Leading social ad platform sees 700 percent increase in revenue last year as more agencies and Fortune 500 brands adopt social advertising to target audiences
SAN FRANCISCO – 140 Proof, the leading social ad platform for Twitter and Facebook, announced that it increased revenues by 700 percent in 2011, with social stream ad buys by Fortune 500 brands more than quadrupling during the course of the year. The company’s growth was fueled in large part by a steady increase in the average deal size for social stream ad campaigns: 140 Proof reports that brands are now investing two times more in social stream ad campaigns than they did one year ago.
Key milestones for 140 Proof in 2011 include:
- Increased revenue by 700%;
- Doubled average media buy across all customers;
- Increased Fortune 500 campaign size by 450%;
- Expanded from one office to five, with new offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit;
- Grew headcount by 300%.
In April of 2011, the company also announced a $2.5 million funding round led by BlueRun Ventures, which also included angel investors like Mark Kingdon, former CEO of Organic Inc., and existing investors that include Ron Conway’s SV Angel and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, the investors behind Facebook.
Social stream advertising is poised for continued growth in 2012. According to eMarketer, with Twitter ad revenue up 210 percent and Facebook’s social ad revenue growth beating that of Yahoo!, AOL, Microsoft and Google combined, brands are racing to reach consumers in social feeds via paid media, and are paying a premium to do so. 140 Proof is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the market’s growth (predicted by Google to reach $200 billion this decade), with a distribution network that currently includes 50 of the top mobile and desktop social applications with a reach of over 200 million unique users in the U.S. 140 Proof can also offer brands the most sophisticated targeting capabilities in the space, with patented technology that helps marketers build custom audiences based on keywords, followers and the interest graph.
“140 Proof began developing its IP and technology three years ago, before many even considered the social stream as an advertising channel, so we’re way ahead when it comes to creating repeatable success for brands in this space,” said Jon Elvekrog, CEO of 140 Proof. “Now that social stream advertising is becoming a more mainstream approach and we’re entering the year with thousands of large, strategic campaigns for Fortune 500 brands under our belts and a strong pipeline of upcoming product enhancements, we’re very well positioned to extend our market leadership in 2012.”
About 140 Proof
140 Proof is the leading social stream media platform, providing brand advertisers a simple and effective way to reach millions of consumers primed to discover and share. The company delivers sharable ads to users above their information feeds from Twitter, Facebook and other socially connected services. 140 Proof’s stream-analysis technologies match ads to the target audience persona groups based on public social cues like who they follow and keywords in their feeds. Social and viral effects deliver unique benefits to brand advertisers, while maximizing revenue for partners, enabling them to provide compelling stream-based applications and services to consumers on their web and mobile devices. The stream is everywhere — 140 Proof is headquartered in San Francisco and has sales offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit. For more information, please visit: www.140proof.com
