12 Social Media Companies that Kick Ass

by Jason
April 26, 2009

Not a Top Ten List

As the newest ecosystem within the marketing world, Social Media is a collection of many different types of animals fighting to survive and thrive. Software developers, advertising agencies, and public relations firms alike are all doing very cool things within this evolving space. Defining what a Social Media company is can go in many directions. This list takes a broader look at all the companies that define social media, each leveraging the power of people in unique ways.

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Buddy Media – App Builder (Facebook apps FedEx Package and Ad Battle), buyer of other top FB apps, and creator of their own ad network.

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Crayon - Joseph Jaffe and a slick list of clients

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Crispin Porter + Bogusk – The Burger King Subservient Chicken and Whopper Sacrifice. Also doing some cool things with American Express OPEN.

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CrossTech Media – Chris Brogan, Justin Levy, and the Inbound Marketing Summit – enough said.

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Hubspot - They own the “inbound marketing” title. They are their best case study with HubSpot.tv and a collection of free marketing tools like Twitter Grader and Facebook Grader

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Ignite – They stepped into the social media sphere early and they operate out of the tech and research heavy North Carolina triangle, giving them unique access to the right resources, ideas, and people that matter. They also have a pretty glowing client list that continues to grow.

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IZEA - Creators of blog monetizing sites PayPerPost and Social Spark, and recent blog app Cloud Shout, an open source, social network in your sidebar.  They are run by Rock Startup man Ted Murphy and have a blogger advisory board of rock stars.

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Radian6 - Good people with one of, if not the best social media tracking and analysis software technologies.

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Ripple6 – Their unique technology solutions include custom analytics, publishing platforms, and social networks. Combine with that the old media muscle behind them in Gannet and you get a small innovative company with big resources.

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Six Apart – Maker of MovableType and Typepad, access to blog powerhouses like Gawker, the Huffington Post, and Boing Boing, and they recently aquired Apperceptive, a New York social media agency, and now defunct micro-blogging platform Pownce.


Undercurrent - The agency behind the creation and execution of the Ford Fiesta Movement campaign, Undercurrent has some pretty kick ass young talent and is doing some cool things. I also like that they are thoughtful enough to not define themselves as a “social media” company, instead describing themselves as a digital “think tank”.

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Wordpress – Look beyond the fact that they are the top blogging and content management software. Wordpress’ purchases of smaller social tools, open source commitment, and investment in what should be one of the best social networking platforms in BuddyPress, makes them an important player within the social media industry.

Thanks to all those who added in their two cents to help put together this list.

Who would you add?

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  • Mayan White
    Oh my god. This is exactly what I needed. It was fast and extremely helpful. THANK YOU!!!
  • Suepearlstein
    I think you should check out Single Platform from NY. They should definitely be added to your list!
  • killscar
    Oxford Communications
    http://www.oxfordcommunications.com has been doing some great things. They have taken a regional convenience store with no social media presence and within 6 months have amassed almost 40,000 fans.
  • Jenny
    Have you heard of Shoutlet? www.shoutlet.com
  • wordpress, Izea........
    I know that, because I love Blogging
  • KDMDisqusOGD
    Open Government TV is looking for the right Social Media firm(s) to team up with to help the federal government advance its new Open Government Directive. Please email your bio, corporate profile to keith@kdm-assoc.com and or call us at our office 202-449-7705 to set up a time to further discuss.
  • mike hanson
    you have to include Socialize Media to the mix.

    this company allows complete publishing into all social networks, video sharing sites, picture sharing sites and social network status updates.

    its all done through one web interface and dashboard.

    it is truly a one stop Social Media Manager.

    www.socializemedia.com
  • Media-Fuse is a Chicago-based creative services agency that specializes in Social Media Campaign strategies, viral media campaigns and integrated mobile content.

    Your target market is dodging your every move; you have to go where they go and where they are spending their time in thriving online social networks. We support advertising agencies and major media firms alike in building brand equity leveraging the most current web-based technology.

