Social media management company HootSuite has announced a “strategic partnership” with all-in-one marketing software platform HubSpot.

According to the firm, the partnership will directly connect social media to lead generation and management, “closing the loop” on social media marketing through an app integration in HootSuite's App Directory, plus educational content and sponsor of HubSpot's Inbound 2012 Conference.

The app integration, currently in beta, automatically pulls HubSpot Lead and Keyword data into HootSuite to encourage social engagement with leads and those mentioning top performing keywords, without leaving the HootSuite dashboard.

The companies will also join forces in an attempt to break the existing Guinness World Record for the world's largest webinar with The Science of Inbound Marketing on 12 July.

Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite Media, said: “Social media spending is on the rise. We watch as companies invest significant dollars into driving marketing campaigns using social networks as the next marketing platform," says "Through this partnership, the professional marketer can finally follow up with social media leads, nurture relationships in real time, and close deals easier than ever before.”

Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot, added: “We built HubSpot software to make marketing easier, and then expanded it by launching the world's largest marketing software marketplace just under a year ago. Of 60+ apps we've seen, HootSuite is building one of the most exciting. Plugging social media management into HubSpot's end-to-end marketing software makes social accountable for generating leads, customers and true ROI.”

Most recently HubSpot launched a dashboard web app for tracking the success of Facebook marketing campaigns whilst HootSuite extended collaboration capabilities with the release of HootSuite Teams. 

A public launch of the app program is expected at the end of June.