While there is a Silver Bullet train operated by a well-known beer manufacturer, Boomtrain CEO Nick Edwards believes his personalization machine just received a $12 million cash infusion from investors for the sole reason that it is not a silver bullet solution.
“The other providers of so-called personalization tech take one of two approaches—segmentation through a rules-based engine or machine learning in a silver bullet approach that says ‘Here’s a magic algorithm that will personalize the experience for your customers,’” Edwards says. “We’ve found that silver bullets fundamentally don’t work. Companies have distinct and unique needs.”
Custom solutions employing first-party data, such as those implemented by huge enterprises like Amazon and Netflix, have proved the gold standard for personalization, argues Edwards, so Boomtrain has hired some of the people who operated the controls at those companies to design its own machine-learning-fueled platform.
Few other companies may be equipped to match Amazon’s personalization muscle, but Edwards is of the opinion they should try. “We don’t think marketers want to cede 100% of control to Facebook; they should be investing in their own technology,” he says. “What Boomtrain is effectively doing is allowing our customers to have tech similar to Facebook’s.”
Boomtrain will use some of its new cash to expand its staff and improve its capabilities in channels including email, mobile, and Web. The funding was provided by Sierra Ventures, Cota Capital, and Lerer Ventures.
