Xtract Offers Social Links Software as a Service
- Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
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Xtract has announced that from today, it is offering its flagship social intelligence product, Social Links, as a service, while still fully supporting the software licensing model. Xtract says that the Software as a Service (SaaS) version, called Social Links On-Demand, enables mobile operators to cash in on the social networking phenomenon for targeted, viral marketing on a pay-as-you-go service model.
Social Links uses social network analytics to enable companies to leverage social intelligence in marketing. Social Links utilises anonymised subscriber transaction data to generate customer insight based on social intelligence, predict the behaviour of subscribers (e.g. for churn management and product up-sell/cross-sell) and to understand the network of influence between subscribers. Social Links is based on analytics that dig deep into the granular communication patterns between subscribers to draw accurate profiles and targeting. The solution has been deployed by top-tier mobile operators worldwide, and won several industry awards
The On-Demand model means minimum upfront investment and no operational hassle. Xtract estimates that Social Links On-Demand is 74% faster to set up than traditional in-house implementations and offers 39% faster payback time.
Social Links On-Demand combines software, hardware, implementation, customer support, operations and maintenance in a bundled service, hosted by Xtract. This means that operators dont need to invest upfront in software licenses or hardware platforms. The solution is delivered via a service level agreement that best suits each operators business needs, dependent on the number of subscribers served, or the amount of data or level of security required. All data is processed anonymously, and customer transaction results are processed in a way that complies with data security and privacy regulations.
Marketing and campaign managers are provided with a secure, browser-based graphical user interface which they can use to view social intelligence dashboard reports and graphs; create Social Links analytics runs; define campaign targeting; configure and export target lists; and, view their community dynamics.
Efficient analysis is key to leveraging the power of social networks and eventually monetising them through relevant content and advertising, says Julien Theys, Mobile Industry Analyst at Screen Digest. An on-demand solution can provide access to social network intelligence that is light, flexible and financially less cumbersome than traditional software licenses. It is therefore ideally suited for operators who prefer not to invest heavily in in-house analytics and database marketing solutions and resources, especially in the current economic climate.