Company: Salesforce.com
Entered by: OutCast Communications
Company Description: Salesforce.com is the market and technology leader in on-demand business services. The company’s Salesforce suite of on-demand CRM applications allows customers to manage and share all of their sales, support, marketing and partner information on-demand.
Nomination Category: Company, Office & Product Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best New Product or Service

Nomination Title: Salesforce for Google AdWords

1. Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 500 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and sales to date. You may include hyperlinks to product photos and data sheets. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

In today’s fast paced market, companies are under tremendous pressure to
justify their marketing spend, especially when it comes to search advertising.
Marketers need to accurately identify which keywords generate leads and which
leads are turning into sales opportunities and revenue. In fact, industry
estimates are that by 2010 companies will be spending more then $30 Billion
advertising online. However, today many companies have no real way to track
the success of their online advertising programs or measure return on
investment. With Salesforce for Google AdWords marketers, for the first time,
have complete visibility and control over their search engine marketing
investments and can reallocate and change their setting in real-time.
Salesforce for Google AdWords makes it possible for companies to create,
manage and measure search engine marketing campaigns directly within
Salesforce.

In August 2006, Salesforce.com introduced their “keyword to close” search
engine marketing solution, Salesforce for Google AdWords, following the
acquisition of Kieden Corporation. Kieden's pioneering technology delivers
real-time connectivity between Salesforce and Google AdWords. Salesforce for
Google AdWords is an innovative technology which allows Salesforce customers
to take an opportunity from the keyword buy through to deal closure – all
within the convenience of their Salesforce application. In addition,
Salesforce for Google Adwords allows marketers to clearly understand their
return on Google advertising investments.

Salesforce for Google AdWords works in conjunction with Salesforce CRM so that
campaigns can be tracked and measured. This provides the ability to create
online advertisements, place ads and then track exactly which ads and keywords
are generating results. Specifically, the Salesforce for Google AdWords
solution allows companies to:

1. Create and place ads and manage Google AdWords campaigns from
Salesforce: Salesforce for Google AdWords makes it easy to create a search
campaign, write the ad text, and choose keywords.

2. Link Salesforce to an existing Google Adwords account: If a marketer
is already using Google AdWords, they can keep the same account and easily
link it into the Salesforce application so that they can track a deal from key
word to close.

3. Correlate search efforts with inbound leads: Salesforce for Google
AdWords allows customers to easily integrate with Google and track all aspects
of their search marketing campaigns.

4. Measure return on investment (ROI): Salesforce for Google AdWords
allows marketers to measure exact return on search marketing investments,
build or customize reports and dashboards and adjust their marketing efforts
in real time.

5. Track paid and organic searches: Salesforce for Google AdWords shows
customers the details of every lead or opportunity generated from their Web
site.

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, product reviews, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Press Release: Salesforce.com Delivers Salesforce for Google AdWords —
First "Word to Close" Search Marketing Service, August 22, 2006
http://www.salesforce.com/company/news-press/press-releases/2006/08/060821.jsp

News Story: Salesforce Dives Into the Mash Pit, BusinessWeek, August 21, 2006.
http://www.businessweek.com/print/technology/content/aug2006/tc20060822_483926.htm

News Story: Salesforce Dives Deep into Google Adwords, TechCrunch, August 21,
2006.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/08/21/salesforce-dives-deep-into-google-
adwords/

News Story: Salesforce Salesforce.com buys into Google AdWords, CNET News.com,
August 22, 2006.
http://news.com.com/Salesforce.com+buys+into+Google+AdWords/2100-1014_3-6
108046.html

News Story: Salesforce.com enters search engine marketing space, ZDNet, August
22, 2006. http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3528

News Story: Salesforce.com to Offer Google AdWords Service, eWEEK, August 22,
2006.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2006839,00.asp

News Story: Salesforce’s Growth Area, The 360, December 27, 2006.
http://360techblog.com/saleforces-growth-area/2006/12/27/

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

Kraig Swensrud is senior director of product management for the Salesforce
Marketing applications at salesforce.com, which includes the Salesforce for
Google AdWords solution. Kraig joined the company in August of 2006, after the
company he co-founded, Kieden Corporation, was acquired by salesforce.com.

Kraig has over 10 years in various product marketing and sales engineer
positions in the enterprise software industry. Prior to founding Kieden, Kraig
worked at Oracle, SAP and webmethods. Kraig holds a BS in engineering from
University of California, Berkeley.