Inside Social

Inside Social was a Seattle-based marketing analytics company established by co-founders Brewster Stanislaw and Joey Kotkins. Both Stanislaw and Kotkins, who were childhood friends and roommates, participated in the TechStars Seattle accelerator program in 2013 to develop their venture. Stanislaw, who served as CEO, brought a background in finance from his time at NYSE Euronext but transitioned to technology with a focus on product roadmap and strategic vision. His expertise was complemented by his academic credentials in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. The company successfully raised over $1.1 million in seed financing from angel investors.

The firm's core business was a social marketing platform designed to assist brands and eCommerce companies in optimizing their social media strategies. It targeted enterprise-level clients, including major brands like Pepsi, American Express, and Samsung, helping them measure the effectiveness of their social media efforts beyond simple metrics like likes and follows. Inside Social's platform focused on connecting social media activities directly to conversions and revenue, providing clients with more meaningful data and actionable insights. A key feature was its ability to track consumer behavior deep into the marketing funnel, encompassing not just social media but also "dark social" sources like SMS, chat, and email. This allowed for a more complete picture of how earned social sharing influences consumer purchasing decisions.

In September 2015, Inside Social was acquired by Simply Measured, another social analytics firm based in Seattle. The acquisition was a strategic move for Simply Measured to enhance its platform's capability to demonstrate return on investment (ROI) from social media activities. The integration of Inside Social's technology allowed for "full-funnel insights," combining top-of-the-funnel social engagement data with deep attribution of consumer behavior. Following the acquisition, Brewster Stanislaw joined Simply Measured as a product manager. The entire Inside Social team, which had grown to about 10 employees, was integrated into Simply Measured.

Keywords: Inside Social, Brewster Stanislaw, Joey Kotkins, social marketing platform, social media analytics, marketing analytics, eCommerce social marketing, social ROI, conversion tracking, dark social tracking, customer behavior attribution, earned media value, Simply Measured acquisition, TechStars Seattle, social media measurement, marketing technology, brand marketing analytics, social commerce, digital marketing insights, Seattle startup