I don’t think that social media analytics has ever been as discussed as often, or as negatively, as it was in March. However, Cambridge Analytica was not the only story. The industry saw a couple of acquisitions, including a new owner for Unicepta, further funding news and earnings from Cision and Ebiquity.
Meltwater buys DataSift
Meltwater has acquired DataSift for an undisclosed sum. According to Jorn Lyseggen, Meltwater’s CEO, “DataSift has built a scalable platform that lets developers build data science-driven insights from social firehoses while protecting the privacy of an individual’s data. When combined with the data Meltwater captures and our AI capabilities, developers can disrupt the Business Intelligence space by either building new applications or complementing existing ones with unique signal that can be only derived from external data.” In February 2017, Meltwater announced a $US60M debt financing and went on to acquire Wrapidity, Klarity, Infomart, Cosmify and Algo across the remainder of 2017.
Paragon acquires majority stake in Unicepta
The Munich-based investment company Paragon Partners has bought a majority stake in Unicepta, a German media intelligence leader. Unicepta’s management team will remain involved in the company, steering strategy and business. The price of the deal has not been disclosed, however, last month PR Journal suggested a takeover price of “more than 66 million euros”. Cision and Kantar Media were also reported to be interested in the business.
Hootsuite secures $US50 million
Hootsuite has entered into a credit financing agreement for up to US$50 million in growth capital from CIBC Innovation Banking. The financing will be used to “continue to expand in APAC, EMEA and LATAM; further verticalize its platform offering for key industries like financial services, government and healthcare; and double down on its industry-leading ecosystem through existing and new strategic partnerships and integrations”. The Canadian company also announced that it was now being used by more than 16 million customers. In a busy month, Hootsuite was also named Adobe Exchange Partner of the Year for 2017, and LinkedIn placed it third in a list of 25 companies where Canadians most want to work.
Cision releases FY17 numbers, announces partnership with MediaMath
As reported last month, Cision formally reported its confirmed financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2017. Revenue for 2017 was reported to be $US631.6 million, with an operating income of $US38.0 million. The company also reported 39,600 subscription customers during the quarter ended December 31, 2017, with an average annual spend of $US9,984. Cision announced a partnership with MediaMath, an adtech vendor. According to Cision CEO, Kevin Akeroyd, brands will be able to “directly attribute behaviour, revenue, and any other business results from their earned media, and leverage that data to create a first-of-its-kind holistic profile of customers”.
Ebiquity reports revenue growth
UK-based marketing and media analytics specialist Ebiquity has reported its 2017 financials. The organisations revenue for 2017 was up 4.6% to £87.4 million, with an underlying pre-tax profit of £11.0 million. Last month, the company announced the sale of its Advertising Intelligence division to Nielsen. The division included its brand reputation measurement business.
20 best social media monitoring tools, by Buffer
Are you thinking about running some competitive intelligence on social media monitoring tools? Buffer has done the work for you and put together a list of the 20 best social media monitoring tools. It probably comes as no surprise that Buffer tops a list it compiled itself. However, it has produced a supporting Google Sheet that contains a breakdown of all the competitive information you need.
Data privacy and analytics
Cambridge Analytica’s use of misappropriated Facebook data in the 2016 US Presidential election has been widely reported, and it’s unlikely that you missed it. On a not dissimilar theme, the buzz at SXSW in Austin this month was around the intended downsides of social media, and a reduced trust in technology. In Europe, the EU’s GDPR will come into force on 25 May and ensures that organisations take responsibility for their use of an individual’s data. Cambridge Analytica is an extreme case, but all three stories point to a changing mood on how organisations use personal data. With GDPR on the horizon, now is the time for media analytics organisations to be very clear on how they use social media data in order to address the reduced levels of trust in the industry.
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