Media monitoring service FPinfomart has partnered with social media agency Social Media Group, expanding its purview to include social media measurement, analysis and consulting services.
Established in 2006, Toronto-based Social Media Group works exclusively in the social media space, helping clients such as Ford, 3M, Norwegian Cruise Line, Canadian Tire and ING Direct both understand and act on social media conversations.
“We were keen on their experience in dealing with big brands,” said FPinfomart managing director Jonathan Harris. “We also deal with a number of big brands, and wanted to partner with a company that really understood how to work with them.
“There are a ton of platforms out there that monitor social media, and give you all sorts of metrics, but what we’re starting to hear from our clients is ‘What does all this mean and can you help me understand what this is all about?’” he said.
According to Social Media Group president Maggie Fox, social and traditional media are now “deeply intertwined.” The partnership between FPinfomart and Social Media Group, she said, will provide clients with a more “holistic view of the new communications landscape,” enabling them to better understand and react to what is being said in both online and offline channels.
Social networking has emerged as a “business driver,” with up to half of Twitter’s 100 million active users logging in each day to follow interests and share their thoughts. According to Fox, understanding who is saying what about a company’s brand and its business can help inform both marketing and communications activities, as well as product development.
“From any reasonably well-educated marketer’s perspective, social media is not the end-all and be-all,” said Fox. “It’s a significant sliver, but it is not the whole picture. When we look at what our clients want and need, they want to look at the big picture.”
Established in 1986, FPinfomart – a division of Postmedia – offers clients same-day and archival access to more than 5,600 newspapers, magazines, newswires, transcripts and blogs, and daily broadcast monitoring of 82 Canadian TV channels and 50 radio stations.
