Eloqua Launches Social Media Suite

SAN FRANCISCO (DreamForce 2011) -- Eloqua, a provider of on-demand revenue performance management solutions, released a new suite of social media solutions for the company's marketing automation platform.

The release consists of four components that together provide Eloqua users with the ability to improve form conversions, increase campaign reach, monitor real-time conversations, and even score leads, all based on a prospect's social media behaviors.

New features of the Social Media Suite include the following:

• Klout segmentation: Adds each prospect's level of influence into the database and enables Eloqua to score leads based on their social activity.
• Social sign-on: Improves form conversion by giving visitors a one-click option for form completion. Sign-on from LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter accounts are all available.
• Twitter for sales: Publishes a live feed of a prospect's most recent tweets in the Eloqua Profiler dashboard. This stream equips sales reps with actionable, real-time information.
• Social sharing tools: Facilitates the spread of promotions by allowing recipients to share relevant campaigns across their social graph. Future versions will enable marketers to use a drag-and-drop interface to incorporate social currency icons, such as Facebook "Likes" and Google "+1" directly into landing pages.

Of these, the one that is likely to have the most impact is the social sign-on, according to Eloqua Chief Marketing Officer Brian Kardon. He says 90 percent of the time, people cancel out when they get to a sign-in screen that requires them to fill in a form. With social sign on, "your form auto completes right from your social profiles," he says.

With social sign-on, form completion ranges from 30 percent ot 40 percent more, he says. "People really like this better."

Eloqua's new features allow B2B marketers to consider the individual's social persona when capturing, tracking, and scoring leads. Eloqua users can now weave social media into the entire revenue cycle, from lead capture through close.

"Today, getting a full view of the buyer requires understanding more than a prospect's role and function," said Joe Payne, CEO of Eloqua. "It requires insight into what content they create, which social channels they participate in, and who they trust and influence. You need to see and participate in the conversations buyers are conducting with their trusted peers in business. Our new social suite is a game-changer for the revenue performance management industry because it finally gives marketers the ability to incorporate social media at all stages of the buying process."

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