AmEx Leads $12 Million Round In Clickable, Which Wants To “Become The AdWords Of Social”

When it comes to managing search and social marketing campaigns, Clickable is cementing its position across a broad spectrum of marketers, especially small and medium sized businesses. The New York City company just got a big financial vote of confidence from its biggest partner, American Express, which is leading a $12 million series C. Previous investors Union Square, Founders Fund, and FirstMark are also participating. American Express is already a major distribution partner for Clickable, reselling its ad management platform to its small business customers.

The last time Clickable raised money was more than three years ago when it closed a $14.5 million series B. CEO David Kidder confirms that the valuation was significantly higher this time around. Clickable already employs 160 people, and Kidder expects to hit operating profitability next year. The new funds will be used primarily to expand his salesforce and move more aggressively into the nascent social advertising market.

“We want to become the AdWords of social,” says Kidder. Clickable was an early Facebook Ads partner, allowing its users to manage their Facebook ads through Clickable since March, 2010. Clickable lets marketers upload social ads in bulk, track conversions, and compare to their marketing campaigns elsewhere, including search marketing campaigns. “We look at it as one platform across all the networks,” says Kidder. Twitter and LinkedIn will be next.

With the launch of Clickable 3 in the first quarter of next year, search and social marketing campaigns will become more aligned. “We are looking at the inter-relationships between search and social, which is significant. We think those worlds will be closely tied together,” he says.