Social media certainly provides powerful opportunities to send member engagement soaring, thanks to the natural connections that arise from posting, sharing, linking and “liking.” But in order to best take advantage of these new ways to develop a two-way dialogue with members and boost their loyalty to the organization, you’ll need to develop a strong, clear strategy.

According to analyst firm Gartner, the worldwide social customer relationship management (CRM) market is forecast to reach over $1 billion in revenue by the end of 2012, up from approximately $625 million in 2010. But Social CRM is not just about technology. At its heart, it is a philosophy supported by the right technology and tactics.

On Wed. May 30, at 2 p.m., DemandGen Report will host a webinar in conjunction with Avectra to highlight key trends in CRM, new tactics for building two-way relationships and tips for driving member engagement.

eTrigue Corporation recently announced the availability of new webcast event-management and prospect-management features for its marketing automation suite, eTrigue DemandCenter.

The new webcast event management capabilities are designed to simplify webcast workflow with drag-and-drop customization and automatic population of registration and attendance information into the marketing database. Marketers gain context to visitor activity with drill-down access for event details, visits and contact touch points.

HubSpot announced yesterday the addition of a revised email marketing system and contact database to its core product lineup.

Focused on providing marketers with tools to maximize their prospect and customer data, HubSpot’s new contacts database is designed to centralize information and integrate with CRM and existing systems. Coupled with HubSpot’s marketing software, the solution enables marketers to track contacts’ online browsing history, email history, form submissions and social media information, captured in the same profile.

Intuit Inc. recently agreed to purchase Demandforce, a San Francisco-based Software-as-a-Service company for SMBs. Demandforce’s SaaS, application is used by thousands of small businesses to automate marketing and customer communications, build and maintain a strong online reputation, and raise their profile with local consumers.

The cash transaction, valued at approximately $423.5 million, is expected to close in May 2012, subject to a legally mandated waiting period and other customary closing conditions.

Eloqua recently announced the appointment of new Chief Marketing Officer Heidi Melin, a marketing executive with experience leading some of Silicon Valley’s most respected technology brands. Melin, who has held CMO posts at Taleo, Polycom and Hyperion Solutions, will report directly to Eloqua CEO Joe Payne.

Melin has led marketing and demand generation efforts at several successful businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. She comes to Eloqua from Taleo, which was recently acquired by Oracle Corporation, where she was CMO. Prior to Taleo, she served as CMO of Polycom Inc. Before joining Polycom, Melin was CMO at Hyperion Solutions Corp. (now Oracle Hyperion), where she led a brand strategy that led to renewed recognition within the business intelligence space. Prior to Hyperion Solutions, Melin led marketing services at PeopleSoft.

Infusionsoft, a provider of sales and marketing software for small businesses, reported record growth during Q1 2012, surpassing its quarterly goals. Infusionsoft closed Q1 with nearly 1,100 new customers — growing its customer list to 8,700 small businesses with 31,000 users in 62 countries. According to the company, its customers capture 2.5 million leads, send 300 million emails, add 14.5 million contacts and process $83 million in transactions each month.

Infusionsoft also expanded its executive team, in March naming Marc Chesley Chief Technology Officer and Richard Tripp Chief Product Officer. Infusionsoft also added nearly 30 employees, bringing the total to 217.