A new study finds that marketing automation technology is increasingly important to the SMB market – and that early adopters aren’t just the only ones benefitting from the trend.

The study, conducted by Techaisle, found that 28% of mid-sized firms with 100-999 employees currently use marketing automation technology, and 10% of small firms with less than 100 employees use marketing automation. Another 36% percent of the SMBs surveyed said they plan to use a marketing automation solution, and marketing automation is now one of the top 10 technology investments for SMBs.

Both small and mid-sized firms reported that they use marketing automation primarily to identify new customers, generate additional revenue from current customers and better manage their demand generation activities.

According to a pair of recent surveys, marketers say that social media and a wider variety of content options are driving their digital marketing strategies – but gauging the success of their efforts is still a challenge.

According to the latest Association of National Advertisers survey, 70% of marketers said they are employing different new media channels, but 62% reported they are struggling to measure the effectiveness of these efforts.

ON24, Inc. debuted its new MOVE (Mobile Virtual Environments) this week, a technology that allows the company’s webcasting and virtual event platforms to detect which device a user is on and then automatically provide a customized experience.

The new, comprehensive expansion of the company’s mobile strategy was driven by a dramatic increase in the number of users viewing online events on iPads and mobile phones. On24 said mobile usage of its webcasting platform grew 300% in the last year, and the company expects that number to double again by this time next year.

Act-On Software reported record results for Q2 2012. During the second quarter, revenue grew 320% year-over-year, and the company signed 277 new customers. This marks the 10th consecutive quarter of sequential growth for the company.

Act-On grew its employee base by more than 200% in the last year. The company appointed David Fowler as its chief privacy and deliverability officer. His role will include developing best practices in online marketing, helping customers implement those best practices and representing Act-On at key industry groups.

In June, Act-On released Act-On Insight, focused on capabilities for benchmarking and tracking key online marketing metrics. The tool is designed to help companies monitor social media and engage prospects.

Editor’s Note: The following article is the first in a two-part series highlighting how B2B companies are using social media from cold to close. Part two will highlight social selling tools and successes.

With consumer browsing and sharing behaviors from the B2C world migrating to the B2B world, innovative companies are now re-engineering their internal processes and tools for new ways to develop and establish relationships by leveraging data and trends.