Engagement is possibly the greatest terror of brands. Any marketing and sales planning worth its salt today must include strategies, techniques, and actions aimed at promoting the company’s connection with its audience. Eyeing this, MoEngage, a San Francisco and Bangalore-based startup that helps companies learn more about their customers to improve engagement on apps and websites, has just announced its expansion into Latin America after raising $77 million in a Series E round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and B Capital Group. This is the startup‘s third fundraising in a year – in July it raised $32.5 million, and in December, $30 million.
Founded by Raviteja Dodda and Yashwanth Kumar, MoEngage provides data intelligence to marketers of over 1200 companies in 35 countries and has now 11 offices, including one in Brazil, launched in February and led by Jeff Paiva, MoEngage’s marketing director for Latin America. The local operation already has clients such as Empiricus, Banco Pichincha, and Nestlé Peru. MoEngage claims to increase lead conversion rates by up to 45% for some clients.
MoEngage plans to invest the newly raised funds in expanding the Latin American operation, especially in Brazil. “The growth potential in the Brazilian and Latin American market is huge. There is a component of bringing up the market, for them to realize the potential of using data about their consumers’ behavior and consumption that is already latent in their digital assets. Developing strategies to impact the audience is MoEngage’s expertise and we want to enhance this in Brazil and in the region. The potential for companies is great, as the increase in the time we spend online demands new strategies and a specific look at the market,” said Paiva.
Besides expanding its markets, MoEngage plans to invest in artificial intelligence and in the development of new engagement solutions.
The technology provided by MoEngage analyzes consumer behavior on the Internet by cross-referencing data, combining real-time customer insights and cross-channel engagement. It focuses on helping client companies retain and build user loyalty on their apps and websites in ever-shortening opportunities, as it only takes one bad experience for a consumer to “never come back.”
“Consumers want to be served immediately and when they see that the brand has understood their desires, it tends to build recurrence and loyalty. However, the window for a company to impress consumers has never been smaller. From Uber to Tinder, digital natives are used to getting what they want, when they want it,” said Paiva.
The platform offers a set of insights into each customer’s shopping journey, including preferences, lifestyle, and tendency to leave or complete a purchase online. With this information in hand, companies can plan more assertive and efficient responses to generate consumer engagement, such as personalized recommendations, and meaningful communications via mobile, email, social media, or chat.
We live in a world where our mobile devices have become a kind of extension of ourselves. We depend on them for connections to entertainment, social media, news, and business. The phone has become our ticket or loyalty card.
Jeff Paiva, marketing director Brazil/LatAm at MoEngage
For Rajat Sood, managing director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, the expansion of the marketing automation and analytics industry is a trend. “MoEngage’s solution enables marketers to orchestrate and run effective campaigns to build and retain relationships, and increase consumer lifetime value.”
