M&A ACTIVITY IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STAYS BRISK

There continues to be a strong level of acquisition activity involving social media marketing companies. Berkery Noyes previously discussed some notable transactions in the space that have already occurred in 2012. Oracle and Google, two acquirers from the first half of 2012, each made a related acquisition in July as well.

First, Oracle announced its acquisition of Involver. Involver’s set of software tools enable companies to interact with customers on Facebook and Twitter. Later in the month, Google acquired Wildfire Interactive for $250 million. Wildfire’s social marketing platform allows brands to manage their content and advertising campaigns on several social networking sites.

There is also a desire to use social marketing automation as a means to circumvent well established marketing silos, as demonstrated by a number of transactions earlier this year. Marketo’s acquisition of Crowd Factory is one such example. Crowd Factory’s solution for marketers facilitates social sharing and tracks the results, thereby determining the return on investment (ROI). Meanwhile, Bazaarvoice’s acquisition of PowerReviews for $151 million highlights this same principle but with a focus on retail sales.

Large brands using these tools, in general, are especially interested in managing their online presence. Startups looking to obtain new customers, meanwhile, are hoping to benefit from the cost effectiveness of automating their marketing efforts while engaging in social media campaigns.