Two more social software companies announced integration with Facebook page publishing and ad management tools this week on the heels of news that Buddy Media acquired Brighter Option to offer a platform that combines paid, owned and earned efforts.

Wildfire partnered with Adaptly on Monday to add social advertising capabilities to its suite of page management and promotion applications. Now today GraphEffect launched a new version of its social media management platform to establish more of a link between marketing and advertising, combining the Facebook Ads and Insights APIs.

These changes, like what Buddy Media has done with Brighter Option, allow businesses to see how their Facebook posts are performing and then easily choose which to amplify as paid page post ads. This is likely to encourage brands to begin prioritizing content creation ahead of traditional advertising.

We expect social media software companies to continue to consolidate. As social media marketing efforts become tied with paid advertising campaigns instead of being standalone efforts as they often have for the past few years, companies are going to be looking for a single software solution to help them manage it all. However, we can see how things might get complicated for brands that work with different agencies that use different software. These platforms will have to find ways to differentiate themselves and make it easy for brands and agencies to know which is right for them.

Social media management software company Buddy Media acquired Facebook Ads API partner Brighter Option as a way to provide a comprehensive software package for marketers, the company announced today.

Buddy Media now offers Facebook ad creation and optimization tools along with its social publishing, moderation, analytics and application software. The company says it chose to acquire London-based Brighter Option over 20 other ad partners because it wanted to buy technology and a team, not an agency.

We were impressed with Brighter’s Option’s latest iteration of the Social Ad Manager, which combines the Facebook Insights and Ads APIs. Now with integration into Buddy Media’s publishing tools, the software seems even more efficient. From the dashboard of posts, companies can select “Promote Story” to create a page-post ad campaign on Facebook (see image below). We imagine the same could be done for Twitter in the future.

Buddy Media prices its software based on usage, for example, the number of tabs a company wants to deploy. Brighter Option takes a single-digit percentage of ad spend. Buddy Media will continue to sell its software individually so companies don’t have to pay for Social Ads Manager if they have another ad provider, or they don’t have to buy the Conversation Buddy publishing tool if they only deal with paid media. However, for companies that want software solutions instead of managed services, Buddy Media now has the advantage of being a single vendor with quality offerings.

Social media marketing platform Fan Appz announced a feature this week to help companies gather information about their fans that can then be applied to other marketing efforts.

With the new Social Database, marketers can begin to create individual customer profiles as users interact with Fan Appz applications. For example, a retailer might use the sweepstakes app to give away a prize on Facebook and then later use the poll app to drive additional engagement. Instead of those being isolated efforts that result in unclear business value, now the company can associate users’ contact info with their preferences, and run a more personalized email marketing campaign.

Fan Appz Founder and CEO Jon Siegal, who previously worked in the CRM space, says this function is about understanding fans and followers in order to provide a better experience for them and ultimately achieve business goals. He makes the comparison to a waiter who knows your name and what you like to eat.

“It’s about how well you know somebody. When you know their preferences, you do a much better job,” he says.

Siegal says the vision for his company is to apply CRM to social media, and Social Database is a key piece of that. Facebook quiz and coupon apps were just a start to get businesses up to this point. For many companies, 2009 and 2010 were about establishing a presence on Facebook and building a following, Siegal says. Last year was focused on the abstract goal of “engagement.” But the point of marketing is to drive sales of products or services.

“Social Database helps complete that last important piece.” Siegal says.

This seems to be a logical progression for the industry, and we expect other social media marketing platforms to add similar functionality in the near future. We’ve already seen Shoutlet launch Social Profiles this month. Ultimately these systems will enable more companies to serve consumers with a level attention and personalization that wasn’t previously possible on such a large scale.

Fan Appz also made several updates to its suite of applications, including new:

• Publisher apps
• Customizable designs and ways to share using engagement apps
• Sweepstakes engine and refer-a-friend feature for promotion apps
• Data analytics capabilities for publisher, engagement, promotions and white label apps
• More secure admin panel from which to manage several social media pages at once

Social commerce app provider Sociable Labs released a new suite of applications this week that allows online retailers to integrate Facebook Open Graph with their sites.

The EverShare app suite creates “frictionless sharing” for e-commerce sites so user activity automatically publishes to Facebook’s Ticker and Timeline. By licensing Sociable Labs’ software, businesses don’t have to build their own custom apps.

Retailers can add the EverShare activity stream to personalize customers’ experiences by displaying how friends have interacted with the site. Users can also set up activity alerts to get Facebook notifications when friends take action on the site. There is also a gallery feature that aggregates trending items in a Pinterest-style display.

We like that the apps give users clear understanding and control over how their activity is shared. The apps include a straightforward button to switch between sharing and private mode. There’s even a prompt to disconnect the app completely. These controls are important to generate trust among users. As more websites, especially e-commerce sites, integrate Open Graph, they should follow the example of EverShare and the news apps we’ve previously covered to maintain user privacy and promote more sharing in the long run.

Adding social applications to third-party sites could be the direction many retailers begin to take instead of creating page tab versions of their online stores. In cases where businesses already have successful e-commerce sites, it makes sense to integrate Facebook there rather than trying to port the store to another platform.

