Wetpaint Offers Software-as-Service Package

Wiki developer Wetpaint has launched a new enterprise-level version of its service aimed at large organizations seeking to create customer communities online.

The Just Add Paint service grows out of work the company has already done creating branded sites for major marketing and media companies including American Express, CBS, Fox and the Discovery Channel.

The new software-as-service package starts at $10,000 and allows companies to create custom wiki-based communities complete with blogs, forums, messaging, profile pages and widgets that deliver video, polling and Flash-based applications. Wetpaint promises to launch new sites in one to 14 days.

"We took the things we learned from working with clients one at a time and transformed into a turnkey service," said Wetpaint CEO Ben Elowitz. That effort included beefing up its editorial staff to help seed site content and adding moderators to encourage online discussions.

"Marketers are looking for ways to reach these audiences that already represent product communities, but have not yet activated online," Elowitz said. Nearly half of brand marketers plan to use social marketing tactics in the next year, compared to 38% who did so last year, according to a JupiterResearch study conducted earlier this year.

In addition to providing hosting and content creation services, Wetpaint also promotes client sites throughout its network of 600,000 individual and branded sites. It also develops on-site promotions to help build membership, and boosts traffic through search engine optimization techniques.

Wetpaint sites are typically supported by contextual ads through AdSense, although some corporate customers such as American Express have added existing advertisers to the mix. "Media company partners already running high-value advertising can extend that inventory onto these user-generated pages," Elowitz said. Wetpaint users, who spend 10 to 20 minutes per visit, are attractive to marketers because they are highly engaged in site content and features, he added.

After the initial $10,000 set-up fee, Wetpaint splits ad revenue generated by corporate sites evenly with clients on a monthly basis.

Started in June 2006, the company has built up its user base quickly by offering user-friendly online tools and templates that allow anyone to create their own personal wikis. Earlier this year, Wetpaint received $9.5 million in a second-round funding led by Accel Partners, Brightcove, and Glam Media, as well as from previous investors Trinity Ventures and Frazier Technology Ventures.

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