HootSuite and HubSpot Join Forces

In the latest sign that more marketers are demanding tools to better harness social media, HootSuite, a social media management system, announced today that it is teaming up with marketing software platform HubSpot in a partnership that features an application integration between the two companies.

Currently in beta, the app integration will automatically pull HubSpot lead and keyword data into HootSuite, enabling marketers to more easily identify leads and users mentioning top performing keywords without leaving the HootSuite dashboard. The beta program will run for two weeks, leading up to a public launch of the app integration at the end of this month.

"Social media spending is on the rise. We watch as companies invest significant dollars into driving marketing campaigns using social networks as the next marketing platform," said HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes in a statement. "Through this partnership, the professional marketer can finally follow up with social media leads, nurture relationships in real time, and close deals easier than ever before."

Based in Vancouver, Canada, and launched in 2008, HootSuite was one of the first companies to enable social media users to manage their accounts from one dashboard. HootSuite had three million users as of January 2012, which includes two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies, according to the company. Used by a mix of consumers and businesses, the company has lately been targeting business users with new tools and partnerships.

Last month, HootSuite released HootSuite Teams, a collaboration tool that it describes as "an industrial-grade solution for global enterprises and small businesses." The company also announced partnerships with Adobe and SocialFlow, a social media publishing platform.

HubSpot was founded in 2006 and is based in Cambridge, Mass. The marketing software company provides more than 6,800 companies in 46 countries with services that include Web site management, search engine optimization, lead management, marketing analytics, email marketing, and more.

HootSuite and HubSpot's partnership follows the recent acquisitions by Salesforce.com and Oracle of companies that specialize in social media activities, bolstering surveys that show marketers are pouring an increasing amount of money into social media. Social media advertising spending in the United States is expected to rise to $9.8 billion in 2016 from $3.8 billion last year, as companies seek new tools for reaching consumers online, according to research firm BIA/Kelsey.