    Media-Fuse is headquartered in Chicago; we understand how to bridge the emerging divide between brands and consumers.
  • Good information in this..........
  • mRELEVANCE out of Atlanta/Chicago has a really good reputation and real estate focused. They alos run some of the best real estate blogs around. www.mrelevance.com
  • billynomatex
    Pretty good list there but you haven't mentioned many of the companies creating the apps that we all enjoy on social networking sites.

    Companies like www.bluhalo.com and www.punkyduck.com
  • Jeremy - thanks so much for mentioning us. I am very flattered and happy to be in the company of these companies that I really respect - even if just in the comments. :) Thanks for following our work and for the mention.

    Jason - great list. I respect a lot of these folks and what they're doing. It's been fantastic watching the creativity - and we're pushing the boundaries ourselves here at PerkettPR with the integration of PR and digital content. Fun stuff!

    BTW - I'd love to help you learn more about the PR industry anytime! Let's connect - i just followed you on Twitter.

    Thanks for the great post.

    Christine Perkett
    http://www.twitter.com/missusP
    http://www.twitter.com/PerkettPR
  • Thanks for visiting Christine. I will definitely take you up on that.
  • Thanks for the nod Jason (even though we're actually New Marketing Labs - CrossTech is our parent company) :)

    It's really special to be included on a list with the type of companies you listed! I know people at most of the companies you selected and they all have great teams that are doing interesting stuff in our space.
  • Thanks for including us on the list! We are so happy that we have earned your respect.
  • It's clearly a segment in it's infancy when we see such a wide variety of companies on a list like this. It's an exciting time, and I'm thankful we're focused on the technical implementation of social networking sites - there's a lot of work!
  • I really need to pay attention to Radian6 - as my clients start demanding tools for SM maximization, companies like R6 (and others) will be quite important. I love SixApart (my blog is powered by typepad), but feel some of the tools out there (such as TwitterGrader) are just fluff.
  • I would say the whole Grader series by Hubspot is meant more as an inbound marketing tool than a serious business or marketing tool for the end user. However, for Hubspot they are serious marketing tools. But I agree Jim, the whole tracking, analytics, brand sentiment vendor industry only going to grow for the forseeable future as businesses demand better tools.
  • Scribnia is an up and coming site that will have a big effect on social media. It offers the ability for users to rate and review bloggers and authors. With so many social media "experts" on the Internet, users will finally be able to tell who is worth following on Twitter, reading, and hiring.

    EditL as Jason pointed out, not everyone could see the link because Scribnia is in private alpha but if you are interested, you can receive alpha invitations by leaving your email address on the homepage.
  • Scribnia is an up and coming site that will have a big effect on social media. It offers the ability for users to rate and review bloggers and authors. With so many social media "experts" on the Internet, users will finally be able to tell who is worth following on Twitter, reading, and hiring. You can even read about Jason Keath:

    http://scribnia.com/author/show/410/jason-keath/
  • Picked this list off of Twitter. Nice work. I had not heard of a couple of these outfits. Nice to see the mix of large and small. Expect to see my company Bash Foo up there one day. ;-)
  • pretty good list. definetly twitting this....
    thanks!
  • agreed. I am hungry for that day. I imagine by the end of the year, we may have another web 2.0, social media, semantic web term to replace it all once more. I doubt we will escape the unending nomage drama anytime soon.

    "I work on the internet" is still my answer for a lot of people when they ask what I do for a living.
  • agreed. I am hungry for that day. I imagine by the end of the year, we may have another web 2.0, social media, semantic web term to replace it all once more. I doubt we will escape the unending nomage drama anytime soon.


