Social CRM is a big shift in the way companies interact with their customers. Rather than simply responding to customer’s requests, Social CRM is about creating a two-way social interaction with your customers, while creating value for both yourself and your customers. In a previous post I briefly talked about  Social CRM and how it relates to Social Media and Marketing Automation. Social CRM is a broad topic: it’s not just about sales force automation, but about all activities that touch customers. He focuses on the customer service aspects of CRM. MORE >>

Importing social data: loading social data into the marketing automation database so it can be used for segmentation, analysis, and sharing with salespeople via CRM integration. demand generation software vendor comparison social media marketing marketing automation systemsSocial media is arguably overhyped as a marketing trend: it gets well under 10% of marketing budgets (different surveys have figures from 3% to 8%) and results are questionable (it was rated the least effective content marketing tactic in a recent MarketingProfs study ). MORE >>

Last year, my colleague Tom Pick ( @TomPick ) and I introduced the #Nifty50 awards , which honored 50 men and 50 women who were leading the way in social media through their active engagement on Twitter. In order to qualify this year, each #Nifty50 nominee had to work for a technology company such as software, hardware, IT services or telecom. So, without further ado, here are the 2012 #Nifty50 Men, each of whom has represented the technology world on Twitter with class, dedication and integrity. Brian tops most CMO and Twitter lists, and is super-smart and well-connected. MORE >>

Networks Supported: Facebook, Twitter. CoTweet’s standard edition offers a basic set of Twitter features with advanced team collaboration not typically available in a free social media management product. Networks Supported: Twitter. Networks Supported : Twitter, Facebook, LInkedIn, Foursquare, Wordpress. MediaFunnel is the Business Social Media (BSM) platform that will put you firmly in control of your organization’s Twitter and Facebook use. Networks Supported : Facebook, Twitter. Networks Supported: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. MORE >>

Most of us have figured out that LinkedIn is a fantastic tool to network with like-minded professionals. But what about using LinkedIn for marketing ? More and more marketers are turning to LinkedIn to promote their products, services, and content. But you have more power at your disposal with LinkedIn than you might realize. LinkedIn also has a powerful ads platform. So if you're using PPC to power your presence on Facebook, Twitter, or Google, consider yourself lucky -- you can add LinkedIn to that list, too. LinkedIn Ad Reporting. MORE >>