ExactTarget, Return Path Partner to Provide Marketers Integrated Solution to Test, Optimize Global Email Marketing Campaigns

Solution Allows Marketers to Preview, Test Emails for Delivery Across 165 Providers in More Than 35 Countries

INDIANAPOLIS – Global interactive marketing provider ExactTarget announced a new partnership with Return Path, giving global marketers access to the industry’s largest and most complete suite of email delivery and testing technologies.

Powered by Return Path, ExactTarget’s new Inbox Tools allow marketers to preview and monitor inbox placement and test email and mobile messages across 165 global Internet Service Providers (ISP) including Yahoo!, Gmail and AOL, ensuring messages are optimized for delivery across providers in more than 35 countries.

“Consumers are interacting with email campaigns around the clock on web-based providers, desktop clients and smartphones,” said Scott Dorsey, ExactTarget’s chief executive officer and co-founder. “Through our partnership with Return Path, marketers now have access to the industry’s most powerful solution to ensure the messages they create are delivered to consumers in the best possible format.”

Fully integrated into ExactTarget’s on-demand application, the new solution allows marketers to preview email rendering in webmail and desktop clients such as Outlook and Hotmail, as well as on smartphones such as Android, iPhone and Symbian. The solution also identifies the most popular platforms subscribers are using to view emails, allowing marketers to optimize design for future campaigns.

The seamless integration between ExactTarget and Return Path provides real-time status reports on email delivery to an ISP and identifies whether the message was delivered to the inbox, a bulk folder, junk folder or not delivered at all. The solution also allows clients to automatically include an ISP “seed list” with each campaign to ensure deliverability statistics are captured and relevant.

“Improving email deliverability remains one of the most significant challenges to email marketing in today’s growing global market,” said Matt Blumberg, chief executive officer of Return Path. “ExactTarget’s new Inbox Tools is a world-class integrated product that gives marketers a great solution to their email deliverability challenges.”

According to Return Path data, an average of 20 percent of legitimate, permission-based email does not get delivered to the inbox of the intended recipient. This often happens when senders fail to monitor their sender reputation or use tools and best practices to help optimize deliverability and email response rates.

The announcement of ExactTarget’s partnership with Return Path follows the launch of ExactTarget’s latest research brief, The Social Breakup. The study, which is the latest from ExactTarget’s Subscribers, Fans and Followers research series, found that more than 90 percent of consumers have “broken up” with at least one brand on Facebook, email or Twitter because of irrelevant, too frequent or boring marketing messages. For more information about the study and to download a complimentary copy of The Social Break-Up and prior reports, visit www.ExactTarget.com/sff.

About Return Path

Return Path makes email work better. We certify email senders from around the world. Our trusted sender registry protects brands and retains trust in the email channel. We help marketers, publishers and other large-volume email senders increase their response rates by providing the world’s leading inbox deliverability solution. Return Path helps mailbox providers and email administrators at ISPs and enterprises block unwelcome and malicious email by providing near real-time IP reputation scores and other data-driven tools. Taken as a whole, these tools and services improve the consumer experience of email by protecting them from spam, phishing and other abuse. Return Path offers free access to Sender Score, the email reputation measure compiled through our cooperative data network of ISPs and other email receivers, at our reputation portal: www.senderscore.org. Information about Return Path can be found at www.returnpath.net.

About ExactTarget

ExactTarget is a leading global provider of on-demand email marketing and interactive marketing solutions. The company’s Interactive Marketing HubTM technology provides organizations a single solution to connect with customers via email, integrated text messaging, landing pages and social media. Supported by collaborative global services teams, ExactTarget’s technology integrates with more sales and marketing information systems than any other in the industry, including Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Omniture and Webtrends among many others. ExactTarget powers permission-based multichannel communications for thousands of organizations around the world including Expedia.com, Best Buy, Aurora Fashions, Papa John’s, CareerBuilder.com, Gannett Co., Inc., The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The Home Depot and Wellpoint, Inc. For more information, visit www.exacttarget.com or call 1-866-EMAILET.