iContact Launches Social Media Product As Part of Digital Marketing Platform

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- iContact, a leading email and social media marketing company, today launched its new social media marketing product. iContact empowers businesses to perform their social media and email marketing within a single all-in-one digital marketing platform. From this single product, businesses can now directly publish, schedule, and track their social media marketing efforts on Facebook and Twitter either as stand alone campaigns or integrated with their email marketing campaigns.

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According to the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 88 percent of marketers view social media as a key component for increasing brand exposure and reach. iContact allows businesses to capitalize on this opportunity by integrating social media channels into existing email marketing campaigns and disseminating social media messages through Facebook or Twitter.

"Social networks continue to grow and transform business communications, yet businesses have lacked the insight and capabilities to utilize these channels to their full potential," said Jeff Revoy, chief product and marketing officer at iContact. "iContact's new social media marketing solution provides valuable insight into which channels, content and messages resonate most with key audiences. We are providing the foundation for businesses to have more meaningful social media interactions with their customers and constituents."

"We post to our Facebook and Twitter accounts almost daily to share insightful articles, tips and other industry news," said Lauren Watral, geriatric care manager at Raleigh Geriatric Care Management, an iContact customer. "iContact provides a robust platform where we can efficiently manage our social media and email marketing needs in one location, saving us valuable time and resources and providing the tools we need to succeed."

Through iContact's social analytics engine, users can measure the reach of their social media posts including the number of "Likes," "Comments" and "Retweets."  Using Facebook and Twitter's API, iContact pulls tracking information about each Facebook or Twitter account and any posted messages. The iContact social media marketing product set includes:

• Social Publishing - Customers won't have to log into Facebook or Twitter to conduct multi-channel marketing campaigns. It can all be done through iContact quickly and easily through a friendly user interface mirroring Facebook and Twitter.

• Social Analytics - Customers view more detailed tracking information and reports, beyond what is currently provided by Facebook and Twitter, in order to better measure the impact of their social media marketing efforts. In real-time, users can view the number of Fans for each page within a Facebook account or followers with Twitter. Once content is shared, they can access the total number of "Likes," "Comments" and "Clicks" through Facebook and the number of "Retweets" via Twitter.  

• Social Scheduling – iContact users can log in and input all of their social media posts at one time and schedule them to publish at a specified future date. Users can also save posts as drafts, enabling review prior to posting.

While many small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) view social media as an important marketing tool, they are often challenged with limited resources to execute campaigns, or don't have the tracking and analytics capabilities to show the true value of social media marketing.  iContact engaged further with SMBs to start a conversation on the challenges they experience in using social media.  The company will publish results of an SMB social media survey and continue the conversation on social media with a special video contest to be announced Oct. 25, 2011.

iContact social media marketing solution is available immediately. For more information, please visit www.icontact.com.

About iContact

Based in Raleigh, NC, iContact provides email and social media marketing software and services. More than one million users have signed up for an iContact account. The company provides email marketing services via iContactPlus and social media marketing services via iConnect. As part of its ongoing social mission, iContact is a B Corp and applies the 4-1s Corporate Social Responsibility Model, donating 1 percent from each of its payroll, equity, product, and employee time to non-profit organizations. Visit us online at iContact.com, on Twitter @iContact, at our LinkedIn Group, and at our Facebook page.

For media inquiries, contact Davida Dinerman or Michael McDonough, Schwartz MSL, 781-684-0770, [email protected].

SOURCE iContact