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Reddit has announced that it has raisedmore than $250 million in Series E funding, which it will look to use to fuel the next stage of the platform's development.

Now with more than 430 million users, Reddit is eyeing expansion, and it's planning to invest in new ad products and video improvements, among other elements, to advance the platform.

As explained by Reddit:

"We've come a long way in recent years to focus more on the needs of the hundreds of thousands of communities that make up Reddit and on creating feature-rich, safe, engaging, spaces for meaningful conversations for our 50+ million daily users. We've also continued to scale our Advertising business, which is now poised to deliver performance and engagement in addition to brand awareness. Advertisers have responded favorably to our efforts and the authenticity of community on Reddit, with direct advertising revenue increasing 90% in the last quarter, year-over-year."

Reddit has made its ad business a much bigger focus in recent years, going from a more controversial, free-speech aligned corner of the web, to one that has clearer parameters around what's acceptable, and what it will tolerate in the best interests of its community.

Reddit's biggest move on this front came in June last year, when it announced a significant update to its policies around hate speech, which resulted in the removal of thousands of the most controversial subreddits. The change was in line with rising user expectation, while it also helped Reddit improve the brand safety of the platform, and attract more business interest as a result.

Reddit says that its latest funding will be used to improve its video, advertising and consumer products,as well as its expansion into international markets.

"We're also readying to double the number of Reddit employees this year; its surprising not only for the pace of growth but also that such a relatively lean team has been behind one of the most visited websites in the world. We are confident in our mission to provide community and belonging to everyone and are well-positioned for the growth we have planned."

Despite its audience reach and presence, Reddit still hasn't become a key consideration for marketers, but this new funding could help to take the platform to the next level, and provide more appealing ad options to attract different types of businesses.

If you haven't considered Reddit for your digital marketing efforts in the past, it may well be worth spending some time in the app, and getting a feel for the types of discussions around your niche, and among your target audience.

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Reddit Raises New Funding Round for the Next Stage of its Growth - Social Media Today

Former HearSay CEO returns to her mother corporation Focus Financial Partners debt levels soar 50% on fresh debt issuance Goldman adds diversity, but snubs Marcus partnerships

Clara Shih is back where she started,rejoining Salesforce as CEO of its Service Cloud CRM software.

The co-founder of automated content mill Hearsay Systems tradedlife as an entrepreneur for a senior Salesforce role, Jan. 25, after a five-month sabbatical. See: After picking a CEO and securing Salesforce cash, Clara Shih leaves Hearsay's exec suite and 2.0 questions behind.

Like manydrawn to the adrenaline rush of leading a startup, Shih, 39, got religion on the merits ofa more bourgeois existence.

"Being a start-up CEO came at a tremendous personal cost, with no weekends, days off, or downtime. It was time to pass the torch and take a break ... while my[six-year-old] son was still young," she says, in a LinkedIn post.

That said, her banker's hours at Salesforce may, ironically, boost her startup, where she remains executive chair and a significant owner.

Salesforce backed Shih's companywith an undisclosed investment last July. See: Clara Shih gets Salesforce to cough up RIA CRM data and venture cash to charge up Hearsay after 2.0-model upstarts draw a target on her back.

"It was an easy decision ... [and] we're going to do amazing things together," Shih says.

Shih replaces Bill Patterson, who stepped up as general manager for all of Salesforce's CRM software in early January.

Under Shih's tenure, an estimated170,000 advisors bought a licensefor Hearsay's software. That said, a source stated last year that just 10% actually used it.

Now, as chief of Salesforce Services Cloud, Shih faces a similar juggling act. She must meld her AI evangelismwithconvincingclients -- including RIAs -- that automation increases the human factor where and when it matters most. See: Salesforce cryptically discloses upcoming RIA CRM product.

It's a high-wire act Shih was born to solve, according Patterson.

"With Clara's leadership, her passion for innovationand relentless drive for customer success, the future looks incredibly bright for a more human-centric world of service," he writes in a Jan. 25 tweet.

