COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- While 2012 was dubbed the year of visual storytelling, sophisticated marketers know it barely scratched the surface. Billions of images were shared on Instagram, yet marketers still struggled to translate those images into meaningful business outcomes. Today, social media management platform Venueseen is solving that problem by opening its API – with the Indy 500 as the first partner.

"The explosion of social photography has forced brands to change the way they think about user-generated content. The C-suite doesn't care about likes and comments, they want to see how social content can be monetized," said Brian Zuercher, Venueseen's CEO. "The API lets brands extend the life of photo contests, campaigns and user-generated content. Now, they can 'unlock' amazing Instagram photos and showcase them on their own websites or other campaign channels."

For example, by tapping into Venueseen's API, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will plot fans' geotagged and #Indy500orBust hashtagged Instagram photos on an interactive map. Additionally, fans can post pictures on Instagram for a chance to win a VIP experience at the race.

"Our focus this year is showing that the Indy 500 is more than just a race – it's a journey. Venueseen helps us visualize that journey, giving us the power to showcase Instagram photos on our campaign website and create a more personalized fan experience leading up to the race," said Brian Simpson, digital media producer for Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With Venueseen's API, Instagram photos become a robust marketing channel – not just another social network. By using Venueseen, brands can:

• Activate brand loyalists and amplify their visual storytelling beyond Instagram
• Produce higher sales and new email subscribers
• Incorporate users' Instagram photos into broader marketing channels
• Analyze campaigns to see how they're performing

In addition to these new features, brands can continue to pull geotagged and hashtagged photos from Instagram and Foursquare through Venueseen's monitoring platform, plus create, implement and manage Instagram campaigns with its Instagram campaigns tool. The campaigns tool also lets brands collect contact information and auto-post comments to photos.

Brands interested in learning more about Venueseen's API should visit the website. To learn more about engaging your fans and followers with Venueseen, visit www.venueseen.com.

About Venueseen:

Venueseen gives businesses and brands the ability to connect with their most loyal fans and followers on visual social networks, like Instagram. Since launching in 2012, Venueseen has introduced a social media management/monitoring platform that pulls hashtagged and location-specific photos, check-ins and comments from Instagram and Foursquare, and an Instagram campaigns tool that offers a start-to-finish dashboard for easily creating, implementing and managing hashtag-driven Instagram marketing campaigns. Venueseen opened their API on Jan. 16, 2013, allowing brands to create custom campaigns using its technology.

Venueseen is the second location-based service from Columbus, OH-based FlyMuch, Inc. Venueseen is available at http://www.venueseen.com.

SOURCE Venueseen