SAN FRANCISCO — Social media marketing mainstay Ping.fm is set to close its doors this week, poised for transformation into the new Seesmic Ping premium powerhouse.
Ping.fm gained appeal as an automated posting tool among social media marketers in part due to its custom posting triggers; correctly formatted, automatically shortened links; and other features that saved time while generating valuable traffic and sales — but those days are ending on July 5, as the site closes and is replaced by Seesmic Ping.
With a tagline of “Post what you want, when you want. To any network you choose. Anywhere, anytime, on any device,” Seesmic Ping (www.seesmic.com) is set to revolutionize the way frequent social media users post to and interact with their favorite networks, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Tumblr.
According to the company, Seesmic Ping will allow users to schedule and make posts to multiple accounts, creating personalized groups to send new posts to a combination of services and accounts. Links can be shared as attachments, while Facebook and Twitter users, among others will enjoy native photo sharing and other features.
Seesmic Ping allows users to post from mobile devices, using its iPhone, iPad and Android apps; or from Windows desktops, including via a bookmarklet or through email.
Whereas predecessor service Ping.fm was free, however, Seesmic Ping may cost you.
“We are launching Seesmic Ping as a paid service and will continue building the product through our paid users,” states the company blog, adding that it “will still offer a free plan and users will still be able to take advantage of the basic features.”
The Plus version runs $4.99/month, allowing users to post up to 50 messages per day to 10 accounts, while the Pro version at $49.99/month provides all Seesmic Ping features with unlimited posting.
Seesmic notes that the free plan limits users to posting to three accounts (one Twitter, one Facebook account, and one LinkedIn account), with the limits on post destinations, not on the number of posts being made.
Seesmic says that its working on basic response metrics, such as how many retweets, mentions, likes, comments or link clicks each posted message receives; as well as other enhancements, including RSS feed integration and posting by email to groups, for a future update of Ping.