Not satisfied with being a major player in the CRM space, Salesforce announced the launch of Social.com, a platform that essentially enables real time, optimized placement of social ads. Described by the company as “the world’s first social advertising application that connects social ads with CRM and social listening,” we think it’ll likely be something worth keeping on your radar screen.
Salesforce isn’t fooling around. The acquisitions of Radian6 and Buddy Media in the last year or so have made it even more of a powerhouse as a one-stop sales and marketing solution and Social.com sweetens the deal even more. The sales pitch is that using Social.com, brands and agencies can leverage real time customer and social listening data to power their Twitter and Facebook ad campaigns. If it lives up to the hype, this does not suck. Not one bit.
The focus here is purportedly to allow brands and agencies to “reach new customers in entirely new ways” and also to “maximize return on advertising dollars” using a process-focused, self-service application. This means the magic formula of the right message, delivered to the right customer at exactly the right time. Oh, sweet data, there is so much power in business intelligence it makes me swoon. Listening, targeting, segmentation, customization, location—all components of the magic formula. And if Social.com can deliver on this, it’s a win. A win for brands. A win for agencies. A win for clients. And a win for consumers.
My only concern is that the Social.com platform might turn out to be interesting, but just average in terms of functionality. And of course I say this without experimenting with it at all, so please keep that in mind. By way of example, Radian6 is, by most accounts, an average product that captured significant amounts of mindshare based on smart marketing and identification and utilization of well-known brand evangelists. It’s certainly not the best product on the market–at best, it’s passable. But it’s one of the best-known SMM products on the market (which, again, doesn’t necessarily make it a good product).
According to data from BIA Kelsey, with marketers expected to spend up to $11 billion on social advertising by 2017 and social media being the number one consumer activity worldwide, this kind of tool that allows for listening, targeting, customization, metrics and data management and integration of all of that sweetness into your corporate CRM is a smart move. A very smart move.
The launch of Social.com comes at an opportune time as Twitter and Facebook continue to launch more advertising-related features and tools—and they’re not cheap, which means companies are interested in getting the most bang for their buck while also driving website visits and purchases. One way to do that? Create highly customized, targeted ad campaigns built on integrated listening and data. And the fact that it’s real-time information is even more important, because it gives you the opportunity to change your messaging or approach based on the most up-to-date information about your customers and prospects.
While we’re on the subject of social advertising, here’s an interesting opportunity that just appeared on my radar. You might consider making room in your schedule this afternoon for “The State of Social Ads,” a webinar hosted by Salesforce Marketing Cloud VP Peter Goodman, from 2 to 3 p.m. EDT today.
What other solutions like Social.com are out there that you’re using or thinking about using? Let me know about them in the comments, because you know how much I’d like to be checking them out.
Image via Salesforce
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”