Salesforce launches Social.com, a social advertising app based on Brighter Option

Enterprise cloud software titan Salesforce has launched a new social advertising management app called Social.com that will become the third offering in Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud.

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Salesforce has used the past few months to emphasize that it now wants to help businesses become “customer companies” and spark a “trust revolution.” To do this, it wants people to use its Marketing Cloud to better connect with customers. Marketing Cloud is already used by 55 businesses in the Fortune 100 and includes Radian6 and Buddy Media, two companies previously acquired by Salesforce. Now Social.com will be the third puff in this cloud of products.

“We think social is one of the most transformed ways to market,” Gordon Evans, VP of product marketing for Marketing Cloud, told VentureBeat. “The audience has moved online … and it’s an incredible targeting opportunity.”

Social.com’s roots lie in Brighter Option, a company Buddy Media acquired back in Feb. 2012. When Buddy Media was acquired by Salesforce in August 2012, Brighter Option and its team came along with the deal.

Brighter Option offered social ad management software to make it easier for businesses to create, monitor, and measure Twitter, Facebook, and other social ads. So Salesforce has taken Brighter Option’s core features, revamped the package with Buddy Media and Radian6 integration, and changed the name to something with an easy-to-remember URL. Salesforce has done app revamps similar to this previously with Do.com, which used to be Manymoon and Desk.com, which used to be Assistly.

The main features Social.com includes are:

• Create and optimize social ad campaigns
• Connect brands with agencies for better ad results
• Define goals and the app will optimize accordingly
• Adjust ad spend automatically
• Connect Radian6 social listening to create relevant campaigns
• Connect Salesforce CRM customer data to target and optimize social ads
• Simple self-service application

Salesforce insists that Social.com works best when your company also uses Radian6 and Buddy Media because the apps are integrated. Basically, Radian6’s social listening and Buddy Media’s social posting abilities give you more insight and control over campaigns.

“There is so much advantage to using them together and integrated with Salesforce data,” Evans said. “They’re all great products alone but it becomes a powerhouse when used together.”

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Some of the top advertising companies in the world are already using Social.com, including OmicomGroup, WPP Group, Mindshare, Mediacom, and Razorfish.