Background: Adobe is the creative software giant behind Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Acrobat - basically the entire toolkit used by designers, marketers and video editors. Semrush, on the other hand, is the marketing platform that helps businesses grow online through SEO data, content insights and competitor analysis.

What happened: Adobe announced it will acquire Semrush for $1.9 billion USD, paying a 77.5% premium on Semrush’s previous share price. It’s a hefty price tag considering Semrush isn’t a major revenue engine yet, but Adobe believes the strategic value is worth it.

What else: Adobe wants to expand what it can offer its existing customer base, and adding a full marketing intelligence platform gives them a major edge.

What's the key learning?

💡The easiest revenue boost isn’t finding new customers, it’s giving your current ones more reasons to stick around. Adobe already dominates the creative world, but their users now do more than design - they manage social media, run ads and obsess over SEO.

💡Expanding a product ecosystem is often more valuable than trying to acquire a brand new audience. Just like Spotify added podcasts and audiobooks to deepen engagement with its existing listeners, Adobe is widening its offering so customers can do more without leaving the platform.

💡So Semrush gives Adobe a strategic building block for an all-in-one creative and marketing platform.