BuddyMedia launches social ad analytics software

BuddyMedia, a New York-based start-up that develops social-network games as well as branded applications for clients, has launched a new product that tackles one of the challenges of social advertising: that it's just plain difficult to tell how successful it is.

The company calls the creation "BuddyBrain," and is gearing it toward clients who turn to BuddyMedia for "appvertising," or branded apps designed specifically for product marketing. The data provided to clients--yes, arranged in the shape of a brain--provides statistics on installs, usage, and time spent per user; a feed of news and blog reports relevant to the brand and campaign; and documentation resources.

Facebook and other social networks typically provide a less extensive array of analytics to developers who have created applications on their platforms.

"Many advertisers and marketers are becoming aware of the value in advertising through social media channels, but have yet to do so because of an inaccurate perception that no methods or tools exist to sufficiently measure the reach and success of a campaign," CEO Michael Lazerow said in a statement. "We've spent the past few months developing the BuddyBrain to combat these very fears to both entice more brands to make the leap into social advertising and to better service our existing clientele."

Early BuddyBrain stats, the company says, have come up with some numbers that conveniently support BuddyMedia's own cause: that consumers are 75 times more likely to "interact" with a widget ad than a banner ad, that "appvertisements" average 140,000 installs in the first month of a campaign, and that 85 percent of social-network users who install a branded application will use it more than once.

Some of BuddyMedia's clients have included FedEx, Microsoft, Reebok, and Anheuser-Busch.