Pinterest launches Web Analytics for brands, takes one giant leap towards monetization

This is huge, because brands like Sephora say their Pinterest followers spend 15 times more than their Facebook fans.

Advertisers and marketers should love Facebook’s new feed — but they better refocus on being awesome

Facebook just released its new news feed and marketers should be happy: Facebook is providing a rich canvas on which to display their wares. But it'll be best for social marketing experts.

PromoJam lets marketers build social media campaigns — no HTML required (exclusive)

Launching today, a new technology from a startup called PromoJam lets marketers create promotions in a matter of minutes and share them on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter -- no HTML expertise required.

LocBox pulls in $5.1M to put the nail in the daily deals coffin

LocBox wants to be the alternative to Groupon, Living Social and the host of flash sales sites, and has raised over $5 million in its quest to win over small businesses.

Hold the phone! Amid routine layoffs, Buddy Media is no ‘money pit’

Reality check: After two acquisitions of companies in a similar space, layoffs are a matter of course.

Do your social marketing efforts work? Adobe’s Social can find out

Adobe thinks it can answer marketers' most pressing questions with Adobe Social, a social marketing solution for start-to-finish campaign management.

Funding daily: Let someone else run your social media marketing

Hope it’s summery and warm where you are, funding news readers. The weather in San Francisco is lovely, if you ignore the dark wall of fog creeping slowly towards the VentureBeat office. The outlook is definitely sunny for these companies! …

Marketing automation firm Marketo gets social with Crowd Factory acquisition

Marketing automation firm Marketo has made its first acquisition ever with the purchase of social campaign service Crowd Factory, the company announced Wednesday morning.

Marketo and competing marketing automation firms like Eloqua, Pardot, and Silverpop offer software and services focused …

Extole turns regular customers into brand ambassadors, raises $10M

Nearly every company has a social presence these days, but personal recommendations are often a more powerful way to boost sales. If you’ve never heard about a company before, but your friend has, you’ll likely trust her opinion over that …

With $53.4M more funding, Lithium says social will change marketing as we know it

Lithium‘s goal is to make your existing customer base like the stands at a Raiders winning home game — crazy about your brand. The company announced a $53.4 million fourth round of funding today, which will be used to create …

SocialTwist adds Omniture, GT Nexus executives to team, grows 60 percent in revenue

SocialTwist announced today it snagged former Omniture worldwide channel sales exec Mark Dillon (pictured left) and GT Nexus cofounder Vijay Sundaram for its own executive staff, in addition to a 60 percent increase in revenue.

SocialTwist provides incentives to a …