The convergence between email marketing and social media marketing has been one of StrongMail’s strongest assets for quite some time now. With products such as Social Studio and StrongMail Influencer, the company has developed the means to realize a mutual reinforcement between social media and email. And now, some important dimensions have been added: CRM, with of course an included social aspect, and strategic advice.
StrongMail does not execute this by offering new products or services, but by creating an email and social CRM agency with the name: Threadmarketing.
ThreadMarketing is managed by Michael Della Penna (see picture), a well-known email industry veteran, and is the result of the acquisition of two agencies. StrongMail announced the acquisitions today.
The first company is Conversa Marketing, which is Delle Penna’s business, and the second acquisition is that of agency Magnetik.
Both companies are based in New York and provide services in the field of email marketing, social media marketing, customer relationship management and even web design.
The fact that StrongMail launches its email and social CRM agency gives us a clear sign that in these times of cross-channel and closed loop marketing, we evolve to an integrated landscape where the integration between email, social, mobile, analytics and CRM are crucial.
The importance of strategic guidance
Which, of course, does not explain why StrongMail – also opening an additional office in New York- would start an agency?
But the reasons are obvious: most ESPs already are equipped with a service department (and StrongMail integrates his into Threadmarketing, along with the two acquired companies), but the most important reason is undoubtedly, that the ever more complex and converging communications landscape, comes with an increased need for strategic advice and even execution.
Marketers wanting to work in a cross-channel, holistic and integrated way are in need of strategic guidance, as Forrester Research recently pointed out.
Which is exactly what Threadmarketing aims to do: as StrongMail now owns an integrated range of solutions, it can now help marketers to work in an integrated customer-centric manner.
Threadmarketing’s offering includes strategic consulting, development, analytics, loyalty marketing programs and customer lifecycle frameworks, where email, social media and CRM are prominently present.
Read the full press release here and visit the website of the new agency. Obviously, “noblesse oblige”, there is a Twitter account as well.
Update October 2015: StrongMail is now StrongView and has merged with Selligent