Unites Two Powerful Influencer Platforms, Empowering Women to Create and Share Premium Content at Scale
Acquisition Gives SheKnows Media More Than 75M Unique Visitors Per Month, Which is More Than the Current No. 1 Women’s Lifestyle Media Brand
Expands SheKnows Media’s Branded Content Creation and Distribution Capabilities for Advertisers
Announcing BlogHer ’15 Conference, World’s Leading Event for Women Influencers: July 16-18 in New York City
NEW YORK, NY and BELMONT, CA – SheKnows Media, a rapidly expanding, award-winning women’s lifestyle media platform, today announced its acquisition of BlogHer Inc., a leading cross-platform media network created by and for women in social media. The acquisition gives SheKnows Media 75.3 million unduplicated unique visitors per month, which is more than the current number-one women’s lifestyle media brand (comScore, Multiplatform Lifestyles Rankings, September 2014).
Effective immediately, the combined company enables both influencers and brands to monetize and market to the media habits of today’s female consumer by creating and distributing premium-quality content and social engagement at scale. SheKnows Media and BlogHer will immediately integrate sales and marketing efforts to capitalize on its reach with key demographics, including Millennials, across major lifestyle categories. The teams will also integrate SheKnows’ Experts Among Us program and advanced video production model into InfluenceHer 360, a unified technology platform created by BlogHer to track and reveal the power of storytelling and social conversation for content creators and advertisers alike via accountable campaign outcomes.
Additionally, the joint company now reaches 147.4 million social media fans and links SheKnows Media’s 500 Experts with BlogHer’s distributed network of 20,000-plus social media influencers, securing its position as the largest online women’s community. In total, the combined entity served 1.76 billion ad impressions in September. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“Our acquisition of BlogHer follows closely on the heels of our acquisition of StyleCaster Media Group in August 2014, demonstrating our commitment to building a new kind of publishing model that enables the horizontal propagation of editorially driven, user-authenticated content. With the additions of BlogHer and StyleCaster, we continue to invest in deep editorial expertise and influence within key passion verticals that matter most to women. Our ability to integrate consumers, content creators and editors on one platform enables our continued growth and leadership in today’s rapidly consolidating and highly fragmented women’s digital media space,” said Philippe Guelton, Chief Executive Officer, SheKnows Media.
Guelton added, “Over the last 18 months, SheKnows Media has achieved more than 20 percent organic growth by focusing on implementing best-in-class user and organic advertiser experiences, launching new products like SK Explorer and Experts Among Us, as well as introducing groundbreaking initiatives like Hatch. BlogHer is a true pioneer in the content-creation world, developing proprietary technology and monetization platforms that deliver unprecedented value to both their vast community of users and the advertisers who sponsor their content. Ultimately, bringing BlogHer into the fold accelerates our mission of empowering a community of women to explore and pursue their passions.”
The combined company will benefit from SheKnows Media’s strong financial and strategic backing by Great Hill Partners, as well as its long history of generating award-winning and on-trend editorial content that speaks to the diversity of women’s interests. In collaboration with StyleCaster, which also has an excellent editorial track record, SheKnows Media is launching a new, more comprehensive video production program that will be integrated into the combined Experts Among Us and InfluenceHer 360 influencer platform in 2015. A formal influencer program at StyleCaster will also be developed next year.
The deal significantly expands SheKnows Media’s value proposition to advertisers, offering a more robust end-to-end suite of premium branded content and influencer marketing solutions.
“With the addition of BlogHer, SheKnows Media is able to realize our vision of providing a new kind of media company that enables women to create and share content with the publishing guidance of professionals. We are now the foremost women’s influencer platform with unparalleled strength in the Food, Parenting, Home, Beauty, Style and Fashion verticals,” said Samantha Skey, Chief Revenue Officer, SheKnows Media. “Our proven advertising products enable brands to partner with influencers and editors to deliver quality content to loyal communities – whether it’s through sponsored UGC programs with leading social influencers, bloggers or SheKnows Experts; our branded content and video production capabilities; or our robust online and offline event business. BlogHer represents a legacy of women inspiring women and we are honored to join forces as the SheKnows Media family.”
SheKnows Media and BlogHer will immediately begin a phased integration of their respective product offerings, New York-based marketing and sales teams, influencer communities and other assets. BlogHer Co-founders Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort Page and Jory Des Jardins will assume executive positions on the SheKnows Media Leadership Team. SheKnows Media will also continue to host BlogHer, the world’s largest gathering of 4,000-plus female content creators and the advertisers who want to work with them. Now in its 11th year, BlogHer 2015 will be held July 16-18 at the New York Hilton, the city’s largest hotel. Registration is open and more information can be found here.
“Uniting BlogHer with SheKnows Media accelerates our ability to create opportunities for women in social media to gain community, education, exposure and economic empowerment,” said Lisa Stone, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, BlogHer Inc., on behalf of Co-founders Elisa Camahort Page and Jory Des Jardins. “As SheKnows Media, our joint strengths are amplified: BlogHer’s leading conferences, proprietary technology platform and our massive, distributed network of trusted communities will now benefit from SheKnows’ premium monetization channels and expertise in branded video content. Together, we will extend our reach to just about every corner of the women’s web, where our influencers lead conversations on everything from politics to parenting.”
Stone, who will assume the role of Chief Community Officer at SheKnows Media, continued, “What matters most to us as BlogHer Co-founders is a shared vision for creating a global stage for women’s voices. Since my first meeting with Philippe Guelton, he and the SheKnows Media team have certainly been on a roll – witness #Femvertising and #BossyIs, which are exactly the kind of research and insights we have worked on for years to expose to the marketplace in an effort to explode stereotypes about women.”
To learn more, visit http://corporate.sheknows.com or email marketing@sheknows.com.
About SheKnows
SheKnows Media is a top women’s digital lifestyle media company. Its acquisition of BlogHer in October 2014 gives the company 75.3 million unduplicated unique visitors per month, which is more than the current number-one women’s lifestyle media brand (comScore, Multiplatform Lifestyles Rankings, September 2014). SheKnows Media also reaches more than 147.4 million social media fans and operates a family of leading media properties that include SheKnows.com, BlogHer.com, StyleCaster.com, DailyMakeover.com, BeautyHigh.com and DrinksMixer.com. With a mission of women inspiring women, SheKnows Media is revolutionizing the publishing industry by forging a new kind of model that seamlessly integrates users, editors and content creators onto a single platform designed to empower all women to discover, share and create. Whether it’s parenting or pop culture, fashion or food, DIY or décor, our award-winning editorial team, Experts, bloggers and social media influencers produce authentic and on-trend content every day. We dig deep to learn what makes our audience tick, revealing unexpected insights on women and digital media. Our robust, end-to-end suite of premium branded content and influencer marketing solutions generate more than 1.7 billion ad impressions per month (sources: DFP and OAS), allowing brands to distribute authentic content and integrated advertising at scale.
SheKnows Media is headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Belmont, Calif. We also operate internationally, with sites in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
About BlogHer
BlogHer is the leading cross-platform media network created by and for women in social media. BlogHer delivers quality advocacy at scale for brands seeking to engage in authentic and persuasive dialogue with moderated communities led by more than 3,000 quality bloggers and 18,000-plus engaging, original voices in social media, reaching an audience of 100 million across premium blogs, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Founded in February 2005 by Elisa Camahort Page, Jory Des Jardins, and Lisa Stone, BlogHer publishes and syndicates news, information, advice, recommendations and research on women in social media across interest areas, as well as on BlogHer.com. The company also hosts the world’s largest conferences for women in social media.