    \"I work on the internet\" is still my answer for a lot of people when they ask what I do for a living.
  • I bet you guys are having fun Jim. The thing about working in Social Media, is no one is trying to trick anyone or game the system. Or if they are, they are unsuccessful for the most part. It all functions on the premise of giving value to one another, helping one another, with cool technology. How could that not be fun to do every day.
  • Couldn't agree with you more!
  • Here's to the day when all media is social, and we can stop saying it. Thanks for the include. ;)
  • Jason,

    Truly humbled to be included on the list. Best part is, we're having a lot of fun as we go. ~Jim
  • Nice post Jason. Saw your post today and just thought I’d bring your attention appssavvy (www.appssavvy.com), a direct sales team for the social media space based in NYC. appssavvy represents social media application developers to brands and agencies.

    Since starting up in early 2008, appssavvy has connected more than 75 brands (Lexus, Sony, Oakley, ChapStick and Kohl’s to name a few) with contextually-relevant or integrated sponsorship programs with social media applications. In fact, here is a story (http://www.dmnews.com/Brands-compete-for-app-atte... about what they do that came out today.

    Thanks for the opportunity to bring appssavvy to your and the group's attention.
  • looking forward to your announcements. if all the "number 6" companies merge, it would be a social media empire
  • Thanks for the shout out Jason. We appreciate it and are humbled to be included in such awesome company.

    All the Best,
    Carri Bright
    Communications Lead
    IZEA
  • IZEA is a unique company on the list. no one is really doing any of the things you guys are investing in. definitely deserving Carri.
  • Jason,
    Fabulous list, you've included some top drawer talent and we're honored to be thought of in the same vein. We're very glad that we are one of the "number 6" companies you included.

    We're going to be making some big announcements soon of great new technology and partners doing new things in social media. So please keep watching what we're doing for some interesting things in the near future.
  • Samantha B
    This list rocks Jason, thank you for sharing it. There are actually a couple companies on here that I went and looked at and plan on following up with this week. The vendors for blogging, tracking, etc. are just what I needed. My boss just put me in charge of social media in addition to all the rest of our marketing. I could definitely use insight from these experts. I had only really heard of Wordpress and Crispin Porter before.
  • Surprised that there are really only a couple "social media agencies" on the list. I figured there were more of those making a splash. I have heard of Ignite before. Just would have though more companies like that would be thriving with all the love social media is receiving right now. Maybe they are out there but have just not made as big of a splash as others yet.

    Also, where are the PR kings on your list? You nailed Crispin as the top ad agency for the list, but I would think Perkett or Edelman would warrant a mention.

    That being said, I think this kicks off a good conversation about, as you said, the broad range of companies defining this industry. Well done.
  • Perkett and Edelman were on my short list Jeremy. I think they both have "made a splash" and invested in social media well as part of the future of their industry. In all, I probably had 12 more companies in my internal discussion for this post. Some just did not make it for me personally as part of the top 12. The list is completely subjective and reflects more about me than the companies excluded. This is by no means a definitive list of anything. Just something cool to share. I would also add, that of all the disciplines included in the social media, PR is probably what I have the least experience with. I am sure that affects my desicion as well.

    I hope to see more Social Media Agencies pop up as well. Most of the ones out there have not been around as long as Ignite. They are typically pretty small shops, so yes it will take time for many of them to make a splash, especially with big agencies and media companies buying up any of the ones that look promising. The nature of the beast I think.

    Thanks for your additions.
  • Thanks Jason for including Radian6 amongst some very cool companies, and thanks for your kind words about us.
  • Thanks Michell. There are definitely many obvious names on the list. I think you put it well. The parity that exist on the social media playing field is very cool to see.
  • Michelle W.
    Cool list Jason. Now I know I have to remember to add the number 6 to all future social media companies that I start since that accounts for 25% of your lists (Radian 6, Ripple 6, and 6 Apart). And all in a row no doubt :)

    A few of these companies are a bit obvious, but I think I get what you were going for. Seeing Crispin and Wordpress up there with companies that have 10 employees really shows you how even the playing field is within social media.
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