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Salesforce.com Snaps Up Buddy Media for $689 Million

In a move that further enhances its social CRM offerings, Salesforce.com announced today that it will acquire Buddy Media, a social media marketing platform, for $689 million.

Salesforce.com's decision to buy Buddy Media is an "interesting move" says Michael Fauscette, group vice president of software business solutions at IDC. "Buddy Media is very complementary to the Radian6 acquisition and helps build out a social marketing capability that Salesforce was lacking," Fauscette notes. "This move strengthens the overall SCRM story for Salesforce as well."

Founded in 2007, Buddy Media helps brands manage their Facebook presence. Its clients include large brands such as Carnival, HP, L'Oreal, and Mattel. The company's offerings include ProfileBuddy, a publishing platform that lets clients create and deploy customized interactive content on social networks like Facebook; ConversationBuddy, a platform and dashboard for managing discussions on social networks; ReachBuddy, which enables customers to integrate social content with their Web sites; and Conversion Buddy, a set of sharing buttons designed for e-commerce.

"Salesforce.com now has the number one players in social listening and marketing—Radian6 and Buddy Media," said Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com chairman and CEO, in a statement. "With CMOs surpassing CIOs in spend on technology within the next five years, our Marketing Cloud leadership will allow us to capitalize on this massive opportunity."

The deal is expected to be completed by October 31.


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