Santa Cruz Company Acquired by National Institute for Social Media
OMCP founder Michael Stebbins, NISM CEO Jennifer Radke
Be sure to join OMCP founder Michael Stebbins at our upcoming events: CEO Works, and 10 Marketing Myths Debunked.
The National Institute for Social Media (NISM), the leading social media certification and education organization, announced today it has acquired Santa Cruz-based OMCP, the digital marketing certification body and industry standards association.
OMCP offers certifications in SEO, advertising, analytics, conversion, and other digital marketing practices, with over 1000 universities, colleges, and training providers teaching to OMCP standards. More than 70,000 candidates have trained to the OMCP standard to date.
“Adding OMCP under our umbrella increases our reach in helping professionals and recent grads to build a lucrative career in digital marketing,” NISM CEO Jennifer Radke said. “I’m also excited to work with OMCP’s 1000 universities, colleges, and training institutes to teach programs to the combined NISM and OMCP global standards.
Starting the standard in 2012, OMCP co-founder Michael Stebbins separated the standards from platforms such as Google or Bing and chose to accredit leading training providers such as Market Motive and Simplilearn instead of competing with them.
As a part of NISM, OMCP will expand its certification exams, training services, and member benefits using practices already established by NISM.
“NISM has already established its reputation and community in a very effective way,” said Michael Stebbins, co-founder of OMCP. “Now, NISM and OMCP are the only organizations that offer platform-agnostic, reputable certifications. This will continue to be the gold standard for marketing professionals to grow and develop their careers.”
“The industry has long needed a complete standard and community of practice,” Jennifer Radke added. “At NISM, we now have the complete coverage of the digital marketing practice and standard and are already seeing an increase in participation.”
Santa Cruz Works caught up with Michael Stebbins to get the local-business-does-good perspective on the acquisition.
What was the motivation to start OMCP?
OMCP was founded and based in Scotts Valley by Michael Stebbins with John Marshall and Avinash Kaushik (Google) as directors. I created the company because the digital marketing industry needed a set of standards that were independent from platforms and training providers. I modeled OMCP after PMI (Project Management Institute) and invited Mark Langley, then CEO of PMI to advise us. We also were guided by Ilonka Laviz of P&G, and Dr. Emad Rahim, of Bellevue University, Martin VanDershouw and dozens of other authors and leaders in digital marketing including local marketing expert Philippa Gamse. Our offices were on Victor Square for a few years before opting for virtual work with remote employees from Santa Cruz, Oakland, and Phoenix.
Can you tell us about the acquisition?
OMCP has been growing steadily since 2014, but in many ways I was holding it back, distracted by other projects. I’d been looking over the fence for some time admiring what NISM has been doing in terms of community and social presence. While OMCP has volume and growth, our members have been asking for the very things NISM does so well.
The transaction started in October of 2022 and will be complete in April 2023. NISM acquired 100% of OMCP in an all-cash transaction. Michael and the OMCP advisory board and service providers agreed to continue to grow the combined entity. Other terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
Jennifer Radke, CEO of NISM and her team are really easy to work with and I continue to enjoy advising and watching careers get changed for the better with independent certification. Jennifer’s leadership is what the digital marketing industry needs at this time.”
Of course, Bill Richter of Richter Law here advised us on the transaction he has on all deals we’ve done here in Santa Cruz.
Why did you choose Santa Cruz as the location for your business?
“I was born here and went to school here, Ben Lomond to Bonny Doon, Santa Cruz to Watsonville to Scotts Valley. I learned computer science at UCSC and that led me to work for one of the professors, Dr. Frank DeRemer, at MetaWare supporting compilers. I eventually moved into sales and then marketing when I brought a competing compiler company from Scotland to Scotts Valley. Round about 2001 I was buying digital ads and wrote some tools to measure their performance. Good marketers love to be measured and the ability to see, instantly, what ads were generating profit opened up a whole new opportunity to accelerate businesses growth using digital marketing. And that’s just what I did, building ClickTracks with John Marshall, starting Market Motive, Brainwaves Toys – all which got acquired with very nice multiples to the investors, all in Santa Cruz. The most recent company I founded was OMCP with John Marshall and Avinash Kaushik of Google. So in all, Santa Cruz has been a great home and a place for innovation, talent, and building businesses.
What’s next?
After an acquisition, I like to focus on helping others for a while. I find that ideas for the next venture come up with writing, teaching and coaching others. So you’ll see me volunteering to teach sessions on entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and talent development. A book I co-authored, Digital Marketing Fundamentals (Wiley 2023) just made #1 New Release on Amazon this month, and I’m working on another book that describes some, well, I’ll say unconventional methods to build a business from idea to $20M. The working title is Backward Entrepreneur. And of course I have another venture in mind already. More on that towards the end of the year.
About OMPC
OMCP is a certification standard and an industry association that maintains the competency and exam standards for online marketing in coordination with industry leaders. Their staff provides certification verification and credentialing of individual practitioners, agencies, and educational institutions.
OMCP publishes competency standards used for curriculum and employee evaluation, the industry body of knowledge, certification exams, readiness tests, and podcasts related to best practices in online marketing. OMCP does not provide training. It is an independent standard, not tied to any one platform, training provider, agency, or vendor.
About NISM
The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) is dedicated to social media certification and education for professional social media practitioners. NISM curriculum is designed by educators and leaders in digital marketing and communication to validate the core skills essential for success in the various vocations of social media. Not only does NISM offer exceptional education, but it’s also a life-long community for professional development, continuing education, and sharing best practices.
NISM sets the industry standards for social certification and offers industry-leading educational programs in social media to help students prepare for the NISM Social Media Strategist certification.
For more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact Chuck Hester - chuck@apurposepartnership.com or 919/607-1522.