IBM, Facebook in new marketing partnership

In a development that could significantly boost marketers' efforts, IBM and Facebook have decided to team up to offer integration between the two platforms.

In other words, the customers will now be able to buy Facebook ads with combined data from Facebook and IBM's Marketing Cloud.

IBM is said to have invested millions of dollars in the Cloud analytics.

The advantage with this approach is, IBM said, that the customers can take campaigns which work on Facebook and replicate them elsewhere, according to TechCrunch.

Already a large number of companies are tapping into Facebook's ad capabilities. So, how is this partnership different?

According to Jay Henderson, director for IBM Commerce, Facebook is the first company to join IBM's THINKLab, where team members from IBM and Facebook can work with advertisers to create campaigns with a focus on personalised customer experiences.

"No other company is doing this with Facebook today," Henderson was quoted as saying.

"What really sets this apart is our marketing cloud and customer analytics capabilities. Over the past few years IBM has invested $24 billion in analytics. This investment now includes our latest innovation, Journey Analytics," he added.

"Now our clients, including some of the world's largest banks, retailers, and insurance companies, can apply these analytics to the reach of Facebook. This improved precision will drive more relevant advertisements to consumers on Facebook that ultimately create improved customer experience," Henderson explained.

To illustrate how the companies' capabilities could be combined, IBM said a retailer could identify the Facebook users interested in long-distance running, then deliver targeted deals based on the type of gear they are interested in, as well as their location.