Last updated on August 7th, 2015 at 02:31 pm
Recently, Montreal-based social media analytics company Engagement Labs announced that it has acquired Keller Fay Group, a multinational organization which specializes in offline social media analytics. How does this acquisition align with Engagement Labs’ long term strategy, and how can B2Bs benefit from this new, integrated offering?
Since 2008, Engagement Labs has been providing analytical tools that measure a brand’s return on investment in social media campaigns. At the time of its press release to announce the acquisition of Keller Fay Group, the company’s shares were up to $0.47, representing a 17.5 percent increase.
This acquisition is a continuation of Engagement Labs’ expansion into the U.S. and U.K. markets. In an official statement to press, Engagement Lab CEO Bryan Segal said, “Keller Fay’s proprietary industry leading research and data quantitatively measures offline social conversations and the impact they have on purchasing decisions. Combined with Engagement Labs’ proprietary eValueTM scoring tool that measures digital social media marketing performance, marketers will for the first time be able to assess the online and offline impact of their marketing investment in a single integrated fashion.”
It’s an ambitious step forward, but Segal stresses that it is a natural progression for the business as a part of its overall growth strategy. “Engagement Labs has always been a social media tool for marketers by marketers,” he tells B2B News Network. “We try to develop an industry currency for marketers to score social media interaction, to help them understand what their ROI is from social media. That is the core of our business, and we’ve had a successful run so far.”
Segal explains the integration of Keller Fay’s offline social media analytics is similar to when mobile marketing was incorporated into digital media marketing. There was also the integration of other media such as video and social into mainstream marketing campaigns. “We’re now adding offline social media to online as part of that natural progression,” he explains.
What is offline social media? How is it measured and how is it significant? Some believe that social media pertains to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc., Segal states. “But the other aspect of social media is the human aspect, the conversations people have when they go home. They talk about brands and products as well as a part of their daily activities. That is social media, too.”
He adds, “Keller Fay has measured word of mouth marketing for nine-plus years. They are the best of breed solutions for social media measurement in the offline world. With this acquisition, we intertwine their understanding of social media offline with our understanding of social media online to provide marketers with a total understanding of interaction across social media.”
The B2C spillover
Is offline social media analysis something B2Bs can take advantage of? The answer, according to Segal, is yes. “There is a definite spillover from B2C to B2B,” he says, “especially in the social sphere where it’s personal. There is a huge opportunity given that companies respond on social media. It’s very much intertwined with their brand page. Social channels are very important from a B2B perspective, and we help our clients understand that. What you have to remember about the B2B sphere is something which many marketers overlook, and that is that companies talk to companies. These are social conversations, too. The conversation happen from people to people, and people work for businesses.”
The acquisition of Keller Fay Group is certainly an exciting venture for Engagement Labs. So what does the future hold?
“If I had a whole answer to that, I’d be a rich guy,” Segal laughs. He adds, “Marketing and social media marketing is changing so quickly. We are a client-centric company that uses market research and analytics to drive business decisions. We will continue our organic core, and layer in acquisitions to drive customer interaction. And we will continue to look for opportunities to enhance and enrich our data supply to help our clients.”
Main photo via Flickr, Creative Commons
