Today's buyer is self-directed and multi-tasking continually, which means marketers have to work even harder to spread their message across multiple channels. That's why Marketo created the Definitive Guide to Lead Generation to help your marketing team find better leads, enhance relationships with potential customers, and close deals faster. "Thar's gold in them thar hills" and this great guide full of useful nuggets will help you dig it out.

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Students, edit your resumes and type up your cover letters — it's internship time.

But the competition will be stiff, especially if you're applying to Facebook, whose internships are rated the highest for the second year in a row, according to careers website Glassdoor. (What's the secret, Zuckerberg?)

By now you know that hashtags are like clickable magnets, drawing eyeballs to your social content. But did you know that if you use too many -- more than two or so per post -- it can actually drive people away? That is with the exception of Instagram, where numerous hashtag use is the norm and reel in tons of views. Eleven hashtags per post on the photo-sharing hub is the magic number...for now.

Sounds like a lot to remember? It can be. Each social platform has its own unwritten rules for hashtaggery and they’re constantly changing.

Brands took to Twitter during Hollywood's biggest night, with varying degrees of success. What can we learn from their highs and lows?

With Twitter in the midst of a new product push that includes the introduction of a native video tool, all eyes are on the site to see whether it's a "sustainable business." One thing is certain: it remains the place to go to measure consumer sentiment and zeitgeist in response to major events. After Sunday's Academy Awards, the media once again took the pulse of viewers by analyzing the tweetstorms that swept across the platform. "What’s the trick to watching the Oscars without a) falling asleep, b) napping or c) resting your eyes for a bit?" askedThe Guardian. "It’s following the action, or often lack of, via Twitter."

When it comes to marketing technology of any kind, whether it be CRM, marketing automation, social media management, or website analytics, only one thing really matters.

The tool you invest in has to make you more money than you spend on it.

The problem with that statement? A lot of what marketers do is hard to quantify, difficult to measure, and is more of an art than a science. The counter-problem? The C-suite wants hard numbers, not flimsy promises of future value.