Acxiom launches social media matching and targeting service

Acxiom is marketing the Relevance-X Social tool and associated service in the UK, inviting a number of marketers and agencies to a launch event at wine merchant Berry Bros and Rudd last night.

The service, which Acxiom describes as "uncovering customers' social footprint", has already been used by US clients including an FMCG company for the launch of an energy bar as well as automotive companies.

Acxiom takes opted-in customer email addresses supplied by a client and searches social media sites for profiles which are registered with the addresses. Sites its US and UK service works with include Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn.

At a basic level it can build a picture of a group of customers through data such as the social networks they belong to, the number of friends they have, and how communicative they are.

Add-on services include creating campaigns to address these customers, for example with "member get member" activity that offers them an incentive to talk to their friends about a client's brand, and tracking those campaigns.

Steven Plimsoll, vice-president for multi-channel marketing services at Acxiom, said: "Social media can now be a two-way street. It's about listening to feedback from customers and using it to enhance innovation and service delivery, as well as to drive promotions, accelerate product launches and inspire purchases."