Technology Gives Marketers First Social Email Sharing Solution to Support Multiple Strategies, Track Viral Value of Email
ad:tech San Francisco
Booth #1444
SAN FRANCISCO – ExactTarget, a leading provider of on-demand email and one-to-one marketing solutions, launched its Social Forward solution, giving marketers the industry’s first flexible metrics-driven email social sharing solution.
Unveiled at ad:tech San Francisco, ExactTarget’s Social Forward solution gives marketers the industry’s first social media integration for email that allows multiple ways to leverage sharing and provides the industry’s most complete solution to enable and track sharing through its Direct to Social capability and through a partnership with social media syndication powerhouse ShareThis.
“For the first time, email marketers have a solution that enables and tracks social sharing and is flexible enough to support multiple strategies,” said Chip House, ExactTarget’s vice president of marketing. “Whether it’s enabling sharing a coupon offer to Facebook or sharing product news to more than 40 social networks, ExactTarget’s Social Forward solution provides marketers the technology they need to leverage the true power of one-to-one marketing.”
Direct to Social allows marketers to incorporate the icon of a social network such as Facebook, Twitter or MySpace in an email. Subscribers can click the icon and instantly share the contents of the message with their online networks.
Email marketers looking to enable sharing across multiple networks also have access to an integration with ShareThis as part of ExactTarget’s new Social Forward. The integration offers marketers access to more than 40 social media sites with a single click of a button. The technology works by incorporating a small ShareThis icon into email marketing messages, allowing subscribers to share email content with their social networks. When subscribers click the ShareThis icon, they are directed to a custom landing page where they can select the social networks where they would like to share the content.
“ExactTarget was the first email company to develop this integration and continues to bring new technology to market that seamlessly integrates social sharing functionality in an email platform,” said Tim Schigel, chief executive officer of ShareThis. “Our integration with ExactTarget gives marketers a complete social sharing solution for email that allows them to access a rich level of tracking with the integration.”
ExactTarget’s Social Forward has already scored results for global pizza giant Papa John’s. When beta testing the product last month during its NCAA-themed email marketing campaign, Papa John’s offered consumers a chance to win a trip to the Final Four by joining Papa John’s Facebook fan club. In the first three days of the campaign, the pizza giant added more than 45,000 fans to its Facebook page, bringing the total number of fans to more than 270,000.
ExactTarget’s Social Forward will be available to users through its online Innovations Lab starting May 1 and will become an integrated solution for all ExactTarget users worldwide as part of the company’s Summer release.
Marketers attending ad:tech San Francisco are encouraged to visit ExactTarget at booth #1444 to learn more about ExactTarget’s Social Forward. An overview of the features and functionality of the new offering is also available online in ExactTarget’s new Social Media Kit for email marketers at http://www.exacttarget.com/socialmediakit.
About ExactTarget
ExactTarget, Inc. is a leading provider of on-demand email marketing software solutions. The company’s suite of on-demand one-to-one marketing applications enable clients to send business-critical and event triggered communications to increase sales, optimize marketing investments and strengthen customer relationships. ExactTarget offers four editions of its on-demand software application along with integrated solutions such as ExactTarget for Salesforce.com AppExchange, ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM and ExactTarget for Omniture Genesis. ExactTarget offers a range of optimization services including support, implementation and training, integration, deliverability, account management, design and deployment and strategic consulting. ExactTarget’s software powers permission-based email communications for thousands of organizations including CareerBuilder.com, Expedia.com, Florida Power & Light, Gannett Co., Inc/USA TODAY, the Indianapolis Colts, The Home Depot, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Liberty Mutual Group, Papa John’s and Wellpoint, Inc. For more information, please visit www.exacttarget.com or call 1-866-EMAILET.