At Salesforce, Shih will contend with many of the same problems she faced when she ran product marketing for the firm's software marketplace, AppExchange 11 years ago. Those problemsprompted her to start Hearsay in 2009. See: Salesforce's new advisor-focused CRM upgrades slammed.

Sales, client communicationsand social marketing remain disparate fiefdoms at many firms. Ensuring compliance through client relationship management (CRM) software is tricky -- especially for RIAs and otherfinancial services companies.

"The difference is that there are a lot more companies that realize this imperative, now," Shih told BusinesInsider late last month.

Salesforce Service Cloud is the largest of the San Francisco giant's CRM businesses.

In the third quarter last year alone, it brought in $1.3 billion, or 24% of the company's total $5.42 billion in revenues -- a 20% year-over-year bump in the Q3 and Q4.

The software is the fourth most popular CRM among RIAs with 5.97% adoption, according to T3 data.

Focus Financial Partners -- the only top three roll-up firmyet to close a U.S. deal in 2021 -- has raised $500 million in fresh debt to pay off a short-term revolverand boost its M&A kitty.

The New York RIA roll-up also announced it had raised $125 million more than initially intendedin the late January financing round.Its long-term loan debt loadrose to $1.63 billion.

Like any leveraged trade, it is brilliant while the market is rising. But theperil heightens if the market reverses, cautions Matt Crow, president of Mercer Capital in Memphis, Tenn., via email. See: CI Financial tops its 2020 MVP year with a grand slam $23 billion AUM January deal but its CEO hints that 2021 is just getting going.

"Im sure managements perspective is to borrow money when its cheap and plentiful, which it is [but] leveraged growth is not without risk, and I wonder when Focus will be able to finance growth with internally generated cash flow."

Focus' debt-to-EBITDA ratiostood at 5.08 at the end of its fiscal year, according to Wall Street JournalMarkets -- a figure the roll-up disputes.

A ratio exceedingfouris usually considered scary unless tangible assets cover the debt, according to financial references.

Yet Focus has pushed the envelope on debt before.

In Nov. 2019, the company assured analystsit would pare debt and relegate most acquisitions to its partner firms.See:Focus Financial CFO admits firm needs to 'de-lever' and assures analyst $14-million splurge for posh new offices won't soon repeat

"We intend to de-lever gradually, starting in 2020 as we execute against this solid pipeline and satisfy earn outs associated with the transactions we have closed in the past and plan to operate with a net leverage ratio between 3.5-times and 4.5-times," saidCFO Jim Shanahan at the time.

A month earlier, Shanahanrevealed thatFocus ended the Q2with about $1.1 billion in outstanding debt and a net leverage ratio of 4.05 times. See:Focus Financial files a shelf registration as debt swells above critical '4X' level then its shares dropped to new low in after-hours

Back then,its stock was tanking, down 39% from its IPO price of $33 only five quarters earlier and off60% from its then-52-week high of $49.52.

This time around,Wall Street sees Focus on the right side of a very favorable arbitraging dynamic.

Focus closed today (Feb. 5) at $52.00 up $0.71, or +1.38%, compared with its 52-week low of $12.17 on Mar 18.See:Focus Financial shares soar after Rudy Adolf pumps the pipeline and stiff-arms analyst who presses him on a Focus sore point--organic growth, or lack thereof.

Shanahan saidin a Jan. 19 releasethe latest transaction"resets our dry powder."

"M&A momentum is strong, and we expect it only to increase this year as more of our partner firms accelerate their growth through mergers," he explained.

Prior to its latest debt raise, Focus owed $380 million through a revolving credit line that taps out at $650 million and matures in 2023. The new loan, partly payable at a 2.6% fixed rateand partly at Libor plus 2%, matures in 2024

"We increased the amount we raised because there was enormous demand for our credit at a very low interest rate [and] the initial transaction was heavily oversubscribed," says company spokeswoman Tina Madon, via email.

"Theres no shortage of acquisition capital chasing RIA deals, so the challenge is finding productive uses for the debt capital ... [but] if they can do sub-acquisitions at modest multiples, its worth financing," says Crow.

