October 2, 2013
By Maria Minsker, contributing writer

Leadspace Integrates with Marketo to Boost B2B Lead Conversion

Leadspace has announced the release of its SaaS-based social lead targeting solution that integrates with Marketo's marketing automation software to provide B2B marketers with an automated lead qualification solution that promises to quicken response times as well as increase conversion rates.

Though timely contact is critical to improving sales, and following up with a new lead in under a minute can boost conversion rates by up to 391 percent, according to a 2012 Velocify report, analyzing customer data and extracting critical information to qualify a lead can be an arduous process, resulting in missed opportunities on both the marketing and sales ends.

To combat this, Leadspace now provides an automated solution that allows marketers to identify leads from a variety of different channels, including paid contact databases, social networks, and Web sites. Using social targeting technology, Leadspace then processes the data and quickly qualifies leads based on how well they match a company's unique ideal buyer profile.

During the process, each lead is also updated with accurate contact information and recent social data, which is subsequently fed into the Marketo lead database. This enables marketers to evaluate program success more efficiently and ensure that marketing campaigns are designed with the latest data.

The new integration allows marketers to develop hyper-targeted campaigns, such as sending emails to people interested in a certain topic, or only to those who use a specific tool. With the new release, B2B marketers and inside sales teams can use Leadspace to not only fill their top-of-funnel with high-quality leads but also automate and optimize their inbound marketing, which directly translates into bigger pipelines and lower cost-per-lead, according to a company statement.

"By uncovering lead information scattered throughout the social Web, Leadspace enriches the leads inside Marketo," Robin Bordoli, vice president of partner ecosystem and general manager of social at Marketo, says. "The new integration helps Marketo users spend their scarcest resource—time—on their most important leads. Companies can now find the needles in a haystack."

"With the new integration," says Ran Gishri, Leadspace vice president of marketing, "Marketo users can get a leg up on competition by uncovering golden opportunities faster and connecting sooner."

Other improvements to Leadspace's software include a revamped user interface for generating targeted lead lists and a stronger integration with Salesforce.com for sales prospecting.