Collective Bias expands social offerings

Connecting brands with influential voices via social media is the premise on which Collective Bias was founded. This week the firm strengthened that proposition with several new initiatives to increase the effectiveness of brand’s social shopper marketing efforts.

“Our company was founded on the idea that brands and retailers can work together with social influencers to produce engaging content that delights shoppers and transforms the buying experience," said Bill Sussman, CEO of Collective Bias. "We are thrilled to be able to offer programs that increase our community reach and empower our members to create the unique and engaging stories that brands and retailers need to impact sales."

Accordingly, the firm introduced a new segment of influencers called ColectiveLatina within its 3,000 member community of social influencers known as Social Fabric. The ColectivaLatina community is focused on producing high-quality content with the Hispanic shopper in mind. This new community comprised of several hundred Hispanic shopper experts has a combined reach of 12 million people and creates new opportunities for brands to connect directly with a community that seeks social content for inspiration and to drive their purchase decisions, according to Collective Bias.

Another new capability relates to Twitter and the growing popularity of Twitter parties. Collective Bias created SoFabChats as a tool for brands to ensure Twitter parties are a success. For example, key features include an easy-to-access calendar of upcoming events, a pre-event landing page to identify chat participants and a locked-in hashtag, ensuring every tweet is part of the conversation. For brands, the platform offers unique branding opportunities, an announcement bar to drive further engagement and extensive analytics for measuring event participation and engagement, according to Collective Bias.

To help those who are already part of the firm’s universe of influencers, a new online university was created called SoFabU, or Social Fabric University. The program's expert-level curriculum and online resources are designed to help bloggers create the high-quality stories that brands are looking for and that consumers like to read. With classes focused on tactics like SEO optimization, plug-in installation, monetization, marketing and best practices for working with brands, the continuing education program helps Social Fabric's high-qualified community members increase influence, enhance content and grow their businesses. Classes are free and available to all Social Fabric members.

The Bentonville, Ark.,-based company, with offices in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Toronto and London, was the first to create platform branded as Social Fabric that allow brands to connect with shopping focused social media users. The firm’s 3,000 member strong Social Fabric community reaches an audience of more than 80 million people, according to the company.