Social Marketing Service Gets a VC BoostSocial Toaster, an online marketing service, snags $2 million by sticking close to home.

Baltimore-based web developer Brian Razzaque knew he wanted to create a platform that would facilitatesocial media marketingfor companies, but he was vague on the details. His "aha" moment came when an employee asked to be notified each time Razzaque posted something to the company blog; the staffer would read the post, then share it with his social network. That was when Razzaque realized that satisfied customers, employees and vendors with a strong affinity to a brand will happily disseminate content among their social peers--if it is handed to them in a convenient, shareable way.SocialToasterwas born.

Unlike traditional social media marketing that relies on fans to discover and make the effort to spread a brand's message, SocialToaster allows companies "to leverage the mass reach of their supporters by pushing their message out so their content has a better chance to go viral," Razzaque says.