User:16912 Rhiannon/Vocus

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Vocus
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: VOCS
IndustryTechnology
Founded1992 (1992)
Headquarters
Beltsville, Maryland
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Rick Rudman, CEO
ProductsMarketing and public relations software & services
Number of employees
1,200
SubsidiariesPRWeb
HARO
North Social
iContact
Websitewww.vocus.com

Vocus is a marketing software company based in Beltsville, Maryland, United States, serving clients worldwide. In addition to its proprietary web-based marketing software suites, the company owns online marketing and publicity services, including PRWeb, Help a Reporter Out (HARO), North Social and iContact. Vocus was founded in 1992 by Rick Rudman and Bob Lentz and is a publicly held company. The company operates additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Products and services[edit]

Vocus provides marketing and public relations services to businesses, using a cloud-based, or software as a service (SaaS) model.[1][2] The company's integrated services help businesses market their services to customers through social media monitoring and engagement, search engine marketing, email marketing and media publicity services.[2][3][1]

Vocus' software is distributed in seven languages. As of July 2012, it is used by more than 120,000 organizations worldwide,[3] including commercial businesses and governmental, educational and non-profit organizations.[1]

Software[edit]

The company offers three web-based packages: the "Vocus Marketing Suite", the "Public Relations Suite" and a "Government Relations Suite".[3]

The "Vocus Marketing Suite" is a software suite that combines online marketing and publicity services.[4] It was first released in October 2011.[5][6] In January 2013, as a result of the acquisition of iContact, Vocus added email marketing integration to the software suite,[6] expanding it into a cloud marketing product.[7] In 2013, Vocus also introduced Buying Signals, a feature that allows marketers to identify potential customers by monitoring social media conversations.[6][4]

Vocus also provides a "Public Relations Suite", which allows users to distribute press releases, access a database of bloggers and journalists, and monitor and analyse news and social media sites.[8]

The company's "Government Relations Suite" manages government contacts and analyzes lobbying activity.[9]

Services[edit]

Since 2006, Vocus has expanded its services through a series of acquisitions, including PRWeb, HARO, North Social and iContact, which Vocus has continued to operate under the existing brand names. Vocus also offers consulting services to support the use of its software products.[10]

PRWeb is an online press release service. Press releases published by PRWeb are distributed through news sites and appear in search engine results, allowing businesses to distribute news directly to the mass media and customers.[11][12]

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an online service designed to help journalists locate and connect with sources for stories. Originally created as a Facebook group in 2008, HARO quickly outgrew the platform, and now operates through its own website and daily newsletter.[13][14][15]

North Social, a social media marketing company, designs customizable apps for businesses to manage and promote their company's presence on Facebook. Its services allow users to customize Facebook pages, integrate services from other websites and organize giveaways.[16][17]

iContact, an email marketing software company, designs software to help small and medium-sized businesses manage email, Facebook and Twitter campaigns. iContact's services are available through the "Vocus Marketing Suite" or as a separate service.[18][6]

History and acquisitions[edit]

Early history[edit]

Vocus Inc. was founded in 1992 by chief executive officer Rick Rudman and his business partner, Bob Lentz.[19] The two had previously been investors at First Data Software Publishing, which they co-founded in 1991 to develop software supporting political organizations' external communications. Rudman and Lentz bought out the firm's other two partners and quit their jobs to relaunch the company as Vocus.[20][21]

In its early years, Vocus developed software to help political action committees and grassroots organizations track and organize donors and contacts.[21][22] In 1997, the company expanded its services to offer public relations software, including a product developed specifically for clients outside of the political sector, to help them manage external communications.[22][20] In 1999, Vocus discontinued the use of packaged software products, choosing instead to offer its software over the Internet.[22]

2000s[edit]

During the 2000s, the company continued to expand its public relations services. In October 2002, Vocus announced the release of its application programming interface (API), built using Microsoft XML, which allowed companies to integrate Vocus software with other business productivity applications.[23]

In 2005, Vocus held its initial public offering, selling 5 million shares of stock and raising a total of $45 million.[2][24] The same year, Vocus was ranked number 50 on Washington Business Journal's list of the fastest growing companies, after its revenue grew 32.5% from 2004 to 2005.[24]

Vocus purchased PRWeb, the press release service, in 2006 for $28 million in cash and stock.[11][19][12] The acquisition allowed Vocus customers to access PRWeb's online press release distribution services.[11][19] The following year, in 2007, Vocus established a partnership with the Associated Press, allowing Vocus users to distribute press releases within the AP network.[25]

Recent history from 2010[edit]

The company continued to expand through acquisitions from 2010 onward. In 2010, Vocus acquired two software companies offering public relations services similar to Vocus': the French company Datapresse and the Chinese company BDL Media.[13][26][27] The same year, the company also acquired the online service Help a Reporter Out (HARO).[14][13] In February 2011, Vocus announced it had acquired two social media marketing companies, Engine 140, which develops marketing software for use with Twitter, and North Social, developer of Facebook customization software.[28][16][17] In 2012, Vocus acquired the email marketing software company, iContact, for $169 million in cash and stock.[18][3][29]