Focus, which buys firms itselfand through subsidiary partners, uses revolving credit to fund its M&A strategy.

It raised its latest tranche of debt -- its first debt raise since July 2019 -- because of "strong demand" and rock-bottom rates, says Shanahan.

The cash Focus earns from current partners makes it prudent to borrow more, he says.

"Strong cash flow generation enables us to optimize our use of debt as we grow our business.

"We're taking advantage of the positive credit and interest rate environment ... and the additional debt capital enhances our financial flexibility in a highly cost-effective manner," he explains.

It has already acquired one UK RIA this year, Watterson Financial Planning, through subsidiary Connectus Partners. That brings its British tally to three, including Skeet Kaye Hopkins and Greystone Financial Services.

Last year Focus was the third most active buyer of RIAs and the second largest buyer in terms of acquired AUM.

It closed seven deals withAUM of $14.4 billion, not including acquisitions made by its partners, according to Los Angeles-based investment bank and valuation services firm Echelon Partners.

Again not including sub-acquisitions, HighTower Advisors closed eight deals with combined AUM ofof$11.8 billion.

Creative Planning also closed eight, with $5.1 billion in managed assets.

And, US M&A rookie CI Financial closed nine onRIAs managing a combined$27.4 billion.See: Todd Morgan thinks third time will be the charm, as Hightower, in its biggest deal yet, scoops up his Hollywood RIA.

In all, RIA roll-ups acquired 205 firms in 2020, including sub-acquisitions, up from 203 in 2019, according to Echelon data.

The bulk of the deals came in the second half of the year, after a slump in the first two quarters, which accounted for 81 deals, or 39% of the total. See: COVID-19 throws a curve ball at RIA M&A market.

Goldman Sachs recently announced 60 fresh partners, including 16 women, but executives at retail banking flagship Marcus hoping to make the cut were left disappointed.

Announced in November, the promotions reduce the susceptibility of Goldman and its CEO David Solomon to charges that the New Yorkinvestment bank isa bastion of white males like its high-profile chiefs.

Four African-American executives also became partners at the New York giant.

The major surprise was the lack of recognition for Marcus, the retail bank central to Solomon's modernization of the Goldman brand.

"[The list] reflects the highly selective process to identify each new generation of ... senior leaders," Solomon writes in a noteusing the language of M&A, where "accretive" beats all.

"Importantly, the class is accretive to the diversity of the partnership," he added.

Westlake, Texas, giant Charles Schwab & Co. recently echoed Solomon's message.

"The biggest worry in this space is we have to have more diversity," head of advisor services, Bernie Clark told analysts during the firm's Feb. 2 Winter business update.

Although Goldman's 2020 partners list is more diverse, traders and deal-makers still comprise a two-thirds majority, a heavier emphasis on recognizing software engineers notwithstanding.

Late last year, Goldman also agreed to share profits from its private investment funds with partners, in order to address growing complaints about stagnant bonuses and the firm's at times meandering share price, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Goldman formally finalized its three-score of newpartnerships on Jan. 1. The firm will next add partners in 2022.

It declined a request for comment.

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Oisn's Doubletakes: Clara Shih returns to Salesforce after 11-year hiatus Focus reloads for M&A with $500 million debt raise, taking its credit north...

When it comes to design, Microsoft played it pretty safe with the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, sticking to the tried-and-tested cuboid, but the company could be cooking up a new console with a radical new form factor that would make the PS5 look boring by comparison.

Seamus Blackley, co-creator of the original Xbox, shared a concept for the first console that older fans might recognize, but that never came to fruition as the final design. It's a bold, X-shaped piece of hardware that is even more audacious than the PS5.

Blackley tweeted out the image, asking his followers if they'd be interested in a system that looks like the original prototype, adding the caveat that it would stream and play OG Xbox games only. Think of it as Microsoft's take on the ream of mini consoles we've seen; Blackley hasn't indicated a size, but it will sit alongside the likes of the SNES Classic, PlayStation Classic, or Sega Genesis Mini, all of which have been shrunk down.

The main difference is that those mini systems are pre-loaded with titles, whereas Microsoft would be going one better and opening up its entire library of original Xbox games to be streamed on the device.

