Oracle Adds Instagram and Weibo to Social Cloud

Oracle has expanded its Social Cloud Social Relationship Management (SRM) platform to support photo-sharing site Instagram and Chinese social networking site Weibo, adding two of the world's fastest-growing social media platforms to the expanding lineup of social networks supported by the Oracle Social Cloud.

With the new capabilities, Oracle Social Cloud will now provide engagement and analytics support for Instagram and publishing, engagement, and analytics support for Weibo.

Oracle Social Cloud provides a single hub for businesses to monitor, engage, and gain valuable customer insights from social media, according to Meg Bear, group vice president of Oracle Social Cloud.

"Social media," she says, "is becoming a critical entry point for digital marketing and understanding the customer. It helps inform the company across the customer journey."

Customers, Bear says, "are more social than ever before. With social, companies can understand them in a deeper way and connect with them in a deeper way."

Bear says the addition of Instagram and Weibo to the Oracle Social Cloud was driven by customers and the overall market. "A large number of our customers have been asking for support for these networks for a long time," she states.

The addition of Instagram helps organizations leverage one of the fastest-growing social networks in the world to engage young adults. More than half of 18- to 29-year-olds on the Internet use Instagram today.

"Instagram is growing at the fastest rate of all social media channels," Bear explains. "People are really gravitating to it."

Weibo is a highly popular social network that is used by more than 175.7 million consumers and 800,000 businesses in China. The site also has aspirations to expand beyond China.

Weibo is an important addition for the Oracle Social Cloud, Bear says, because an increasing number of multinational corporations are looking to break into the Chinese market.

"We are excited about our relationship with Oracle. This relationship will enable Oracle's global customer base to better understand and engage with Weibo's tremendous Chinese user base," said Bryan Cheng, general manager of Weibo Business Product and Platform Division, in a statement. "Weibo strives to provide a social platform where consumers, businesses, and celebrities can better connect and engage in a lively online environment."

Oracle added support for LinkedIn in July. Other social networks supported by the Oracle Social Cloud include Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Support for Tumblr and Pinterest is in the works, according to Bear.

The early leaders were Facebook and Twitter, but now digital natives are expanding their social networks, she says.

The social media landscape is continually expanding and has become increasingly fragmented. A recent study by Pew Research found that the number of online adults using two or more social channels increased from 42 percent in 2013 to 52 percent in 2014.

Oracle Social Cloud is part of Oracle's Customer Experience Cloud, which also includes Oracle Marketing Cloud; Oracle Sales Cloud; Oracle Service Cloud; Oracle Configure, Price, and Quote Cloud; and Oracle Commerce Cloud.

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