CMOs will soon be spending more on technology than CIOs at the world's biggest marketers, which is why Salesforce.com added social-measurement firm Radian 6 last year, and now Buddy Media, in a $689 million deal announced Monday.

With the deal, Salesforce is looking to build out tech tools for marketers as they increasingly use social media to listen to and connect with consumers. Salesforce was built on providing tools to sales operations but CEO Marc Benioff sees marketers as the company's next billion-dollar business.

"Social has gone from the thing CMOs are experimenting with to the central core of their marketing strategies," said Radian 6 CEO Marcel LeBrun.

While two of the biggest players in the social-media management space are now off the table, there is still a multitude of smaller companies such as Wildfire and Syncapse that are potentially on the auction block.