Social media is all about engagement. At least, that’s what Venice-based Epoxy learned through extensive interviews and research with YouTube stars, Hollywood studios and brands using videos for promotion. The startup found that “the people who were excelling in the medium, excelled at the social [aspect]. A lot of them were spending more time interacting on social than producing content.”
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Out of that realization grew a toolset that allows users to share content, engage fans and understand what strategies are working. The tool went from private beta to fully launched this morning.
According to co-founders Juan Bruce and Jason Ahmad, who have experience in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, the platform serves three purposes. First, it allows users to post videos to social networking sites easily from one page. Second, it gives users tools to better engage with their fans or anyone commenting about their content. Lastly, it provides an understanding of what strategies are working and which ones to ditch.
Building on Social
Epoxy goes beyond capturing data already available on social networking sites – the team built their own applications on top of the sites to make them more accessible for users. On Twitter, Epoxy uncovers Tweets about a video that would have gone unnoticed otherwise. The team says that less than 20 percent of the conversation on Twitter actually mentions the handle, leaving 80 percent out there without the content creator knowing about it. Epoxy fixes that, uncovering otherwise hidden conversations and allowing content creators to engage directly with them.
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On Facebook, when someone clicks on a video, it takes the user to a special Facebook page (not to YouTube) where the creator’s other videos are listed on the side. This increases the follow-on views for more videos. This is particularly helpful for multi-part web series since viewers don’t have to track down subsequent videos.
On Instagram, Epoxy saw their main users only posting pictures and not putting up video. The team figured out that was “because of a technical issue. YouTubers will shoot on DSLR instead of a phone, but how do you get that into Instagram?” said Ahmad. To deal with that issue, Epoxy built an app to render the clip, making posting videos a whole lot easier.
It’s Not Just About the Numbers
“Almost no one understands their analytics,” said Ahmad and Bruce. So the company that tracks social media engagement and interaction is simplifying the way clients interface with data to make it easier to get results.
On Twitter, the data shows users tweets by reach. It allows for easy re-Tweeting, following and conversations.
On Instagram, Epoxy shows the most influential users by ranking anyone who has engaged with your content. Before the program, there was “basically no way to surface that data on your phone,” said Bruce and Ahmad.
The point is to track the amount of buzz, make the process of engaging easier and see what is resonating with fans.
For Everyone
Epoxy is meant to be effective and efficient for anyone from an individual with a camera to a big Hollywood studio. Individual products start at $19 a month.
Epoxy is fully operational for computers, tablets and phones. It will be available in five languages (English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese), giving an indication of the wide reach the founders are hoping the product will have.
The company is growing fast. Already, they have over 100 channels running in private beta.
