• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, April 23, 2015

Publicis agency SapientNitro has formed a strategic partnership with Adaptly, giving it access to the latter’s social media advertising technology in North America. The alliance will help SapientNitro expand its capabilities and streamline delivery of social ad campaigns on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Kik.

Last year SapientNitro began using Adaptly’s media-buying technology for planning, executing, and reporting social media campaigns, and the new partnership will widen their areas of cooperation to include more of Adaptly’s software and marketing services.

SapientNitro’s current client list includes ConAgra, Dove, Diesel, Foot Locker, Kraft, Mars, Nestle, Nike, Peroni, PlayStation, Snickers, Twix, Virgin Blue, and Volvo. For its part Adaptly has already worked with big advertisers like PepsiCo, Fox, AMC Networks, Dominos, and The Weinstein Company.

The partnership is another vote of confidence in social media advertising from a major agency. Sean Black, SapientNitro’s North American director of innovation and strategic partnerships, affirmed: “Paid social media advertising is at the top of our clients’ priority list.”

On that note, SapientNitro cited a recent forecast from eMarketer, predicting that social media ad spending will increase from $23.68 billion this year to $35.98 billion in 2017, at which point it will account for 16% of global ad spend. 

At the same time, the rise of “autonomous marketing platforms” like Facebook and Twitter is increasing the need for integrated ad tech tailored to their systems. In a recent interview with MediaPost contributor Charlene Weisler, Adaptly President Sean O’Neal predicted, “we will continue to see a proliferation of autonomous marketing platforms that act independent in creating their own systems, with their own delivery systems and their own advertising and media formats.”