Company: iFOLIO, Atlanta GA
Company Description: IFOLIO powers marketing and communications services across 5,000 clients through the delivery of omni channel user experiences that inform, engage, and excite viewers. Started in 2016 by Jean Marie Richardson and based in Atlanta, GA, iFOLIO has won 13 awards and has 3 patents on web analytics.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Female Entrepreneur – Business Products –11 to 2,500 Employees
 Nomination Title: Jean Marie Richardson, President & CEO
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2021 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 196 words used.
Jean Marie Richardson is the Founder and CEO of iFOLIO, the integrated digital marketing platform that serves all industries, and powers brands like Notre Dame, Madison Square Garden, the MLB, Clemson University, and more.
After working at Oracle and Microsoft and experiencing firsthand the challenges supporting sales and marketing, she created iFOLIO. iFOLIO is a single collaborative platform for teams to go digital, speeding up digital transformation.
Jean Marie’s vision to support thousands of clients with personalized digital marketing is backed by significant investors including John Brock, retired chairman of Coca Cola Enterprises and 18 investors. iFOLIO has raised $11 Million to date, is valued at $150 Million, and is used by over 5,000 clients.
Named one of Atlanta’s Most Innovative companies by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, iFOLIO has helped customers generate 300% growth through marketing and millions of dollars of increased sales annually.
Less than 1% of tech company founders are female. As a female founder, Richardson fosters diversity, team culture, and innovation. She holds 3 patents, serves on 5 boards, and made a seven figure gift to endow scholarships for women at Georgia Tech. 100% of iFOLIO employees trust her as a leader.
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2021 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
For 12 years Jean Marie has been passionate about making work easier for marketing leaders and more personalized for customers. She knew from experience that marketing can be challenging, so she created this technology to help people collaborate across teams and deliver incredible digital marketing for web, email, and text message channels. iFOLIO helps teams measure their content and campaigns with patented analytics, driving effectiveness and impact.
In a proactive business move, Richardson helped iFOLIO raise $4 Million in July 2023, valuing the company at $150 Million. This came after a momentous year, doubling sales, expanding into new markets, launching new products, and landing more patents. In a year where most tech had 50% churn, iFOLIO had 10% and zero churn in certain markets.
Jean Marie has been awarded a Georgia Tech Woman of Impact in 2023, a Woman of Influence Award from the National Diversity Council highlighting leaders who have increased revenue and profits, and the Young Entrepreneur Award from the National Federation of Independent Business. iFOLIO has won 13 awards including Best in Georgia for Personalized Digital Marketing in 2022.
Jean Marie introduced a solution for customers where they get both a platform and creative services to help them deliver unique marketing to meet their needs. She fosters a work culture of open communication, encourages a glass half full and customer first mentality, and supports service projects with PTO, fueling iFOLIO’s successful innovations.
iFOLIO has 5,000 clients and drives engagement in 50 US States and 100 Countries.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
Creating iFOLIO based on her personal experience supporting sales and marketing, Jean recognizes the challenges facing a marketer supporting a sales client and end customers, and the complexity delivering omnichannel solutions across multiple platforms.
She strives to create collaboration and alignment inside teams where these factors are crucial to employee happiness and brand success.
iFOLIO understands that one of the best marketing for a brand is their people, and the innovative platform infuses personalization into marketing from digital business cards, to digital presentations, to campaigns personalized to individual clients.
Where teams often have to use 5 platforms for marketing and the content creators lose sight of the end customer, iFOLIO enables a single integrated platform with full collaboration across teams from content creation to delivery, to analytics. It enables quicker turnaround, more automation, less manual work. This results in better outcomes and happier teams.
Given many tech clients suffer from low utilization, iFOLIO developed a solution where a client gets both a platform and creative team and training to help them build and deliver unique digital marketing to fit their needs. iFOLIO’s real time analytics show any user exactly how much content they have and the seconds of engagement from their clients.
“iFOLIO has been a game-changer for our team. The ability to share custom content one-to-one has helped make our outreach more personal and relevant, and the response rate and returns we are seeing have been incredible. I can’t recommend iFOLIO enough” says Kevin Frost, Notre Dame.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 219 words used.
1. iFOLIO Voted Best in Georgia for Personalized Digital Marketing: https://www.gbj.com/best-of/winners/2022/business-consulting
2. iFOLIO Announces Third Patent for Analytics of Digital Customer Engagement: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ifolio-announces-third-patent-for-analytics-of-digital-customer-engagement-301806321.html
3. iFOLIO Innovates with Purl product: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ifolio-announces-purls-product-bringing-personalized-digital-marketing-at-scale-to-businesses-and-organizations-301791762.html
4. iFOLIO Mobile Trends from 300 Million Seconds of Customer Engagement Help Companies Plan Marketing Strategies: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mobile-trends-from-300-000-000-seconds-of-customer-engagement-help-companies-plan-marketing-strategies-301399290.html
5. Personalized URL Campaigns Success at University of South Carolina: https://ifoliocloud.com/University-of-South-Carolina-PURL-Campaign-Success
6. Colleges Trust iFOLIO® Marketing Cloud to Accelerate Growth: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/colleges-trust-ifolio-marketing-cloud-to-accelerate-growth-301576390.html
7. iFOLIO website: www.ifoliocloud.com
8. iFOLIO Testimonials: https://ifoliocloud.com/Testimonials
9. iFOLIO News Stories: https://ifoliocloud.com/stories
10. iFOLIO Team Page: https://ifoliocloud.com/About-Us
11. Jean Marie Richardson Bio:https://ifoliocloud.com/Meet-Jean-Marie-Richardson
12. Jean Marie Richardson joins Georgia Tech Advisory Board to the President: https://president.gatech.edu/about/advisory-board
13. Jean Marie was awarded patent US 10,996,933,B2 on customer engagement web analytics in 2021, US 17,216,589 patent in 2022 and US 11,630,652 B2 patent in 2023:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ifolio-announces-third-patent-for-analytics-of-digital-customer-engagement-301806321.html
14. Jean Marie Richardson builds a legacy: https://development.gatech.edu/impact/jean-marie-richardson-builds-legacy
15. Jean Marie Richardson speaks at GT Athletics Endowment Dinner: https://youtu.be/pjJVbHl5_gY
16. Salesforce video with Jean Marie 2- Meet iFOLIO – Mar 23:https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpS73zGDnXV/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
| Attachments/Videos/Links: |
|---|
|
