IBM Debuts Cloud-Based Analytics Spanning Digital and Social Channels

IBM has debuted a cloud-based Web analytics and digital marketing suite designed to help companies automate online marketing campaigns across the full range of online channels, including websites, social media networks and mobile devices. The new offering, part of IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative, allows retailers to quickly understand customer buying preferences and patterns across all digital media, and to use this intelligence to develop and deliver the most relevant customer experience.

Using the suite, which incorporates capabilities from IBM's recent acquisitions of Coremetrics and Unica, retailers can evaluate Facebook and Twitter activity and offer customers tailored promotions delivered to their mobile devices on the fly. Retailers can also fine-tune marketing efforts based on customers' offline activities; for example, a consumer that purchased a new tablet device in a brick-and-mortar store would receive special offers via e-mail to purchase tablet accessories.

The IBM Coremetrics Web Analytics and Digital Marketing Optimization Suite automates and streamlines a retailer's ability to deliver a tailored online experience and marketing promotions. In addition to performing advanced segmentation and automating marketing execution based on multi-channel and offline data, the solution provides A/B testing capabilities to help search engine marketers compare pairs of search terms to determine the most cost-effective terms and associated ads. The suite also supports deep analysis into how customers interact with a brand over time, and when each marketing program is most effective.

"We're seeing increasing client demand for a single source of truth in understanding customer online behavior and buying trends as businesses strive to identify and seize new revenue streams," said Yuchun Lee, VP and general manager, IBM Enterprise Marketing Management in a statement. "We are defining a powerful, integrated and data-driven approach to marketing, one that drives higher-margin sales while using analytics to place the customer's needs squarely at the center of all campaigns and promotions."