As more brands turn to third-party social media management tools, companies like Shoutlet and Vitrue continue to add new features and integrate more services into their applications. Both companies released significant product updates in the past week making them worth another look for marketers who might be interested in tools for publishing, monitoring, analytics and app development.

Shoutlet
Social marketing software provider Shoutlet announced several additions to its platform today to help marketers schedule posts, launch applications and maintain customer profiles.

Many social media management tools allow companies to schedule posts for a day and time in the future, but Shoutlet’s new “Social Switchboard” feature lets marketers schedule posts to go live after a designated trigger. For example, the app could push out a new post to fans once a contest receives 500 entries or the page reaches a million Likes. Triggers can also be set to launch new Facebook tabs or deliver coupons.

With its new “Social Canvas” feature, Shoutlet lets users design page tab applications with drag-and-drop templates instead of coding. This latest version of the software also includes additional CRM functionality. “Social Profiles” gathers information on user preferences, interests and frequency of engagement based on interactions consumers had with Shoutlet applications and publicly listed information online.

Vitrue
Vitrue expanded its analytics integration and introduced new metrics to help marketers understand their audience and performance last week.

Vitrue now integrates with Adobe Omniture, Webtrends, Google Analytics and Coremetrics to show marketers how their social media efforts work across the web and where new fans are coming from. Vitrue has added a “Top Engaged Users” feature for companies to see the top 10 most active users on their Facebook pages. This is helpful for page managers to understand the audience their content is most resonating with and to let the company know who its hand-raisers are. The product also now incorporates Facebook’s new Insights, such as negative fan feedback and more metrics for individual posts.

Barilliance is trying to bring together standard web-tracking technology with Facebook Pages to better target the right products to users.

The software places a cookie in user browsers, then tracks consumer behavior on a commerce website, then translates that behavior to the user’s experience within the brand’s Facebook store. When a consumer visits the Facebook Page, the product recommendations are tailored to the consumer’s search and purchase behavior on the website.

Barilliance co-founder Ido Ariel says the company’s core technology is product recommendations. The back end of Barilliance’s software allows retailers to target by first or returning customer, referring traffic source, location and product. On the website this looks like a banner and on Facebook it’s within an ecommerce tab.

Specifically this could look like a 10% off or free shipping banner, an offer for customers who made a purchase in the last month, specific items of interest, for a particular region, or a combination of these, Ariel says. Visitors to a retail website will see the same or similar offers on both platforms.

Ariel tells us that Barilliance wants to extend this technology from web and Facebook commerce for other products, such as email newsletters and chat. “It’s better to keep customers happy and loyal than acquire new customers,” he says. Barilliance’s technology, then aims to convert visitors into customers via personalizing recommendations.

Barilliances’ 100-plus ecommerce customers are mainly in the United States.

Facebook, Google Pair Up to Fight Anti-Piracy Law – The House Stop Online Piracy Act proposal has brought together Facebook, Google and other companies in an effort to prevent the passing of the law that companies say will place the onus of protecting against piracy on them.

Facebook IPO Rumors Swirl – Business Insider reported that Facebook employees are reporting that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the IPO is coming soon, as early as next month.

Porn, Violence a Recent Problem – Facebook acknowledged to ZDnet this week a series of problems with unwanted pornographic or violent content showing up in their news feeds. The Wall Street Journal reported that it was a “coordinated spam attack” coming as the company ramps up to release Timeline.

FCC, Facebook Settle Over Privacy Issues – The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook reached a settlement over privacy issues, even as the FTC encourages people to Like them on Facebook.

Facebook’s Name Policy Hones in on Salman Rushdie - Writer Salman Rushdie became a target for Facebook’s real name policy this week. After the author took to Twitter to protest the deactivation of his account, the company restored his profile. The New York Times writes about the dilemmas caused by this policy in today’s world. [Image Via david_shankbone]

Google+ Works with Page Management Companies – Google announced last week the creation of Google+ Pages for brands to share information with users on Google+ and Page management companies like HootSuite, Context Optional, Vitrue and Buddy Media are set to work with brands on managing this new platform.

Orange Launches Facebook Phones – Orange is set to release three affordable Android smartphones for customers who heavily use Facebook.

Dems, GOP Participating in DC Hackathon – Congressional members from both parties are set to participate in the first ever DC Facebook Hackathon to find new ways to use social media in the political process. [Image Via Facebook]

Creepy Zuckerberg Fan Appears at Carnegie Mellon – A student at a recent Mark Zuckerberg appearance at Carnegie Mellon University instilled fear in the audience, and CEO, when he made some creepy and cryptic comments. The student apparently snuck into the venue the night before to place some speakers under Zuckerberg’s seat.

PayPal Releases Facebook Payment App – PayPal released a Facebook app, Send Money, that allows users to send money to friends without a fee.

Other Announcements:

Coupons.com for Pages – Coupons.com released its Brandcaster Social platfor to allow brands to create secure, printable coupons directly on their Pages in 48 hours or less.

