The MarTech Minute: Salesforce AppExchange launches suite of partner-built solutions, Software AG releases new Marketo Engage Connector

MarTech Minute briefs always appear first in our daily newsletter throughout the week. Click here to subscribe. The following is our compilation of the past week’s briefs from those newsletters.

Falcon.io acquires social firm Unmetric. Cision-owned social media provider Falcon.io has acquired social media intelligence firm Unmetric. Falcon.io will integrate Unmetric into its existing Social Media Marketing platform. Unmetric delivers public data from brands across social media channels to enable users to optimize their social strategies. “Our mission is to deliver a powerful social software suite that enables brands we serve to win in their markets. Today the Unmetric acquisition gets us closer to this vision,” said Falcon.io founder and president of Cision Social, Ulrik Bo Larsen. “Giving brands the ability to benchmark, monitor, measure, better engage with their customers and audiences and create and publish powerful content all in one unified platform will help them win.”

Software AG releases certified connector for Adobe’s Marketo Engage. The connector integrates a user’s SAP Service Cloud or SAP Sales Cloud solution implementation with Marketo to establish a direct connection between customer data and Adobe’s experience management (CXM) tools. “Our partnership with Software AG is all about connecting sales and marketing data, and helping brands transform their customer experience management,” said Matt Thompson, executive vice president, worldwide field operations at Adobe. “Being able to access the full functionality of Marketo’s B2B marketing technology is a game-changer. With Software AG’s help, customers can now be confident that their B2B campaigns and initiatives are connected to the highest-quality data sources within their organization.”

Sidetrade AI launches on Salesforce App Exchange. Sidetrade announced that Sidetrade AI Sales & Marketing is now available on the Salesforce App Exchange. The tool uses Sidetrade’s AI, Aimie, to scan CRM data within Salesforce and cross-reference it with external data. Aimie makes actionable recommendations to users and can help sales users identify opportunities and risks, as well as lead targeting.

C3 Metrics granted Media Rating Council accreditation. To earn the Media Rating Council (MRC)  accreditation, C3 Metrics completed an audit by independent CPAs. The audit looks at technologies, systems and processes that contribute to the viewability measurement of display ads. “Viewability is the critical component for accurate attribution,” said Jeff Greenfield, co-founder and chief attribution officer at C3 Metrics. “The MRC has provided the industry with an evidence-based pathway for the manner in which viewable impressions can be consistently and accurately measures. C3 Metrics is in full alignment and support with these criteria and I’m proud of the team that has worked with MRC and its independent CPAs to receive this accreditation.”

Cloudinary launches AI-enabled video management platform. Media management platform Cloudinary released a major overhaul of its video management solution, including AI capabilities to streamline the video workflow process. According to Cloudinary, nearly 90% of consumers rely on videos to help make their purchasing decisions. Landing pages with video realize conversion rates of 80% or more. “The exponential growth of online video content calls for an entirely new approach to video management. Video bandwidth on the Cloudinary platform has tripled over the last few months, underscoring the increased demand for video-rich experiences,” said Nadav Soferman, co-founder and chief product officer, Cloudinary. “Companies understand the power video holds, yet most continue to face obstacles when it comes to creating and delivering engaging video content at the pace and scale required to compete. Developers and marketers deserve a fresh approach, and our solution addresses today’s needs by utilizing AI to automate tedious and time-consuming tasks so brands can more easily deliver the kinds of dynamic video experiences that convert.”

Turn.io launches behavior change chat platform for social impact. Turn.io, a startup incubated by WhatsApp Business API partner Praekelt.org, is designed to connect social impact organizations with audiences via chat messaging platforms. It has also developed capabilities and features such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning to improve the use of chat for social enterprises. “By 2021, we want to support hundreds of social impact organizations working in health, education, finance and agriculture, serving millions of active users,” said Turn.io Product Manager Pippa Yeats.

Salesforce AppExchange launches new partner-built solutions. The new AppExchange solutions are expected to help customers tap into the Salesforce ecosystem. The new solutions include a product tailored specifically to Commer Cloud and includes streamlined billing and payment apps. It also includes Einstein Bots for customer service and a number of new Datorama partner apps to deliver marketing intelligence.“Consumer demands are evolving rapidly and our partners are critical to delivering customer success,” said Woodson Martin, GM of AppExchange. “With more than 5,000 AppExchange listings that span across product categories and industries, our customers are able to power their digital transformations.” 

HubSpot adds Viewbix Inc as App Marketplace Certified Partner. Cloud-based software platform HubSpot has added video analytics and technology provider Viewbix as a Certified App Partner, listed in the HubSpot Marketplace. “As businesses increasingly rely on third-party integrations in their day-to-day operations, it is critical that those integrations work together seamlessly, and the HubSpot platform makes that possible,” says Viewpix CEO Jonathan Stefansky. “More than half a million apps have already been installed across HubSpot’s user base and we are excited to join this team and provide our services to their customers.”

MailChimp and Pearl Thinks announce strategic partnership. Customer data platform Pearl, which primarily serves ecommerce and retail businesses, announced its latest integration with Mailchimp. The new integration allows for real-time synchronization of email engagement data, while allowing users to apply Mailchimp tags within Pearl.  

Marketers on the Move: Twitch, LivePerson hire industry veterans, Salesforce exec jumps to SAP

Twitch has announced Doug Scott as its new chief marketing officer. Scott previously led global marketing efforts for Zynga and served as CMO of the music startup BrandPage. “We’re thrilled to welcome Doug Scott to Twitch as our chief marketing officer,” said Twitch COO Sara Clemens. “Doug has deep experience extending brands into new markets across games and entertainment industries, making him the ideal fit to lead Twitch’s marketing strategy. As Twitch continues to grow, Doug will play an integral role in extending the brand beyond endemic audiences, supporting our incredible creators and expanding our presence in global markets.”

Craig Berman has been hired by conversation commerce solution provider LivePerson as senior vice president of global communications. Berman formerly served as the head of Amazon Entertainment’s public relations, led PR efforts for Amazon’s retail business and advised the company’s leadership on corporate and crisis communications. “Craig Berman ran one of the world’s leading tech communications shops, and now here at LivePerson, he’ll drive our communications strategy as we usher in the era of conversational commerce,” said Robert LoCascio, founder and CEO of LivePerson.

Panoramic has appointed Mike Christopher as its new chief technology officer. Christopher will be responsible for the enterprise SaaS company’s product strategy and development while also leading engineering, product and data science divisions. An entrepreneur, he founded Tangerine Hosting and co-founded AppSlingr. Peter Muzzonigro, co-founder of Panoramic, said: “Our team has done a tremendous job creating a marketing intelligence platform to meet the time-sensitive needs of data-driven marketers. As we continue to enable marketers to easily derive valuable insights from every data source, Mike’s leadership and proven success in building technology platforms that simplify user experiences will be crucial. We are thrilled to have him on the executive team and look forward to pushing our platform to the limits.”

SAP has hired former Salesforce Marketing Cloud CEO Bob Stutz as its new president of engineering for customer experience.  According to research from Forrester, Stutz more than doubled Marketing Cloud revenue while at Salesforce. He also served as corporate vice president at Microsoft Dynamics and as general manager of business solutions at HP. Salesforce has promoted Adam Blitzer to lead its Marketing Cloud division. Blitzer was a co-founder of Pardot, which was acquired by ExactTarget in 2012. He remained with Salesforce after it acquired ExactTarget.