Marketo's Community of Empowered Marketing Professionals Celebrates Its Second Birthday

SAN MATEO, Calif., Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketo, the leading provider of cloud-based marketing automation software, today celebrates its Community's two-year anniversary. The Marketo Community marked 2012 by growing its user base to over 23,000 members and partnering with Badgeville, to provide marketers a way to showcase their marketing automation prowess and encourage even greater enthusiasm and engagement.

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The Marketo Community provides a space for marketers to connect, share best practices, get questions answered and learn new techniques to increase leads and drive revenue. Users can also share ideas for Marketo product updates directly with the company and vote on the enhancements they would most like to see. This level of interaction enables Marketo to address the product needs of their customers and continue to be the most innovative and responsive marketing software solution. Since the community began, more than 200 community-suggested product features have been incorporated into Marketo.

"Gamification has made the Marketo community more involved and fast-acting," said Jenny Jacobson, community user and senior e-marketing specialist at Federated Investors. "When I run into questions or am looking to do something new, I get quick, accurate and insightful responses from other members eager to earn badges and make the leaderboard. It's a great way to get feedback and new ideas. I can also use my knowledge of Marketo and our processes in helping others – and sometimes, that leads me to envision new programs for Federated."

Nearly one-third of registered members in the Marketo Community are continuously active, and those 8,000 average monthly users have contributed to more than 21,000 discussions. This year's partnership with Badgeville helps further this engagement. Thanks to the partnership, Marketo's Community members can display knowledge, build brands and help other users identify Marketo Community thought leaders. By answering community questions, offering advice to new members and sharing and engaging with other users, members can earn Marketo Community Rockstar Rewards, resulting in benefits like invites to exclusive Marketo events. Marketo Community Rockstar badges are displayed on users' personal profile pages; not only to help users set goals and track their progress, but also serving as a way for them to expand their own professional networks.

"We at Marketo saw that marketers really needed a place to socialize, share and discuss their programs – somewhere they could learn from each other's experience and push their own efforts even further," said Heather Watkins, senior manager of customer communities and programs at Marketo. "We started the Marketo Community to help support our users, and we've been astounded at the amazing response we've received. As we celebrate the second anniversary of the community, users are learning more than ever, networking, and sometimes even receiving job offers because they've proven their marketing prowess."

About Marketo: Easy, Powerful, Complete.
Marketo uniquely provides easy-to-use, powerful and complete marketing software that propels fast-growing small companies and global enterprises alike. Marketo® marketing automation and sales effectiveness software – including the world's first integrated solution for social marketing automation – streamlines marketing processes, delivers more campaigns, generates more win-ready leads, and dramatically improves sales performance. With proven technology, comprehensive services and expert guidance, Marketo helps thousands of companies around the world turn marketing from a cost center into a revenue driver.

Known for providing breakthrough innovation and fueling explosive growth, Marketo was recently named one of "America's Most Promising Companies" by Forbes, the #1 Marketing Software Vendor on the INC 500, and the #1 fastest-growing private company of 2011 by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. In both 2011 and 2012 the company received the CRM Market Leaders Awards Winner for Marketing Solutions by CRM Magazine. Salesforce.com customers also honored the company with two AppExchange Best of '11 Awards, for Best Marketing Automation Solution and Best Chatter Exchange.

Marketo and the Marketo logo are trademarks of Marketo, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Marketo