 8,603 14,174 (17,220 ) (81,148 ) (36,681 )
    Other income (expense), net:
    Interest income 1,413 1,223 1,985 2,017 2,798
    Interest expense (6,797 ) (12,597 ) (12,694 ) (12,773 )
    Other, net (1,261 ) (1,731 ) (4,035 ) (1,723 ) (3,784 )
    Other income (expense), net 152 (7,305 ) (14,647 ) (12,400 ) (13,759 )
    Income (loss) before income taxes 8,755 6,869 (31,867 ) (93,548 ) (50,440 )
    Provision (benefit) for income taxes 12,917 3,774 10,572 (26,048 ) (10,429 )
    Net income (loss) (4,162 ) 3,095 (42,439 ) (67,500 ) (40,011 )
    Accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest (101 ) (100 ) (109 ) (248 ) (512 )
    Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ (4,263 ) $ 2,995 $ (42,548 ) $ (67,748 ) $ (40,523 )
    Net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders:
    Basic $ (0.03 ) $ 0.02 $ (0.34 ) $ (0.53 ) $ (0.31 )
    Diluted $ (0.03 ) $ 0.02 $ (0.34 ) $ (0.53 ) $ (0.31 )
    Weighted-average shares used to compute net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders:
    Basic 123,427 124,590 125,471 128,241 130,716
    Diluted 123,427 127,338 125,471 128,241 130,716
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    September 30,
    2014
    December 31,
    2014
    March 31,
    2015
    June 30,
    2015
    September 30,
    2015
    OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
    Net income (loss) $ (4,162 ) $ 3,095 $ (42,439 ) $ (67,500 ) $ (40,011 )
    Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
    Depreciation and amortization 59,782 71,118 73,972 99,004 117,901
    Provision for doubtful accounts and sales returns 3,805 2,216 1,795 3,280 3,373
    Amortization of investment premiums, net 3,457 4,309 5,514 5,001 5,362
    Amortization of debt discount and transaction costs 5,916 11,189 11,322 11,456
    Stock-based compensation 82,910 93,626 103,109 145,491 126,874
    Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation (13,114 ) (51,512 ) (18,198 ) 18,198 1,726
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Accounts receivable 15,657 (103,002 ) 29,489 (21,887 ) (9,168 )
    Deferred commissions 4,836 (29,073 ) 7,067 1,535 3,094
    Prepaid expenses and other assets (15,605 ) (4,383 ) (34,629 ) (1,957 ) (9,568 )
    Accounts payable and other liabilities 54,017 89,656 (40,725 ) 55,959 51,954
    Income taxes, net 8,248 (10,258 ) 5,629 (22,876 ) (15,659 )
    Deferred revenue (18,605 ) 58,723 63,359 72 (7,739 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities 181,226 130,431 165,132 225,642 239,595
    INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
    Purchases of property and equipment (120,721 ) (241,611 ) (90,121 ) (72,462 ) (166,653 )
    Purchases of investments (501,074 ) (1,542,950 ) (454,281 ) (632,774 ) (809,448 )
    Sales of investments 53,511 50,924 438,409 141,452 391,914
    Maturities of investments 429,641 238,283 482,840 417,115 536,891
    Payments for intangible assets and acquisitions, net of cash acquired (160,894 ) (2,783 ) (4,161 ) (650,681 ) (20,030 )
    Changes in deposits and restricted cash (20,504 ) 5,499 (1,382 ) (1,877 ) 10,461
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (320,041 ) (1,492,638 ) 371,304 (799,227 ) (56,865 )
    FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
    Net cash provided by financing activities (1) 24,864 1,299,746 26,739 3,364 1,255
    EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS (4,304 ) (3,489 ) (6,775 ) 3,925 (3,251 )
    CHANGE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS (118,255 ) (65,950 ) 556,400 (566,296 ) 180,734
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS—Beginning of period 645,092 526,837 460,887 1,017,287 450,991
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS—End of period $ 526,837 $ 460,887 $ 1,017,287 $ 450,991 $ 631,725
    (1) In the fourth quarter of 2014, we received net proceeds from our convertible senior notes offering, after deducting initial purchasers’ discount and debt issuance costs, of approximately $1,305.4 million. Concurrently with the issuance of the notes, we used approximately $248.0 million of the net proceeds of the offering of the notes to pay the cost of convertible note hedge transactions, which was offset by $167.3 million in proceeds from warrants we sold.