Napkin Labs Brings Crowdsourcing to Pages – Napkin Labs’ Brainstorm app allows brands to gives brands a way to get feedback from fans anything from new products to coming changes.

NASCAR, ESPN to Livestream Driver’s Camera -  NASCAR and ESPN announced that the two will provide a livestream of driver Tony Stewart’s live in-car camera on Facebook during the season finale on Sunday, November 20.

Buuteeq is a software platform that allows hotels to create engaging content for users across their web, mobile and Facebook sites. We spoke to co-founder and CEO Forest Key about how Buuteeq is working to convert Facebook visitors or fans into customers using research-fueled design.

First it’s important to note that one huge incentive for hotels to have guests book directly — say through Buuteeq — is that they do not have to hand over a slice of their revenue as a commission to a travel agency or booking portal such as Orbitz. When hotels purchase software and service from Buuteeq they are also encouraged to continue to invest in traditional Facebook marketing to boost their Likes so as to better leverage the company’s platform.

The software is set up so that each hotel must only upload content once and it then pushed across web, mobile and Facebook sites by Buuteeq, Key told us. The specific components of Buuteeq’s design are meant to convert visitors into customers; the vast majority of visitors spend 90% of their time perusing photos, room information and interactive maps — all three are central to Buuteeq’s design.

“Guests who look at 15 or more pictures are more likely to make a reservation,” Key told us, noting that Buuteeq’s design is photo-heavy.

Key told us that because Buuteeq is set up on Facebook to take advantage of social recommendation, the customer-facing side of Buuteeq’s Facebook app only show hotels in search results if a user’s friends have Liked that hotel’s Page. In other words, if hotels are not engaging in Page marketing to get their numbers up, the Buuteeq will not yield results for users who are not already connected through their networks. When it comes to booking, even if you find a hotel on Facebook, the actual reservation is made on the hotel’s website.

As far as viral mechanics, Key noted that the future of Buuteeq is set to focus increasingly on its Facebook component. In the meantime, he told us that his clients’ conversion rates are higher and there are Like buttons sown throughout the design, both on Facebook and on the web.

Facebook Hires 3 DC Staffers – Facebook announced the hiring of Director of Privacy Erin Egan and Director of Public Policy Louisa Terrell, and Manager of Public Policy Chris Herndon.

Facebook Fellowship Prog Expands - Facebook Engineer Sanjeev Kumar wrote a note this week explaining that the  2012-2013 Facebook Fellowship application is now available and the company has doubled the number of slots to 10. Of interest was that he noted that the company is “increasing focus in ‘systems’ areas (Compilers, Databases, Distributed Computing, Fault Tolerance, and Networking)” because this is the direction in which the company may grow.

Patent Lawyer Targets Facebook – Prominent patent attorney John Desmarais recently filed a suit against Facebook that alleges the company infringes on a series of patents for “publishing voice and fax messages on the Internet.” This is the same attorney who, in 2007, won $1.5 billion in a verdict against Microsoft.

Messaging Service Beluga to Close Down - Beluga, which was acquired by Facebook in March, is set to shutter starting November 11 and all messages will be deleted December 15.

23% of Companies Offer Facebook Support – Research company MarketTools published a study recently finding that 23% of companies provide customer service via Facebook and only 12% via Twitter.

App Provides COPD Test - The COPD Alliance published an app on its Page in the name of COPD Awareness Month in November. It is a disease that’s the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., and the app tests users for their susceptability to the disease.

Zooppa Releases Crowdsource App – Zooppa announced a Facebook version of its crowdsourcing advertising service, allowing brands to post creative briefs, allow members to shoot commercials for them and then receive submissions via Facebook.

Messages Could Contain Malicious Attachements – Security researcher Nathan Powell blogged about a specific way Facebook Messages can be used to transmit malicious executable files, though Facebook normally doesn’t allow .exe files to be attached to Messages. Facebook’s Security Manager Ryan McGeehan downplayed the threat, noting that this kind of attack would require “an additional layer of social engineering.”

BrightEdge Releases S3 – BrightEdge, the social management platform announced a new integration of its platform this week, BrightEdge S3. One new feature of interest is the social site audit, which promises a tight web integration with Facebook, specific to Open Graph compliance.

Chat Alert is a simple application that informs users when selected friends become available to chat with on Facebook. A common feature of some other instant messaging services, Chat Alert provides provides a service not available on Facebook Chat. The app is free up to a certain point, and then begins to charge users a certain number of Credits to follow more friends.

The app allows users to add up to 10 friends free of charge and receive alerts when they are available to chat. Alerts can sent to users via email, Facebook Message or SMS.

A user’s friends need not register for Chat Alert in order for the app to work and a single alert will be sent per friend who logs into chat. Users may also customize these alerts within the app itself.

Unless one is logged into chat, there is no way of telling when a friend becomes available to instant message with. Even when logged in, it’s easy to miss someone appearing in the buddy list. Given that users often have hundreds of friends, constantly logging in and out of chat and scrolling to see who’s online just to find a specific friend is inefficient. While only a niche of users may require its services, Chat Alert fulfills its purpose effectively.