IBM and Influential Launch Watson Advertising Social Targeting Solution

IBM has launched Watson Advertising Social Targeting with Influential, a solution that harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to help companies identify influencers that best align with their brand values.

The new solution within the Watson Advertising suite of targeting products marks an expanded collaboration with Influential, a social media technology company.

Social Targeting with Influential does the following:

• Leverages IBM Watson natural language understanding on the IBM public cloud to process and analyze social media data to help expedite influencer identification;
• Identifies brand-safe influencers by gauging profanity ratings to recommend potential partners with shared values;
• Marries online behavior with offline purchase to help drive ROI based on real-time campaign measurement across brand perception, consumer engagement, online conversion, offline sales and foot traffic; and
• Delivers tone-appropriate ads.

"Brand reputation matters now more than ever. Using social media to help drive purchase consideration is important as brands implement influencer marketing strategies to establish real connections with consumers, said Bob Lord, senior vice president of cognitive applications, blockchain, and ecosystems at IBM, in a statement. "Together with Influential, we're building trust into the ecosystem by applying IBM Watson to help clients select an influencer that aligns to their brand values, exemplifying our belief that AI can and should be the backbone of the new digital economy."

Social Targeting with Influential relies on IBM Watson to align companies with like-minded influencers that demonstrate similar values.

"More than ever, brands seek to make sure every dollar spent drives a measurable return in the online and offline world" said Influential CEO Ryan Detert in a statement. "Influencer marketing has evolved into a fully trackable channel that leverages suitable voices to speak on behalf of brands. We've seen how powerful Watson can be and are thrilled to expand our relationship with IBM Watson Advertising to bring this offering to even more brands and influencers."

Social Targeting with Influential does not rely on third-party data, but rather anonymized first-party data generated by influencers' followers on social media.

Companies like Wells Fargo, McDonald's, and the NFL are using the Influential platform to help drive consumer engagement and ROI. These companies reportedly saw 100 percent positive sentiment scores among users and an increase in return on advertising spend compared to social benchmarks.

"Influential's IBM Watson-powered campaigns have helped us identify the right influencers and deliver at scale to help us better connect with our target audiences," said Michael Lacorazza, executive vice president, chief marketing officer, and head of integrated marketing at Wells Fargo, in a statement.

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