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE INFORMATION
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    September 30,
    2014
     December 31,
    2014
    March 31,
    2015
    June 30,
    2015
    September 30,
    2015
    Revenue by product:
    Talent Solutions
    Hiring $ 344,568 $ 369,348 $ 396,375 $ 425,812 $ 460,838
    Learning & Development 17,558 41,273
    Total Talent Solutions 344,568 369,348 396,375 443,370 502,111
    Marketing Solutions 109,231 152,729 119,192 140,037 139,549
    Premium Subscriptions 114,466 121,355 122,120 128,328 137,935
    Total $ 568,265 $ 643,432 $ 637,687 $ 711,735 $ 779,595
    Revenue by geographic region:
    United States $ 343,132 $ 388,194 $ 389,258 $ 444,531 $ 484,300
    International
    Other Americas (1) 36,538 39,238 38,066 39,904 43,505
    EMEA (2) 139,702 162,064 156,563 168,771 187,286
    APAC (3) 48,893 53,936 53,800 58,529 64,504
    Total International revenue 225,133 255,238 248,429 267,204 295,295
    Total revenue $ 568,265 $ 643,432 $ 637,687 $ 711,735 $ 779,595
    Revenue by geography, by product:
    United States
    Talent Solutions $ 208,635 $ 222,670 $ 240,752 $ 277,772 $ 309,935
    Marketing Solutions 68,767 94,991 77,412 91,761 93,362
    Premium Subscriptions 65,730 70,533 71,094 74,998 81,003
    Total United States revenue $ 343,132 $ 388,194 $ 389,258 $ 444,531 $ 484,300
    International
    Talent Solutions 135,933 146,678 155,623 165,598 192,176
    Marketing Solutions 40,464 57,738 41,780 48,276 46,187
    Premium Subscriptions 48,736 50,822 51,026 53,330 56,932
    Total International revenue $ 225,133 $ 255,238 $ 248,429 $ 267,204 $ 295,295
    Total revenue $ 568,265 $ 643,432 $ 637,687 $ 711,735 $ 779,595
    Revenue by channel:
    Field sales $ 341,691 $ 413,867 $ 393,251 $ 440,476 $ 479,547
    Online sales 226,574 229,565 244,436 271,259 300,048
    Total $ 568,265 $ 643,432 $ 637,687 $ 711,735 $ 779,595
    (1)  Canada, Latin America and South America
    (2)  Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”)
    (3)  Asia-Pacific (“APAC”)
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
    (In thousands, except per share data)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    September 30,
    2014
    December 31,
    2014
    March 31,
    2015
    June 30,
    2015
    September 30,
    2015
    Non-GAAP net income and net income per share:
    GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ (4,263 ) $ 2,995 $ (42,548 ) $ (67,748 ) $ (40,523 )
    Add back: stock-based compensation 82,910 93,626 103,109 145,491 126,874
    Add back: non-cash interest expense related to convertible senior notes 5,916 11,189 11,322 11,456
    Add back: amortization of intangible assets 9,986 12,612 11,778 29,474 46,466
    Add back: accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest 101 100 109 248 512
    Income tax effects and adjustments (1) (22,661 ) (37,884 ) (11,096 ) (47,378 ) (41,331 )
    NON-GAAP NET INCOME $ 66,073 $ 77,365 $ 72,541 $ 71,409 $ 103,454
    GAAP diluted shares 123,427 127,338 125,471 128,241 130,716
    Add back: dilutive shares under the treasury stock method 3,046 2,827 2,224 1,825
    NON-GAAP DILUTED SHARES 126,473 127,338 128,298 130,465 132,541
    NON-GAAP DILUTED NET INCOME PER SHARE $ 0.52 $ 0.61 $ 0.57 $ 0.55 $ 0.78
    Adjusted EBITDA:
    Net income (loss) $ (4,162 ) $ 3,095 $ (42,439 ) $ (67,500 ) $ (40,011 )
    Provision (benefit) for income taxes 12,917 3,774 10,572 (26,048 ) (10,429 )
    Other (income) expense, net (152 ) 7,305 14,647 12,400 13,759
    Depreciation and amortization 59,782 71,118 73,972 99,004 117,901
    Stock-based compensation 82,910 93,626 103,109 145,491 126,874
    ADJUSTED EBITDA $ 151,295 $ 178,918 $ 159,861 $ 163,347 $ 208,094
    (1)  Excludes accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest

    Quarterly Results Webcast and Conference Call

    LinkedIn will host a webcast and conference call to discuss its third quarter 2015 financial results and business outlook today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Jeff Weiner and Steve Sordello will host the webcast, which can be viewed on the investor relations section of the LinkedIn website at http://investors.linkedin.com/. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the company’s financial and operating results. Following completion of the call, a recorded replay of the webcast will be available on the website.

    Upcoming Events

    Management will participate in upcoming financial Q&A discussions at industry events on November 17th, December 1st and 8th of 2015. LinkedIn will furnish a link to these events on its investor relations website, http://investors.linkedin.com/ for both the live and archived webcasts.

    About LinkedIn

    LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful and transforms the ways companies hire, market and sell. Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce through the ongoing development of the world’s first Economic Graph. LinkedIn has offices around the world.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    To supplement its condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, the company uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP diluted EPS (collectively the “non-GAAP financial measures”). The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. The company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. The company believes that they provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.

    The company excludes the following items from one or more of its non-GAAP measures:

    Stock-based compensation. The company excludes stock-based compensation because it is non-cash in nature and because the company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance and liquidity. The company further believes this measure is useful to investors in that it allows for greater transparency to certain line items in its financial statements and facilitates comparisons to peer operating results.

    Non-cash interest expense related to convertible senior notes. In November 2014, the company issued $1.3 billion aggregate principal amount of 0.50% convertible senior notes. In accordance with GAAP, the company separately accounted for the value of the conversion feature as a debt discount, which is amortized in a manner that reflects the company’s non-convertible debt borrowing rate. Accordingly, the company recognizes imputed interest expense on its convertible senior notes of approximately 4.7% in its statement of operations. The company excludes the difference between the imputed interest expense and coupon interest expense, net of any capitalized interest, because it is non-cash in nature and because the company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance and liquidity. In addition, excluding this item from the non-GAAP measures facilitates comparisons to historical operating results and comparisons to peer operating results.

    Amortization of acquired intangible assets. The company excludes amortization of acquired intangible assets because it is non-cash in nature and because the company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance and liquidity. In addition, excluding this item from the non-GAAP measures facilitates comparisons to historical operating results and comparisons to peer operating results.

    Accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest. The accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest represents the accretion of the company’s redeemable noncontrolling interest to its redemption value. The company excludes the accretion because it is non-cash in nature and because the company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operating performance. In addition, excluding this item from the non-GAAP financial measures facilitates comparisons to historical operating results and comparisons to peer operating results.

    Income tax effects and adjustments. The company adjusts non-GAAP net income by considering the income tax effects of excluding stock-based compensation and the amortization of acquired intangible assets. Beginning in the first quarter of 2014, the company has implemented a static non-GAAP tax rate for evaluating its operating performance as well as for planning and forecasting purposes. This projected 10-year weighted average non-GAAP tax rate eliminates the effects of non-recurring and period specific items, which can vary in size and frequency and does not necessarily reflect the company’s long-term operations. Historically, the company computed a non-GAAP tax rate based on non-GAAP pre-tax income on a quarterly basis. Based on the company’s current forecast, a tax rate of 23% has been applied to its non-GAAP financial results for the current period. This rate will be adjusted annually, if necessary. The company believes that adjusting for these income tax effects and adjustments provides additional transparency to the overall or “after tax” effects of excluding these items from its non-GAAP net income.

    Dilutive shares under the treasury stock method. During periods with a net loss, the company excluded certain potential common shares from its GAAP diluted shares because their effect would have been anti-dilutive. On a non-GAAP basis, these shares would have been dilutive. As a result, the company has included the impact of these shares in the calculation of its non-GAAP diluted net income per share under the treasury stock method.

    For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures, please see the “Trended Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures” table in this press release. This accompanying table has more details on the GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations between these financial measures. Additionally, the company has not reconciled adjusted EBITDA or non-GAAP EPS guidance to net loss or GAAP EPS guidance because it does not provide guidance for either other income (expense), net, or GAAP provision for income taxes, which are reconciling items between net loss and adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP EPS. As items that impact net loss are out of the company’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted, the company is unable to provide such guidance. Accordingly, a reconciliation to net loss is not available without unreasonable effort.

    Safe Harbor Statement

    “Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release and the accompanying conference call contain forward-looking statements about our products, including our investments in products, technology and other key strategic areas, certain non-financial metrics, such as customer and member growth and engagement, and our expected financial metrics such as revenue, adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP EPS, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation and fully-diluted weighted shares for the fourth quarter of 2015 and the full fiscal year 2015. The achievement of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, the company’s results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements the company makes.

