Sway bags $2M to track social marketing ad campaigns via Shoutlet

Developing a social marketing campaign can be a daunting task — especially determining how to reach specific demographics and niche audiences. On top of that, many companies lack the financial and human resources needed to deploy campaigns that tap into social networks. Sway, Inc., a Wisconsin-based social media marketing company, hopes to make it easier with its Shoutlet platform — and it just raised $2 million in a first round of funding to make it happen.

Sway offers marketing research and campaign management services to companies reaching out to customers through social media channels. Its clients can use Shoutlet to develop, deploy and track their social media efforts. The platform offers a variety of tools to create branded emails, SMS messages, videos, podcasts, RSS feeds and even customized widgets for placement on other web sites. Shoutlet also provides a tracking and reporting dashboard so that these companies can measure the success of their campaigns and optimize them accordingly.

Sway joins a host of marketing companies vying for clients that want to reach audiences through social media channels. Most recently, Visible Technologies closed $22 million in venture funding to provide social media monitoring and tracking services. Others, like Trendrr and Klout, have also decided to incorporate social marketing data into their platforms to attract customers.

Sway’s funding, led by Origin Ventures and Leo Capital Holdings, will be used to continue product development, add new clients, and hire additional support staff. Right now, its roster of clients includes American Family Insurance, Yamaha, Sara Lee, eBay, and Cannondale. It previously raised a $1.2 million seed round in 2007.

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