Social Marketer Buddy Media Hires Salesforce Exec Susan St. Ledger As New President

Another big move for Buddy Media as it continues to build out the services it offers as part of its social media marketing business: the company has hired sales supremo Susan St. Ledger as its new president.

She is joining Buddy Media from Salesforce.com, where she had been for the past seven years in a number of key roles. They included (most recently) SVP of industry verticals, where she was in charge of relationships with Salesforce.com’s biggest clients in technology, financial services, insurance, media and telecoms. Before that, St. Ledger had been SVP of global platform sales for the company.

And before her time with Salesforce.com, St. Ledger had been a sales force at Sun Microsystems, where as a VP she helped generate some $3.5 billion in annual revenue from services for the company, at a time when the company was first starting to hit $1 billion in quarterly revenues.

Buddy Media says St. Ledger’s formal role will be to lead global revenue generation and oversee the company’s sales and client service teams. Based in San Francisco, she will report directly to co-founder and CEO Michael Lazerow.

Experience and expertise in selling enterprise services — not to mention those important contacts that St. Ledger made over the years — are just what Buddy Media needs right now as it continues to expand its portfolio of marketing services and looks to sign more of the world’s most notable brands.

The news of the appointment comes just one week after Buddy Media announced that it had bought Facebook ad-buying tool Brighter Option. That acquisition means that Buddy Media can sell Facebook ads directly to its 600+ clients — which include biggies like WPP. With Susan on board, Buddy Media will have an easier time convincing brands of the advantages of a combined marketing and advertising platform.