Company Announcement - Webfluential, the platform that connects brands with social influencers, has launched LIVE AUDIENCES, a tool that helps brands identify online conversations so they can proactively connect and engage with the people in these conversations.

LIVE AUDIENCES supports influencer marketing by making it easier for brands to engage with people who are talking about them or their products, rather than just watching online conversations play out. Being able to take part in a conversation means that brands and marketers get better value, greater longevity and increased engagement from their campaigns. “LIVE AUDIENCES allows brands to do so much more than just track conversations. It enables them to identify and define conversations that they want to engage with, and then communicate directly with the people having them” says Kirsty Sharman, Global Head of Operations for Webfluential.

Brands can use LIVE AUDIENCES to track conversations seven days in the past, or future conversations that are yet to happen across Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. They can then build their own live audiences as the conversation grows - with options to refine that audience by topic, language, location, hashtag or even influencers participating. The goal of this exercise is to help brands extract the most value from online conversations by connecting directly with the people having them - either through influencer campaigns or social campaigns.

Murray Legg, Global Head of Strategy for Webfluential explains the technology behind the new addition to the Webfluential product set, saying that “The LIVE AUDIENCES technology uses soft and hard correlation metrics to map specific and similar audiences across the various social platforms, to ensure exact coverage for a brand.”

Once they have activated a LIVE AUDIENCES campaign, brands can use the tool to engage with specific Tweeters, Facebookers or Instagrammers, or to link them to influencer campaigns already up and running.

Content could include endorsements or other types of branded content, building the brand’s relationship and level of engagement with an influencer who is already interested in having a conversation with them.

The Live Audience team at Webfluential are already working with top insurance and consulting brands to explore new benefits and value that this new product can add to the market. Sharman gives the example of tracking the conversations around a major sponsorship event. “Every week we see brands spending large budgets on sponsorship events to encourage conversations around their brand, but after the event not much happens. Brands would get much better returns on their investment in campaigns if they could go back to the people who were talking about them, and connect with them directly.”

As with all Webfluential products, LIVE AUDIENCES is found on the platform’s main website, and there is no charge to register, you only pay to engage with the Live Audiences you’ve built.