IDG Communications Acquires Selling Simplified to Become One of the Largest Providers of B2B Tech Leads Globally

Selling Simplified's database and demand generation software will further IDG's technology and data platform evolution

BOSTON,Feb. 11,2022 --IDG Communications,Inc.(IDG) today announced that it has acquiredSelling Simplified,a versatile Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform that provides lead generation products,data services and analytics.

In the last few years,IDG has evolved its network of editorial brands to include an integrated marketing and lead generation technology platform. The acquisition of Selling Simplified allows IDG to add contact and account level AI powered lead generation capabilities to its expanding suite of intent-based marketing technologies.

Selling Simplified offers two distinct opportunities for product growth within IDG:

The first is a global dataset of more than 160 million B2B records specific to tech industry purchase intent which can be added to IDG's existing proprietary audience,creatinga largeaddressable database of in-market tech decision-makers and influencers.

The second is a marketing technology platform that identifies and scores intent signals based on campaign engagement leveraging machine learning. The company's Demandcentr system continuously monitors behavioral context and builds an understanding of purchase intent behind each contact and account in the database. The combined data and marketing technology identifies the most valuable contacts for sales outreach or continued lead nurture.

"Segmenting an audience by job title and role in the purchase decision is no longer sufficient at generating sales leads. Marketing campaigns simply perform better when you can also apply knowledge of the prospect's current stage in the path-to-purchase and actively engage them," said Kumaran Ramanathan,President of IDG Communications,Inc. "Selling Simplified has been able to provide just that and shares our commitment to building deep relationships across international markets."

"We were very cautious about selecting a partner that shared our culture and vision," added Michael Whife,CEO of Selling Simplified. "IDG was a natural partner for our next stage of development on many fronts. We believe the union of the two companies makes us the largest provider of B2B tech leads globally and offers a dynamic approach to driving success for our clients."

Selling Simplified is the latest in a series of acquisitions IDG has made over the last 18 months that demonstrates the company's commitment to building best-in-class,proprietary technology market data and marketing solutions. The IDG Communications MarTech stack – built by and for marketers – includes an ABM platform,Triblio; a marketing data and intelligence solution,KickFire; and a B2B sales and marketing data intent platform,LeadSift. These are already integrated into IDG's dataset and iconic tech editorial-branded sites. This end-to-end proprietary platform and media ecosystem delivers the industry's highest quality leads at over 99.9% acceptance rate.

Existing Selling Simplified customers include leading B2B brands and agencies,including Juniper Networks,Mediacom,Marketo,and Just Global. Selling Simplified operates globally,with 285 employees across 4 continents.

For more information,please visitwww.idg.com

About IDG Communications,Inc.

IDG Communications' vision is to make the world a better place by enabling the right use of technology,because we believe that the right use of technology can be a powerful force for good.

IDG is a dependable editorial voice,creating quality content to generate knowledge,engagement and deep relationships with our community of the most influential technology and security decision-makers. Our premium media brands including CIO®,Computerworld®,CSO®,InfoWorld®,Macworld®,Network World®,PCWorld® and Tech Hive® engage a quality audience with essential guidance on the evolving technology landscape.

Our trusted brands,global 1st party data intelligence and MarTech platforms (KickFire,LeadSift and Triblio) identify and activate purchasing intent,powering our clients' success. We simplify complex campaigns that fulfill marketers' global ambitions seamlessly with consistency that delivers quality results.

About Selling Simplified

Selling Simplified Group,Inc. (SSG),aims to empower companies in their marketing and sales efforts through unprecedented customer insights and a real-time pulse on intent,via a comprehensive suite of data enrichment,marketing,and analytics tools—with a core mission of helping people make more meaningful B2B connections.

All hosted under its demandcentr platform,their exclusive marketing technology stack provides innovative,intelligent,and compliant solutions to identifying,analyzing,and capturing B2B demand backed by enriched,intent-based data.

Founded in 2012,SSG is headquartered in Denver,CO and services clients globally via ten fully-staffed regional offices in APAC,EMEA,and North America.

IDG Communications announces acquisition of versatile Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform Selling Simplified