• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, January 5, 2012

Social marketing firm Lithium Technologies just completed a $53 million round of financing led by new investor New Enterprise Associates, along with SAP Ventures. Emboldened by the investment, Lithium President and CEO Rob Tarkoff said it would help “double our company in 2012.”

Specifically, Lithium plans to use the funds to increase its sales and marketing investments across new and existing geographies while growing its digital agency efforts.

“It's clear that brands will continue to go social in an even bigger way in 2012 and beyond,” according to Tarkoff, who said the company is positioned to "drive this transformation."

Additional priorities include engineering, product development, and service delivery for existing customers.

The funding news comes as Tarkoff completes his first 100 days as CEO. Over the summer, he replaced Lithium founder Lyle Fong, who transitioned to the role of chief strategist and continues to serve on the company’s board of directors. Prior to Lithium, Tarkoff served as senior vice president/GM of Digital Enterprise Solutions at Adobe Systems.

The company's communities boast more than 20 million registered users for brands such as The Home Depot, Sephora, Best Buy, and Verizon.

As technology continues to fuel changing consumer experiences, Lithium expects smart brands to seek out expertise to help them scale and "operationalize" their social engagement. 

The latest funding round also includes additional investments from all existing Lithium investors, including Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Emergence Capital, Greenspring Associates, Shasta Ventures and Tenaya Capital.