Smartly.io Accelerates Growth in 2020, Empowering Brands to Scale Social Advertising

Company continues to innovate and attract new talent, appointing new CRO

Smartly.io, the leading social advertising automation platform for creative and performance marketers, reported continued growth and momentum in 2020, significantly increasing revenue year-over-year. Following a majority investment from Providence Equity Partners in December 2019, Smartly.io has continued to help 600+ brands scale their social advertising results, while advancing its product and partner vision.

Introducing the only end-to-end creative and media buying solution for social advertising

Managing over €2.5B in ad spend, Smartly.io looked to meet customers’ demands for an omnichannel social advertising approach in 2020. During a global pandemic, it became increasingly important to help brands diversify their spend and engage with consumers on the channels they prefer. In fact, more than half (51 percent) of global consumers said they made purchases based on social ads they saw between July and August. With this in mind, Smartly.io announced expanded partnerships with both Pinterest and Snapchat.

To further innovate its platform, Smartly.io also enhanced its Creative Studio with new capabilities, offering a true end-to-end creative and media buying solution for social advertising. Brands learned more about Smartly.io’s latest offerings and partnerships, in addition to industry best practices, at the first-ever, Smartly.io-hosted Sofa Summit in May. The world’s largest virtual social advertising event boasted more than 7,000 global attendees and a range of speakers from NASA, National Geographic, TechStyle Fashion Group, Facebook, and more.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly had a major impact on businesses and consumers,” said Kristo Ovaska, CEO and Co-founder at Smartly.io. “What hasn’t changed is the need for brands to engage with consumers across digital channels in a personalized way. Despite the challenges this year has brought, it has presented an opportunity for marketers to demonstrate they understand their audience with creativity and agility. At Smartly.io, we’re proud to be the partner leading brands rely on to navigate constantly evolving consumer needs and global market dynamics. Our ability to do this has allowed our team to continue to grow as we aim to be the number one digital advertising platform for marketers.”

CRO appointment and hiring to support rapid growth

Even during the pandemic, Smartly.io has grown to over 400 employees across its global offices, adding over 100 new Smartlies to the team this year alone even during a global pandemic. With 40 open positions for roles in sales, development, and more, the company plans to continue expanding across all offices. One notable new hire this year, Chris McArdle joined Smartly.io as Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer. In this role, he leads global business development and sales activities and is responsible for recruiting and developing the sales force, identifying new vertical opportunities, and leading global new business growth. McArdle previously was Senior Vice President of Marketing Solutions at Neustar and has held leadership positions at companies including TARGUSinfo, Patton Boggs, The Advisory Board Company, Toys”R”Us, and Ford Motor Company.

Industry recognizes power of Smartly.io offering

Validating the strength of its platform, Smartly.io was recognized as a 2020 Sales and Marketing Technology Awards winner by The Sammys for “Product of the Year” in the medium-sized company category. Additionally, Smartly.io was ranked as a top vendor in social media advertising across 18 separate categories for Fall 2020 by G2, the world’s largest tech marketplace where businesses can discover, review, and manage the technology they need to reach their potential. Based on data sourced from product reviews and data aggregated from online sources and social networks, Smartly.io was rated favorably in several areas within the Social Media Advertising category, including quality of support, ease of doing business, and ease of use.