BtoB marketers are spending millions of dollars annually on social marketing programs, though nearly 30% are not tracking the impact of social media programs on lead generation and sales, according to a survey conducted by Pardot.  

The survey, which included input from dozens of companies, aimed to shed light on the developing role of social media in marketing.  Survey questions focused on social marketing etiquette, the influence of social media on lead and sales, the most useful social media tools and the cost to operate social marketing programs.  

The survey found that social media use among BtoB marketers is on the rise —95% of respondents indicated they use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or corporate blogs to reach prospects.  Yet despite the increased use of these services, only 70% are monitoring the return on spend for these programs.  And among those who do, about 42% of marketers replied that zero or an uncertain number of sales leads resulted from social media programs.  

LeadLife Solutions recently announced the release of its second-generation marketing automation product, a new technology with a web 2.0 user interface and visual campaign builder designed to streamline marketing campaign management.

The visual campaign builder with drag-and-drop features is designed to enable marketers to build intelligent nurturing sequences based on their prospects’ buying process. A rules builder enables users to set rules for lead scoring, CRM integration and data cleansing.

More than 50 out-of-the-box reports are designed to allow marketers to “slice and dice” campaigns, leads, assets and more to optimize their marketing efforts. It also includes analyses to identify and target prospects and assess planned activities to ensure they meet forecasts. 

By Owen McDonald, Senior Editor

Kwanzoo, a provider of multi-channel engagement marketing software solutions recently announced a technology partnership with Eloqua. The partnership encompasses the release of the Kwanzoo Cloud Connector for Eloqua, designed to enable the integration of Kwanzoo's suite of Smart Marketing Units with the Eloqua platform.

Kwanzoo's suite of Smart Marketing Units — which include polls, surveys, social promotions and opt-in lead forms — is now integrated with Eloqua's Platform and is used for lead nurturing, lead capture, social sharing and display campaign optimization.

By Paul Albright, Chief Revenue Officer, Marketo

Marketing execs: Do you know how much revenue your demand generation team is bringing in? If you can’t answer this, you’ve got a real problem. The good news is it’s not a tough fix — especially using new technology. And once you do, you’ll be at a huge advantage since most marketing efforts are seen by CEOs and CFOs as cost centers rather than revenue engines.

By Paul Albright, Chief Revenue Officer, Marketo

Marketing execs: Do you know how much revenue your demand generation team is bringing in? If you can’t answer this, you’ve got a real problem. The good news is it’s not a tough fix — especially using new technology. And once you do, you’ll be at a huge advantage since most marketing efforts are seen by CEOs and CFOs as cost centers rather than revenue engines.

Solution Snapshot:

Curata by HiveFire, Inc. helps marketers more effectively manage content curation, the process of finding, organizing and sharing online content. By combining these tasks in one easy-to-use platform, marketers save time on content marketing while simultaneously increasing brand visibility, boosting SEO, nurturing leads and establishing thought leadership.  

Solution Snapshot:

Curata by HiveFire, Inc. helps marketers more effectively manage content curation, the process of finding, organizing and sharing online content. By combining these tasks in one easy-to-use platform, marketers save time on content marketing while simultaneously increasing brand visibility, boosting SEO, nurturing leads and establishing thought leadership.  

The Rock Annand Group, a BtoB marketing and sales consultancy, recently announced “The Ultimate ‘Live in 45’ Lead Nurturing Program,” a “guided implementation” for a lead nurturing campaign focused on the specific, practical steps to construct effective programs, beginning Nov. 1, 2011.

As BtoB marketers migrate to interactive strategies — including blogs, social, videos and webcasts — many struggle to bridge the gap between these efforts and actual lead generation. The missing link, according to Rock Annand President Henry Bruce, is a systematic, measurable approach that reliably generates leads, qualifies them and follows up with them in an appealing and effective fashion.

“Scattershot marketing brings little or no results,” Bruce said. “But if you line up all the right elements in a well-orchestrated program, you generate leads from the right audience, separate the unserious from the truly interested people and keep them engaged as you present them opportunities to buy. All along the way you’re watching and measuring so you get the greatest results not only this time, but in the future as well.”