The tweet got a positive reception, and Blackley followed up saying:

"Hey everybody- before I irritate Phil- Im psyched people like this idea. I wanted to see if people were still psyched about our old design. Im amazed by the response. Maybe this is possible. Its hard, all this stuff. But sometimes its worth the pain."

It's certainly no guarantee that we'll see such a piece of hardware come to light, but given Microsoft's willingness to just roll the dice on more whimsical projects, like the Xbox Fridge, we wouldn't discount it just yet.

You can check out what the OG Xbox prototype looked like in the flesh in the image below, shared by Xbox social marketing manager Graeme Boyd. If there's a design that can outdo the PS5, this is it.

Sony has its own plans for the PS5, and while we've not heard official word on PS5 faceplates, despite the companies that have been springing up (and being shut down), Sony did promise that we'd see "even more beautiful (and hopefully radical) special editions" of the hardware, so we'll have to wait and see what it's got up its sleeve.

(Image credit: Graeme Boyd/ Microsoft)

Today's best Microsoft Xbox Series S deals

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New Xbox streaming-only console teased and it looks even crazier than PS5 - T3

Employment has taken a severe hit since the onset of the pandemic, with roles in marketing in no way immune as many companies concluded marketing was nice to have rather than essential.

Marketing budgets were slashed and many brands shifted spend to digital media as consumers were forced to stay at home. All this means that in addition to there being fewer jobs in marketing, those that are on the table seem to skew heavily towards digital.

In fact, digital marketing jobs were some of the fastest growing in the UK last year, according to data from LinkedIn, which shows a 52% rise in demand for such roles. The focus is very much on innovative alternatives to traditional marketing, it says, with these types of roles attracting a younger demographic with an average age of 28.

Looking at the specific skills that are increasing in demand most rapidly, eight of the top 10 are related to digital and data. Paid social media has increased by 116% over the past year, followed by ad serving (85%), analytics (46%) and social media advertising (46%).

So what does this mean for senior marketers going forward? Ritson highlighted the problem in a recent article, suggesting out-of-work marketers need to pretend they believe in digital marketing if they have any hope of securing a job.

This staunch focus on digital means brands are looking for marketers to not only have a general understanding of harder skills relating to digital, data, ecommerce and social, but to be fully proficient.

Joel Barnett, managing director of recruitment firm Fortune Hill, says: The reality is, if you cant talk with substance about the digital aspect of the marketing mix, youre going to find it very hard to get a good job.

Put bluntly, he says without these digital skills, former CMOs will find it very difficult to be appointed as CMO now.

We are seeing a few instances where people have taken a number two job in effect, and gone in as a CMO minus one to get that digital company exposure and learn, with a view that it is going to be much easier for them to go back to where they were in terms of position within the organisation once they can give a much more credible understanding of digital in an interview, he adds.

Youve got to be really careful if using the term digital native as a business that youre actually not opening yourselves up for anti-discriminatory action.

While first in, first out might have been the mantra for some businesses looking to reduce headcount, Rebecca Moore, manager at Michael Page, says where redundancies have been made in marketing, its often the more senior, higher paid roles that have been cut first.

If companies were needing to cut costs it was probably more focused on stripping those senior leadership positions out, she says. It wasnt always the case, but thats what some companies were doing getting rid of those hefty salaries and upskilling those coming through the ranks.

While Barnett believes brands still recognise the value of broader marketing and brand strategy, he says the skills most in demand do relate to digital and data, which supports the LinkedIn data.

When companies are allocating more budget to digital media, they are going to be looking for experts in that space. And increasingly because companies are under financial pressure they are looking at in-housing some of the stuff they would previously have outsourced to agency partners, he says.

This rise in demand for marketers with harder digital skills is something recruiters across the marketing sector have witnessed in recent years, but something that has accelerated over the past 10 months.

It is definitely a sign of the times that nearly every marketing role now has an element of digital or social media to it, and businesses across the board are looking to increase or include their digital marketing or ecommerce offering, says Danielle Lavin, senior consultant at Ball and Hoolahan.

