Optimal opens up sharing of data to non-subscribers

Steven Loeb · February 4, 2013 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/2d52

Data from Optimal Expander can now be shared a maximum of 50 times a month

In order to effectively advertise on social media, brands need insights into the users they are advertising to. They can find out information about what users like, what they search for and what they are talking about and more. This information in invaluable to marketers and ad agencies, but what good is that data if users can't share the data with anyone else? It makes creating a campaign based on the data much more difficult than if the information could simply be shared with others.

That is why Optimal, the social media advertising and analytics platform, has launched a new feature for its Optimal Expander product Monday, allowing paying subscribers to share results with non-subscribers in an effort to increase collaboration. 

Those who subscribe to Optimal's product can npw share their results with non-subscribers, a maximum of 50 time per month. Keyword expansions can be shared with co-workers, clients and partners through unique, short URLs, which are designed to let subscribers track which partners have seen the data.

"Our goal is to provide all companies using social media – from small businesses to large enterprises and their agencies – essential consumer insights tools to drive their social media strategy," Rob Leathern, Optimal's founder and CEO, said in statement. "These insights can drive creative and content planning too: thus the ability to share and follow up on these discoveries with colleagues and partners is crucial."

Optimal Expander is a self-service software suite that uncovers keyword targets that customers use often in order to help marketers make better ad buys through research based on social media data. These results can be sorted by similarity rank, reach, gender split, age or CPC. 

Expander's "keyword export functionality," allows it so that the results can be downloaded into a CSV file, or exported to purchase ads on Facebook via API partner tools such as Optimal’s, Facebook’s Power Editor or their self-service ads interface.

There are three versions of Expander: a free version, a Silver version and a Platinum version. The Silver and Platinum versions of the product allow for sharing of data to non-subcribers of Optimal.

  • The free version is only available in the United States, gives 15 results per query, and allows for only 5 queries a day. Users do not have the ability to archive or share results, and will only have access to Facebook.
  • The Silver version is also only available in the United States. It gives 50 results per query, and allows for 10 queries a day. Users can archive or share results, but they will not have access to a campaign designer. Like the free version, user will only have access to Facebook. The Silver version usually costs $199 a month, but it being offered for an introductory rate of $99 per month through March 31st.
  • The Platinum version of Expander is available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Users get 100 results per query, and the number of queries per day is unlimited. Users can archive or share results, and have access to a campaign designer. Unlike the free and Silver versions, user will have access to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest analytics. Pricing for the Platinum level is available upon request.

Founded in 2008, San Francisco-based Optimal is a startup dedicated to helping brands and advertisers manage social advertising campaigns in real-time. The company offers both a platform for buying Facebook ads, as well as an analytics suite that allows customers to measure things like brand engagement. It is also a part of Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Director program, which allows it to enhance the social media research, buying, and optimization process. It provides both full service and self-service options to accommodate the varying needs of different organizations.

What makes the company stand out is its unique analytics tools on it self-service Optim.al platform, which was introduced in December. Features include Facebook Insights integration, Facebook Exchange dynamic retargeting, and Custom Audiences API..

Optimal's audience-based ad technologies have managed and optimized over 100 billion impressions for advertisers and agencies. The company also has offices in Palo Alto, New York, and Chicago.

The company recently announced that it raised $7 million in Series B funding from existing investors Neu Ventures, Stonnington Asset Allocation Fund, and WGI Group. New investors in the company included DoubleRock, The Social Internet Fund, Siemer Ventures, Signal Ventures, John Pappajohn, former GoDaddy CEO Warren Adelman , Social Starts, James Altucher and Silicon Valley Bank. The company previously raised a $600,000 Series A in 2008.

(Image source: https://www.optimalsocial.com)

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