Bizo Opens Public Beta on First Smart Link Shortener for Business

SAN FRANCISCO, CA and BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Jun 14, 2011) - Bizo, the leader in reaching and engaging business audiences online, today announced at MarketingProfs B2B Forum, the open beta for Bizo Switchboard™, the first smart link shortener for business. Powered by Bizographics -- third party-certified, anonymous business demographic data on more than 85 million business professionals -- Switchboard will provide the "bizographic" makeup of people that click on a shared link, a fully branded post-click experience and the opportunity to deliver offers and retarget display ads to key audiences that click on the links. No other link shortener can provide the level of business demographic insight or opportunity for engagement that Bizo Switchboard now delivers.

"All marketing, communications and editorial professionals embed links and share shortened links via social media in an effort to extend their brands and messages to a wider audience, hoping to find the right audience. Until today, they have had little to no information as to who clicked on a link and no chance to engage with the 'right' audience when they found it," said Chris Mann, director of product management of Bizo. "Bizo Switchboard puts rigor around how marketers use shared links to engage, measure and drive prospects through the marketing funnel. Bringing these capabilities to market is a natural extension of our current offerings and we're excited to augment how Bizo helps marketers drive measurable business results."

The Missing Link: Bizographics
Bizo Switchboard provides an easy to use platform to shorten URLs and manage social media campaigns available online at www.switchboard.bizo.com. As people begin clicking on a Switchboard link, marketers can get clear visibility into their bizographic profile (e.g., industry, company size, job function, seniority, location, etc.). These bizographics provide powerful insight into the true value of social media marketing efforts by proving definitively if the message is reaching its intended business audience. Switchboard includes the standard analytics provided by other link shorteners and so much more so marketers can feel comfortable moving to Switchboard.

"The social media channel is playing an increasingly central role as we look for new and innovative ways to get our clients' messages and brands in front of their target audiences online," Rick Segal, president worldwide, chief practice officer, gyro. "We've started integrating Bizo Switchboard into several campaigns that we're supporting and, for the first time, we're getting some real clarity around who we're reaching. The platform is also giving us some powerful new ways to more deeply engage the business audiences that matter to our clients."

What else can Switchboard do that other URL shorteners can't? Brand, Deliver, Measure &Retarget
With other URL shorteners, once a target clicks on a link, the original connection to your brand may be lost. With Bizo Switchboard, every link can maintain a persistent "brand bar" that is customizable to a company's brand (e.g. logo, colors). This way, marketers and media professionals are able to share content of interest that does not necessarily point back to their site but still maintain the benefit of sticking with an audience for increased brand awareness.

Bizo Switchboard also makes it easy to "follow," "share" or "like" a brand and allows marketers to deliver offers (e.g., free trials, white papers, discounts, etc.) through the "brand bar." For example, a shared link that leads someone to an article or blog post could then tee up an offer to register for a webinar on a similar topic. The tool also allows marketers that are already using Bizo's Audience Marketing Platform for display campaigns to retarget display ads to anyone clicking on their shared links. Each of these mechanisms create entirely new opportunities -- that remain unparalleled in the industry -- to stay top of mind, engage, measure and drive prospects down the marketing funnel.

"Our company is committed to delivering quality information that helps our target audience, engineering and manufacturing professionals, do their jobs better. As a result, we've made content development a top priority, and we heavily leverage social media and our own blog as distribution channels," said Jennifer Bomze, senior director of marketing, Arena Solutions. "By providing insight into the types of users engaging with our content, Bizo Switchboard helps us make sure we're covering the topics that are most relevant and useful for our audience."

Pricing and Availability
Bizo Switchboard is available here: http://switchboard.bizo.com and will be free throughout the duration of the public beta. Enjoy.

About Bizo
Bizo is how marketers reach and engage business professionals, wherever they travel online. Bizo's unique ability to precisely target more than 80% of the US business population gives marketers cost-effective access and insight into business professionals -- the most valuable online audience segment. More than 300 leading brands including AMEX, Monster, Jaguar, Microsoft, and FedEx count on the precise display ad and social media targeting, and deep onsite and campaign analytics that the Bizo Audience Marketing Platform provides to reach, educate and motivate their business audiences online.

Bizo is privately held and based in San Francisco, California. For more information on Bizo, or for a free look at the Bizographic make-up of your website audience, visit www.bizo.com.