A lot of marketers have worked their way up the ladder as all-rounders, working on a 360-degree model. Depending on the size of the company, the more senior the role, the less hands-on they tend to be, so they have had social media, digital and ecommerce executives or agencies to delegate to and pick up on these elements of the responsibilities.

But with marketing budgets currently being cut and teams becoming leaner, this is where you see the call for senior marketing professionals to take a step back to being involved in all aspects of the marketing process, she adds.

The level of digital skill marketers need does depend on the size of the business, though, Moore suggests.

Where youve got smaller, leaner structures [marketers] are probably going to be more technically digital and hands-on. Where youve got bigger teams, typically marketers need to have a really good understanding of where digital sits within the strategy and they need to be able to manage digital agencies or manage someone on their team who is a digital specialist, but it doesnt necessarily mean they need to be an absolute expert.

Its not just marketers that are being required to brush up on digital and ecommerce, according to David Nobbs partner and head of consumer at Grace Blue Partnership, who says CEOs as much as CMOs now need to ensure they have a good understanding.

Being buzzword proficient is one thing, but truly understanding those customer journeys across all the different digital customer points is becoming critical because that determines the success or failure of businesses, he says.

Using food as an example, he says businesses that may have supplied to restaurants prior to the pandemic have moved to a more customer-focused, direct-to-consumer proposition overnight, whether thats building direct channels or repackaging products.

You just cant rely on hiring a person who is a digital expert to be able to do that, youve got to be able to think of the whole strategy across all facets of the business, because its all interconnected across the supply chain, from product manufacture through to the customers door, he says.

Im not saying every CMO needs to be a digital director, but they need to have a much better understanding of the full marketing mix in order to be able to pivot themselves throughout that start-stop environment.

Brands need to be careful when it comes to recruiting that they dont use terms like digital native anecdotally something marketers have seen more of as this could rule out a whole swathe of people who cant technically be digital natives given their age.

By using that term you risk coming across as discriminatory, Barnett says. If you started your career before [Facebook and YouTube became prominent], its hard to define yourself as a digital native. The internet has been prevalent in consumers lives since just before the turn of the century, but before that all media was offline. You could argue youre a digital native if you started work before 2000, but typically what companies mean when they say digital native is somebody who grew up in a largely digital world.

He suggests most companies actually mean they want someone with a deeply evolved understanding of digital business.

The gravitas and knowledge that comes from spending time in the industry and working your way up organically is not something that a lot of digital specialists will have.

Nobbs agrees, recalling a number of clients over the past 15 years wanting to hire a young highflyer, someone whos digital, adding its usually younger, entrepreneurial business leaders who will say that.

While he listens to these requests from clients, he always challenges them. I remember a big sports rights organisation saying they wanted someone a bit like us they had two chief execs who were in their 30s. The person I appointed was 54 and actually he had more energy and did triathlons for breakfast He had the right expertise, he understood digital for sure. Was he a digital native? Well, it depends how you define it.

Nobbs also warns that someone who has grown up entirely focused on digital often has blindspots around brand.

I wouldnt use the phrase digital native in a brief or an advert. [To me] its someone who gets digital in addition to having broader expertise, he adds.

By focusing their attention on the need for a digital native, companies also risk missing out on the expertise and skills more senior marketers can bring to the table.

Lavin says in most cases mainstream social media and digital marketing hasnt been around long enough for there to be senior level people in these roles.

The gravitas and knowledge that comes from spending time in the industry and working your way up organically is not something that a lot of digital specialists will have, so there is definitely still a call for senior marketers that are willing to be agile, flexible and adaptable to avoid being left on the shelf, she adds.

Despite the increased focus on digital skills, Barnett says senior marketers, who given their experience tend to be older, shouldnt automatically be at a disadvantage.

Its a fallacy to state that younger people know more about the digital world than older people, he suggests. There is the reality that if its all youve ever known then youve got nothing to compare it to, but I know a huge numbers of people who have done an enormous amount of work to self-educate, have taken reverse mentoring and spent a lot of time with customers and tech functions within their business to evolve their understanding.