    The risks and uncertainties referred to above include – but are not limited to – risks associated with: our limited operating history in a new and unproven market; engagement of our members; the price volatility of our Class A common stock; general economic conditions; expectations regarding the return on our strategic investments; execution of our plans and strategies, including with respect to mobile products and features and expansion into new areas and businesses; security measures and the risk that they may not be sufficient to secure our member data adequately or that we are subject to attacks that degrade or deny the ability of members to access our solutions; expectations regarding our ability to timely and effectively scale and adapt existing technology and network infrastructure to ensure that our solutions are accessible at all times with short or no perceptible load times; our ability to maintain our rate of revenue growth and manage our expenses and investment plans; our ability to accurately track our key metrics internally; members and customers curtailing or ceasing to use our solutions; our core value of putting members first, which may conflict with the short-term interests of the business; privacy, security and data transfer concerns, as well as changes in regulations, which could impact our ability to serve our members or curtail our monetization efforts; litigation and regulatory issues; increasing competition; our ability to manage our growth; our international operations; our ability to recruit and retain our employees; the application of US and international tax laws on our tax structure and any changes to such tax laws; acquisitions we have made or may make in the future; and the dual class structure of our Class A common stock.

    Further information on these and other factors that could affect the company’s financial results is included in filings it makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, and additional information will also be set forth in our Form 10-Q that will be filed for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, which should be read in conjunction with these financial results. These documents are or will be available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Relations page of the company’s website at http://investors.linkedin.com/. All information provided in this release and in the attachments is as of October 29, 2015, and LinkedIn undertakes no duty to update this information.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • Buy Buttons And The Future Of B2B Ecommerce

    Buy Buttons And The Future Of B2B Ecommerce

    There’s been a lot of news about buy buttons on social sites for the past year or so, particularly on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. In the months ahead, users of these services are likely going to see more and more of the buttons popping up in their feeds.

    Twitter recently announced that businesses of all sizes can try out the Buy Now option as it partnered with three ecommerce platform heavyweights in an effort to make the social shopping experience more seamless.

    As more and more businesses gain access to these kinds of features, they’re going to have to test the waters cautiously as to not alienate users and to make sure they actually are providing a good experience.

    Rick Chavie, CEO at data solutions provider Enterworks, tells WebProNews, “The concept of buy buttons makes sense at first glance – consumers are increasingly digitally focused and brands are wise to engage with them on the platforms that they frequent. However, the authenticity of these sites is the differential that made them popular.”

    “Brands that bombard shoppers with marketing material, making social sites less about collaboration and more about commerce, risk creating over-commercialization,” he adds. “There are definitely benefits to the integration of buy buttons but, in order for brands to preserve an authentic social presence while implementing buy buttons, three practices must be in play.”

    These practices, as Chavie puts them, are as follows:

    1. Use data to better predict and target customers who are ready to buy.

    2. Be strategic about the products embedded with direct-to-purchase links.

    3. Test the strategy using a small group of consumers, see what sticks, then adapt as necessary.

    CloudCraze recently teamed up with Salesforce in what a spokesperson describes as “a similar pursuit to make the B2B buying process more convenient and seamless for its clients’ customers.”

    CloudCraze CEO Chris Dalton shared some thoughts about the overarching trend on what the B2B space can expect to see in the coming years as ecommerce partnerships and platform integrations continue to “redesign the once very straight-forward and distinguished B2C and B2B buying experience.”

    “As professionals in the eCommerce space, we’ve all witnessed firsthand the growing demand for a seamless, connected user experience,” Dalton tells us. “The needs and expectations for B2B buyers are vastly different than those in B2C, but the B2B buyers are looking for the same ease of use they get with their personal B2C purchases. Similar technologies are being developed to power both experiences.”

    “With the introduction of eCommerce platforms for businesses to meet customer demands, a more integrated and scalable end-to-end process from factory to storefront has become a reality in the marketplace,” he adds. “Scalable, affordable platforms exist that can help B2B companies improve communication, increase production efficiency, and simplify the purchase process. One example we are already seeing gain traction is the integration of ‘buy’ buttons, allowing buyers to make purchases in context, rather than redirecting them through multiple sites before they make the final purchase. Taking cues from the B2C eCommerce marketplace, I expect we will see a fast growth in the adoption of in-context commerce technology in the B2B market.”

    “While B2B is still in its pioneer stages of online sales compared to the maturity of its B2C cousin, B2B marketers actually have the advantage in the long term over that of B2C, as their customer profile is much deeper and more robust,” Dalton says. “With more background information to effectively address buyers’ needs, B2B companies will be able to integrate more intuitive and catered targeted marketing campaigns into the customer’s end-to-end buying experience that span from the research stages to the purchase. There is great potential for in-context commerce in the B2B market.”

    In addition to CloudCraze, Salesforce recently made ecommerce partnerships with Bigcommerce and Demandware.

    Image via Twitter