A client confessed recently that one of the reasons his company had selected Marketo as a marketing automation provider was because he was so impressed by their marketing. Quite apart from the merits of their technology, Marketo does indeed have a reputation for (to borrow a time-worn phrase): eating their own dog food. And aside from the sophistication that no doubt powers when, how, and what Marketo communicates with prospective customers, their marketing creative (which, you could argue, has nothing to do with technology) is pretty darn good also. To wit: 1. MORE >>

When I heard word of Marketo’s $50 million round, my immediate response was, “Good for them; better for the industry,” predictable though it may sound. fully expect this round – which, according to industry observers, brings Marketo’s total raise to $107 million – to brighten the spotlight that’s already shining on  marketing automation and related categories like revenue performance management. When it comes to Marketo’s funding, the question most observers will ask is: Why did they need to raise $50 million just one year after securing $25 million? MORE >>

Marketo today announced the launch of Spark , a new brand aimed at small and mid-size business. Functionally, Spark is pretty much identical to the standard Marketo system. Most of these aren’t of interest to small business, and several involve additional charges even for Marketo’s regular packages. Spark starts at $750 per month with no annual contract, compared with Marketo’s $2,000 per month minimum and annual contract for its full-featured Professional Edition. Whether Marketo actually makes any money at this price is questionable. MORE >>

Marketo users : Download a free set of professionally-designed email and landing page templates, along with complete instructions for how to download into Marketo, now available on the Spear Website. B2B Marketing Creative Demand Generation E-mail email design email marketing Graphic Design Marketo Uncategorized email best practices email templates marketo Marketo email templates marketo landing pages Marketo partner Marketo templatesBut one other element plays a key role even before you write one word of copy: the design template. MORE >>

Earlier this week, Marketo , the marketing automation company, held its second ever user conference in San Francisco. As a Marketo agency partner, I attended along with colleagues from Spear Marketing Group to greet clients, talk shop, and hear how other companies – including Marketo themselves – are putting technology to use in the service of improved lead management. From Marketo’s perspective, I understand the need to frame marketing automation in ever more mission-critical terms. Marketo has more than 300 content assets on offer on its Website.). Email? MORE >>