He references Adidass vice-president of marketing Roy Gardner who is included in Fortune Hills book Excerpts From Experts: Marketing. [Gardner] says to remember that the answer to every question is not prefixed with the word digital. There is a lot more to marketing than what shows up online and through social channels.

Its also not unattainable for senior marketers to learn these skills and be in as good a position from a recruitment perspective as someone who has been involved in digital marketing for much longer given the past pace of change.

Things are happening so fast and people are constantly having to get to grips with [changes and updates], says John Hunter, senior consultant at Fortune Hill. If youve worked in digital businesses for the past decade or so its not necessarily the case that you will have a better digital skillset than someone who has just done digital for the past few years. Youll have a comparable understanding of whats currently happening.

A lot of people think they cant compete with someone whos got decades of experience, but actually a lot of that experience is now redundant, its not relevant in this day and age.

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Social experts and digital specialists: The state of the marketing jobs market - Marketing Week

Small nonprofits might have the opportunity to be nimble and quick in their operations, but one wouldnt know it by looking at their digital operations. According to a new study based largely on organizations with fewer than 100 employees, many are missing opportunities to spread their message online.

Fewer than half of responding nonprofit managers reported having a codified digital marketing strategy, according to data from digital marketing and technology agency Tapp Network in Wilmington, Del., and San Francisco-based civil society organization consultancy TechSoup. Most managers are conservative when it comes to advertising on the web: Only 23% use paid ads, and of those, four out of five spend less than $500 per month on paid advertising.

A good primer in digital advertising might demonstrate the value of online marketing for nonprofits. While most respondents claimed they dont have the budget for paid advertising campaigns, a healthy chunk said they didnt know how to generate online ads. A small sliver 6% had tried online advertising but said their efforts had been unsuccessful.

Facebook reigns supreme among those nonprofits using paid online advertising, with 73% relying on that platform. Another 30% use Google Search Ads.

Given their limited budgets, nonprofits would be likely candidates to explore earned media exposure based on the value of the content they provide. Its a wonder, then, that more dont blog: 68% report not hosting their own outlet. Another quarter blog, but only once or twice a month. Fewer than 2% blog more than five times a month.

Social media platform use will vary from organization to organization. Those with a more professional bent might prefer to stick to LinkedIn, while those that are visually oriented will likely find the most welcome home in Instagram. Overall, most (97%) have at least some presence on Facebook, followed by Twitter (55%), Instagram (45%) and LinkedIn (37%).

Nonprofits are on Facebook, but are they using the platform to its fullest extent? Signs point to no. Only 41% are taking advantage of Facebook Fundraising surprising, given that 57% of those using this feature rate it as either somewhat or extremely successful.

Seven of 10 respondents do not have a coherent email marketing strategy, one that involves systematic communication. Of those that do, many are not segmenting their outreach based on the content of their emails. More than four in 10 do not have the ability to parse out their emails based on relevance, and 8% dont even understand the value of segmenting.

Both email marketing and social media platforms offer automation features, which can take a lot of the grunt work out of using these tools. More than seven in 10 do not use any email automation, and six in 10 do not automate their social media messaging.

There is one area in which nonprofits are examining their electronic marketing activities: A healthy chunk are taking a look at their websites, with 43% planning a website relaunch within the next year. The COVID-19 crisis may have forced their hand in this: the new or reformatted site may be necessary to reflect operational changes wrought by the pandemic.

Total relaunches aside, nonprofits refresh the content on their websites at different rates. More than one-third (34%) update their sites quarterly, with another 15% doing so monthly. Just fewer than one-quarter (24%) provide freshened content weekly, with 37% taking a passive approach, refreshing content only when informed it is out of date.

The quickest way to refresh a site is to update posted information through a content management system. Fortunately, 69% of respondents use a platform that incorporates such a system.

TechSoup and Tapp Network based their findings on survey of 267 nonprofit responses collected between April 1 and July 1, 2020, and might not reflect the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Fewer Than 50% Of Nonprofits Have A Digital Marketing Strategy - The NonProfit Times