• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, July 27, 2011

Search marketers that want to test new social campaigns or build up existing ones no longer need to sit at the fork in the road trying to determine the correct way to turn. Webtrends, which last year acquired social media company Transpond, built a platform to support Facebook marketing. The free version of Webtrends Social, formerly Webtrends Apps, doesn't offer all the bells and whistles of the paid version, but can give search marketers a taste of integrating social with search campaigns.

To drive performance campaigns on Facebook, Webtrends VP of Social Peter Yared suggests building a Fan base and then marketing to it through a like-block campaign -- a social ad campaign that doesn't allow visitors to see or access the exclusive content unless they first "Like" the brand on Facebook. "Brands can get a 7 times conversion rate when they run a Fans and friends of Fans campaign, rather than running a random Facebook targeting campaign," he said.

Webtrends Social allows marketers to compare their brand to competitors. Nike can add Adidas and Skechers to the list, for example. The platform now offers page dashboards and wall management, along with tools to build, customize and get branded apps to market quickly with drag-and-drop features. Social marketers can now build, promote and manage their Facebook presence without having to write one line of code or integrate disparate tools.

Webtrends plans to offer the same services for Google+ when Google makes available an open API to third-party software developers.

Aside from the free self-service version that allows marketers to support one page and one application, Webtrends offers a mid-tier platform for companies with less than 100,000 fans at a price or $250 per month. That platform allows marketers to support unlimited apps. For brands with more fans, the enterprise offering for $3,000 monthly includes the ability to build campaign funnels to track conversions.

Webtrends Social allows marketers to go to the company's Web site, click on the application and begin using it by relying on user interface controls similar to those in Photoshop and PowerPoint. These features enable marketers to quickly create custom layouts and designs.

The suite also offers analytics from all of Facebook's data sources such as Graph API, Insights API and the exclusive Ad API.

Yared said Webtrends will integrate multichannel campaign attribution and metrics, along with analytics and measurement, into the product suite. "You can see the beginning of the attribution model in the ads to apps program available today," he said.