Social media company Sprout is launching a new tool set for its strategies and campaigns services, which center around building an online presence on Facebook in just two weeks. Is this possible? Sprout seems to think so. For $50,000 Sprout’s new tool set is a bundle package that includes a Facebook application, Facebook Connect integration with their client’s site, and a Facebook Fan Page for engagement purposes with Facebook users.
The bundle package is customized to each individual client, with provisions for design, campaign management and tracking. Other features include quality assurance testing, consultations, campaign launch support and other key analytics for measuring purposes.
The idea here is to get a company up and running. But one of the most important parts of creating an online presence that’s so heavily tied in with Facebook is the necessity to maintain that presence. Companies that sign up for Sprout’s new bundle package will need to keep this in mind as they look for a jump-start solution, which may be their biggest barrier to entry.
With the new bundle option it appears that Sprout is really targeting businesses that aren’t already based in web technology and are looking to build their brand through popular social media. The bundle package is rather specific to Facebook, so a potential client would need to keep that in mind and have a decided strategy around such Facebook integration. Such integration may not work for all brands, and as I mentioned before, the maintenance around it can be quite steep. But the provision of analytics from Sprout will help on the maintinance end.
Sprout is competing with the likes of Buddy Media and other social marketing companies with the new bundle package, looking for an advantage in the time frame and the price point. An aggresive move such as this one could be seen as an impersonal approach to building an online presence for any company. But the commoditization of such services is par for the course when considering the standard Facebook’s platform is creating.
