SAN FRANCISCO & MINNEAPOLIS—Context Optional, an Efficient Frontier company that creates compelling social media marketing solutions for brands, and 8thBridge, the leader in creating social shopping experiences, today announced a partnership that will deliver an integrated Facebook commerce (f-commerce) solution for online merchants to reach customers, increase customer lifetime value and drive revenue.
Under the agreement, Context Optional will become 8thBridge’s Preferred Partner whose notable clients include Delta Airlines, Paramount Pictures, 1-800 Flowers, 7 for all Mankind and Lands’ End. Context Optional’s customers will now have direct access to 8thBridge’s social shopping experience applications for their Facebook fan pages and ecommerce sites as well as key metrics such as impressions, length of engagement and shares to provide better insight into program spend for social shopping.
“We’re pleased to partner with 8thBridge which has redefined f-commerce for the industry,” said Kevin Barenblat, CEO of Context Optional. “This will enable us to bring ecommerce directly into the Facebook newsfeed and enhance the social shopping experience to ultimately drive revenue for our clients.”
The combined Context Optional and 8thBridge solution allows retailers to publish custom, curated shopping stores in stream to highly targeted audiences across Facebook Pages and the Open Graph. This creates a highly relevant and engaging social shopping experience for consumers while providing retailers measurable brand lift and conversion data. By bringing f-commerce opportunities directly into the newsfeed, it increases engagement with the shopping app and encourages social endorsements, which in turn impact search queries and ad click through rates (CTRs) that increase consumer conversions.
“Social shopping is a growing space, and partnering with the leading social media management solution, Content Optional, helps expand this reach,” said Wade Gerten, CEO and Founder of 8thBridge. “As innovators in our respective spaces, it makes sense to team up for the mutual benefit of our clients.”
About Context Optional
Context Optional, an Efficient Frontier company, is the leading provider of social marketing management solutions for global brands on social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite enables global enterprises to build, manage and measure their brand presence, and engage their fans to increase mindshare, word of mouth, customer loyalty and website traffic. Context Optional and its parent company Efficient Frontier offer a complete solution for brands to acquire, activate and drive value from fans on Facebook and Twitter.
Efficient Frontier is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, Chicago, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information on Efficient Frontier, visit http://www.efrontier.com and for Context Optional visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
About 8thBridge
8thBridge is the leading social shopping platform reaching over 80 million Facebook users. Over 50 leading brands in fashion, retail, and entertainment have launched more than 30,000 social shopping stores using 8thBridge technology and expert services. Merchants partner with 8thBridge to create social shopping experiences for their customers. Customers engage merchants on their own terms in a shopping experience that is portable, personalized, and participatory. History was made on July 8th, 2009 when Alvenda, currently known as 8thBridge, brought online retail to Facebook and again on August 12, 2010 for the travel industry.
The Ticket Counter by 8thBridge was named one of the Top Ten Marketer Apps of 2010 by Advertising Age. 8thBridge, has been featured in Advertising Age, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, WWD, Bloomberg TV and TechCrunch. 8thBridge is funded by Split Rock Venture Partners and Trident Capital. For more information on 8thBridge, visit www.8thbridge.com.
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