Corporate overview[edit]

Vocus is led by chief executive officer and founder Rick Rudman.[18][2] In 2011, the company reported a revenue of $115 million, up from $28 million in 2005.[3]

The company headquarters are located in Beltsville, Maryland, where Vocus operates a 93,000-square-foot (8,600 m2) building modeled after Seaside, Florida.[3][30][2] The office, an example of the new urbanization style, is built to look like a town within an office building. The space includes recreation facilities, a spa and food services.[30][31] In the United States, Vocus also operates offices in College Park, Maryland; Herndon and Reston, Virginia and Ferndale, Washington.[30][24] The company's international headquarters are located in London.[24] As of October 2012, the company employed 1,200 people worldwide, 700 of whom are located in Beltsville.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Brad Kelly (16 September 2008). "VOCUS INC. Lanham, Maryland PR Software Helps Companies Polish Their Image With Efficiency". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gus G. Sentementes (13 October 2012). "Vocus tackles digital marketing, hires hundreds". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Susan Payton (8 July 2012). "Vocus: Small Businesses Shouldn't Have to Piecemeal Their Marketing". Small Business Trends. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  4. ^ a b Charles Costa (28 January 2013). "Become a Marketing Powerhouse With Vocus All-in-One Marketing Suite". Smallbiz Technology. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  5. ^ Michael Garrity (6 October 2011). "Cloud-Based Marketing Suite Comes into Vocus". Website Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d Brittaney Kiefer (16 January 2013). "Vocus releases updated marketing suite". PRWeek US. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  7. ^ Brian Proffitt (16 January 2013). "Everything-as-a-Service: It's Happening Right Now". ReadWrite. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  8. ^ Tanya Lewis (30 April 2012). "Vocus' PR suite info is user friendly and easy to export". PRWeek US. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Vocus Inc. Company Information". Hoovers.com. Hoover's Inc. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  10. ^ "Consulting Services". vocus.com. Vocus. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  11. ^ a b c "Vocus pays $28M in cash and stock for PRWeb". Washington Business Journal. 8 August 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  12. ^ a b Kate N. Nichols (September 2006). "Pioneering company takes its next step Ferndale's PRWeb sold to national company". Business Pulse Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  13. ^ a b c "Vocus acquires Help A Reporter Out". Washington Business Journal. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  14. ^ a b Barb Dybwad (10 June 2010). "Vocus Acquires HARO to Expand Journalist-Driven PR Service". Mashable. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  15. ^ Eliot van Buskirk (14 September 2009). "'Help a Reporter Out' Crowdsources News Sources". Wired. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  16. ^ a b Jeff Clabaugh (24 February 2011). "Vocus makes another social media buy". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  17. ^ a b Robin Wauters (25 February 2011). "Vocus Buys Facebook Apps Maker North Social For $7M In Cash + $18M Earnout". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  18. ^ a b c David Ranii (29 February 2012). "Marketing firm buys Triangle's iContact". The News & Observer. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  19. ^ a b c "Vocus buys PR Web to distribute online". The Washington Times. 28 August 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  20. ^ a b Sara Kehaulani Goo (27 June 2001). "Vocus Is the Envy Of Tech Start-Ups; Software Firm Has Clients and a Plan". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  21. ^ a b Becky Neilson (13 October 1999). "Software companies vie for lobbyists' business". The Hill. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  22. ^ a b c Anita Huslin (27 August 2007). "Vocus Puts Playtime on the Agenda". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  23. ^ Dan Muse (3 October 2002). "Vocus Unveils API for PR Automation Suite". InternetNews. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  24. ^ a b c d "Vocus raises $45M in stock offering". Baltimore Business Journal. 7 December 2005. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  25. ^ "Vocus inks agreement with Associated Press". Baltimore Business Journal. 21 March 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  26. ^ "Vocus Acquires Leading French On-Demand PR Software Company Datapresse" (Press release). PRWeb. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  27. ^ Jeff Clabaugh (21 April 2010). "Vocus makes French, Chinese acquisitions". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  28. ^ Jeff Clabaugh (8 February 2011). "Vocus acquires Engine 140". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  29. ^ "Email marketing firm iContact sold to Vocus for $169M". Triangle Business Journal. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  30. ^ a b c "Vocus to Build Premier Work Destination with New Headquarters Office Location". Daily Finance (Press release). 6 April 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  31. ^ Jummy Olabanji (18 November 2012). "Beltsville office space makes work enjoyable". wjla.com. ABC News. Retrieved 15 February 2013.

External links[edit]

Category:Companies based in Prince George's County, Maryland Category:Companies established in 1992 Category:Software companies based in Maryland Category:Public relations companies of the United States

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