News

Infusionsoft, a provider of sales and marketing automation software for small businesses, received $54 million in growth capital financing from Goldman Sachs. The funds will be used to ramp up product development, accelerate marketing and sales and to grow its partner and education programs in the U.S. and internationally, according to company officials.

 “We're pleased to welcome new investors who share our belief that successful small businesses are the engine behind the economy,” said Infusionsoft Co-Founder and CEO Clate Mask. “We will use this new funding to further transform the way small businesses grow.”

A recent survey of sales and marketing professionals found that just 16% believe that their teams' activities are fully aligned, and one in 10 respondents say they are not aligned at all.

The Channel Partnership, in conjunction with The Leadership Foundation, commissioned a survey of 1,000 B2B sales and marketing professionals that focused on the nature of relationships between the two organizations. The results, according to The Channel Partnership, suggest that "tensions, misunderstanding and a lack of communication between the divisions are threatening business success."

Salesforce.com recently issued a set of release notes that offer a detailed preview into the company's planned Spring 2013 update for its CRM platform.

According to the release notes posted to the Salesforce.com web site, the company's Spring '13 update will include scores of new capabilities across a number of platform components. These include previously unannounced upgrades as well as planned changes already announced during the second half of 2012.

2012 was an action-packed year for B2B marketers and for the companies that serve them. Social media, mobile technology and new analytics tools offered both opportunities and challenges. The vendor landscape changed dramatically thanks to a high-profile IPO and major acquisitions. Through it all, B2B buyers continue to rewrite the rules of the marketing game.

All of these trends are evident in Demand Gen Report's roundup of our top stories for 2012. In fact, if there's one common theme linking the following stories, it's that B2B marketers now work in an industry where fast-paced – and often disruptive – change is a fact of life.

Oracle announced today that it will acquire Eloqua, Inc. for $871 million. Oracle will pay $23.50 per share for Eloqua, a 31% premium over the marketing automation vendor's closing stock price of $17.92 yesterday.

According to an Oracle news release, it will use Eloqua's technology to create a "Customer Experience Cloud" offering enterprises a single, end-to-end suite of cloud applications to acquire, sell to, service and support customers. Specifically, Oracle apparently plans to rebrand Eloqua's marketing automation platform as the "Oracle Marketing Cloud" and to position it alongside its current customer experience offerings.