Facebook joins IBM’s Commerce THINKLab to enhance social marketing

IBM researchers, Facebook experts, domain experts, designers and other partners will be available to work side by side with clients to identify specific areas of need and generate new solutions.

The two companies have announced that they will collaborate to provide the world’s leading brands with tailored marketing capabilities that reach the right people at the right time with the right message.

IBM’s marketing cloud clients can now utilize Facebook’s powerful ad capabilities such as Custom Audiences, along with IBM’s deep analytics and design features, to create meaningful experiences for their customers across applications, devices and time. Using IBM’s new Journey Designer, brands can create personalized customer experiences across all engagement touch points and then use Journey Analytics to gain an understanding, at an aggregate level, of how customers responded.

By combining Facebook’s ad technologies with IBM’s Journey Analytics, brands can more accurately determine which groups of customers are among the 1.44 billion people active on Facebook and establish correlations in aggregate between their interests and interactions across multiple channels. These insights can then be brought to life through IBM’s Journey Designer solution, guiding brands to deliver more compelling messages on Facebook and other mediums.

“Our partnership with IBM will help top brands achieve personalization at scale by using IBM’s marketing cloud to find and engage their target audiences on Facebook, as well as solve their vexing challenges by consulting with IBM Commerce THINKLab, ” said Blake Chandlee, VP of Partnerships for Facebook. “We will also be working closely with IBM Commerce THINKLab to help deliver people-based marketing that’s optimized to achieve each brand’s business goals.”

IBM will use deep analytics, on top of Facebook’s anonymized and aggregate audience insights with additional information from IBM’s marketing cloud so marketers have a clearer picture of their target audiences. Marketers can also replicate proven campaigns beyond Facebook to other brand channels including their stores, websites and through mobile apps to reach the customer wherever they most prefer to connect with the brand. All of this means better ads for people.

For example, a retailer launching a new line of running gear can use Facebook’s Custom Audiences and targeting solutions to segment its customer groups that are interested in long-distance running. The retailer can then glean aggregated insights into the audience’s preferences in running gear and, based on location, offer deals on apparel that fit the appropriate training climate.

“Brands understand the increasing need to provide customers with powerful and personalized experiences to nurture loyalty,” said Deepak Advani, General Manager, IBM Commerce. “Through this collaboration, consumer product companies and retailers will be able to quickly and easily gain deeper insight into what their customers expect and provide them with compelling experiences that bridge the physical and virtual divide.”

IBM Commerce THINKLab unites IBM researchers, designers, domain experts and now Facebook, the first company to join this collaborative environment. THINKLab’s unique methodology is designed to accelerate innovations that address specific client needs – such as price optimization or inventory analytics – and quickly put them into practice to advance customer service excellence. Cross-functional teams work side by side to analyze data sets, conduct user research, map out approaches and test them in the marketplace. Real-time market feedback allows the teams to explore and combine new technologies into a single integrated solution that addresses a client’s unique challenge and delivers immediate value to their business.

IBM Commerce helps more than 35,000 clients across the globe deliver personalized experiences at every touch point to drive consumer trust and brand advocacy. The IBM Commerce portfolio marries a $24B investment in analytics, the deep industry insight of 8,000 consultants and 100+ SaaS offerings that integrate capabilities from IBM Research, analytics, security and cloud. IBM currently holds 1,500 active Commerce related patents to drive innovation in the space.