San Francisco’s Switch Merge acquired by Waterloo video marketer Vidyard

San Francisco-based personalized video marketing platform Switch Merge has been acquired by Waterloo video marketing company Vidyard.

Simultaneously, Vidyard has launched its Personalized Video offering, designed to engage audiences on a one-on-one real-time basis.

“Personalization is critical to modern marketing,” said Stewart Rogers, an analyst at VB Insight. “In my studies I’ve seen uplifts in conversions of up to 219 percent, and simply including a name in an email increases open rates by up to 41 percent. Video on its own is a powerful medium to engage potential customers, and adding personalization to video can drive even better results.”

While using video in marketing has already proven effective, Vidyard is taking consumer engagement one step further by focusing on personalized one-on-one messages that speak directly to the consumer.

With the acquisition of Switch Merge, Vidyard can help marketers embed personalized videos into contexts like an email, which have a demonstrated 1,000 to 1,5000 per cent increase in click through rates over traditional calls-to-action.

“Like many modern marketers, we’re always looking for new ways to capture the attention of online audiences and boost engagement in our email marketing and content programs,” said Michael Ballard, senior manager of digital marketing at Lenovo. “Video has already proven itself to be the best way to capture someone’s attention, and we see incredible potential for personalized videos to help us cut through the clutter and deliver real results for our digital marketing programs.”

Integrated with existing customer relationship management (CRM) tools like Salesforce, Marketo, Oracle Marketing Cloud and Act-On, marketing sales teams are fed real-time granular analytics regarding lead metrics, segmentation and customer insights.

“We all know that attention spans last just a few seconds so marketing and sales teams really have to do something special to make their message stand out,” said Vidyard co-founder  and CEO Michael Litt. “Vidyard is dedicated to giving businesses the tools they need to engage with their audiences more effectively. We’re continuing to blaze the trail for video by integrating video personalization into our video marketing platform.”

The first video platform to offer integration with Salesforce, Vidyard’s Personalized Video will likely also find its way into the marketing arsenal of existing customers Lenovo, Honeywell, LinkedIn, Cision and Citibank.

In January, Vidyard raised an $18 million Series B round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with an assist from previously existing investors Salesforce Ventures, OMERS Ventures, iNovia Capital and SoftTech VC, valuing the company at approximately $100 million and bringing their total fundraising to a little over $25 million.