ClickZ named ExactTarget the ‘Best Email Marketing Tool’ in their annual Marketing Excellence Awards this week. I’m a competitive guy, so needless to say I was thrilled to hear that we edged out our competition for the recognition. More importantly, though, I was excited for the more than 7,000 companies who use our platform to power everything from their marketing messages to e-statements and fraud alerts. The award is validation that the one-to-one platform they use on a daily basis is the most sophisticated and best product on the market. 
Entrepreneurs dream of weeks like this. In the past five days, we posted our 33rd consecutive quarter of growth and 13th consecutive quarter of profitability, closed on a $ 70 million round of venture capital funding from some of the world's top investors, were named the 7th best place to work in Indiana and picked up a top honor from one of the industry's leading trade publications. It's been an amazing week, and one that simply couldn't have happened without the continued confidence of our customers and the team of rock star-caliber talent we have assembled.
When we founded ExactTarget nearly nine years ago, we had one clear vision -- to help marketers better connect with the customers. That vision remains clear today, as we continue to innovate and bring new technologies like integrated SMS, voice messaging and landing pages to market. It's allowed us to continue to blaze new trails for our clients and accelerate the development of new products on the front-edge of technology.
There is more ahead in the coming weeks, as we will announce our first international office and continue to unveil new technologies to better serve our clients. While the headlines this week have centered on the company, rest assured every member the ExactTarget team is committed to delivering for the more than 7,000 marketers who rely on us every day to deliver their business-critical messages.
Earlier today I shared with our team that we secured $70 million in equity financing to fuel the continued growth of our company. The magnitude of the investment is unprecedented for the company and is one of the largest venture capital investments made in the country this year.
This new round of funding bolsters our position as the industry leader by building on our financial performance of 33 consecutive quarters of growth and 13 consecutive quarters of profitability. It also opens new doors for you, as we are now the only one-to-one marketing provider to have the capital required to deliver the innovations, reliability and services you expect.
We have built our business thanks to marketers like you who have come to rely on our sophisticated platform to power everything from email coupon offers and automated fraud alerts to e-statements and SMS text messages. Your confidence in ExactTarget has fueled our growth and continues to drive the evolution of our one-to-one marketing platform.
Thanks for your continued support of ExactTarget.
Best regards,
Scott Dorsey
CEO & Co-Founder
ExactTarget
Warm wishes to you and your family for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving weekend. I am so grateful for our incredibly talented employees, dedicated clients, and many friends across the industry. You power our success day in, day out. But as I reflect on 2008 in particular, I can’t help but be reminded of two particularly wonderful blessings we’ve enjoyed this Fall at ExactTarget.
Steady Growth in Unsteady Economic Times
During a time when many companies have had to cut spending, layoff employees, and lower public expectations, ExactTarget continues to be blessed with strong financial, employee, and client growth. In October, we were fortunate enough to be joined at the Gibson building—the site of our brand new technology center—by Indianapolis Governor Mitch Daniels and Mayor Greg Ballard to help announce ExactTarget’s bold new growth initiatives.
A few highlights from the press conference include:
• 125 new jobs in 2008
• 300 additional jobs by 2013
• A state-of-the-art technology center to complement our downtown headquarters
• An estimated $25 million dollar investment in the Indianapolis economy
Not too shabby for these economic times, right? If you’re as excited about our growth as I am, I’d encourage you to check out our open positions and become part of the ExactTarget team!
SOLD OUT Connections ’08 User Conference
Over 1,200 digital marketers attended this year’s Connections ’08 User Conference in Indianapolis. Featuring some of the best speakers in the business like Joseph Jaffe, Papa John’s CEO Nigel Travis, entrepreneur Christopher Gardner, and Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy – not to mention over 50 customer, partner, and industry expert speakers – the event was a huge success.
Three of my favorite Connections ’08 moments included:
Thanks to all who helped make Connections ’08 a success. We’re grateful to those of you who spent your time learning and exploring with us, and we hope to see you again next year.
Wow. Talk about blessings! If the past year is any indicator of our future success, I have every reason to be very excited, indeed. 2008 has been a wonderful adventure, and I can’t wait to see what 2009 has in store.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Scott
You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. ~John Wooden
I love that quote. Philanthropy is so important−and I am continually impressed and inspired by leaders who have built the mindset of corporate philanthropy directly into their culture. Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, has authored a couple books on the subject. His book titled “The Business of Changing the World” is a great read and describes how Salesforce.com donates 1% of employee’s time, 1% of company equity, and 1% of sales via no-cost product for non-profits.
At ExactTarget, we also strive to make a difference in our local community and communities around the world. One of the ways we give back is through providing substantial discounts on our software and services to qualifying non-profit organizations. In addition, we have a steering committee of dedicated and compassionate individuals who lead our local community and philanthropic efforts. Around here, they’re commonly known as ExactImpact (Involving Members Passionate About Community Ties).
I had the pleasure of announcing the efforts of our ExactImpact group in 2006. This year, the summary list of accomplishments has grown substantially. Here are some of our 2007 highlights:
• January
-- Employees challenged each other to raise money for the Riley Change Angels event.
• February
-- 430 pounds of food were collected and donated to Gleaners Food Bank.
• March
-- 30 pints of blood were donated during an ExactTarget blood drive. (That’s enough blood to save 90 lives!)
• April
-- The “ExactBark-It” team raised money for Indianapolis animals in need during the Humane Society Mutt-Strut.
• July
-- An additional 30 pints of blood were donated by ExactTarget employees.
-- Approximately two boxes of school supplies per floor were collected for the Backpack Attack.
• August
-- Employees raised money to benefit the Gleaners Food Bank.
• October
-- Employees participated in the Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
• December
-- Five families (19 people, including 13 children) were sponsored by ExactTarget employees through the Christamore House. Gifts were purchased by ExactTarget employees, and a company raffle was held to raise additional money for the families.
-- A Wal-Mart gift card was also given to a local family devastated by a house fire.
Thank you to the many ExactTarget employees who have made a difference─both through personal contributions and countless hours of time. We look forward to making an even bigger impact in 2008.
If you have suggestions on how ExactTarget can make a difference, please send an email to exactimpact@exacttarget.com.
Greetings – happy belated new year! Over the last couple months, my blogging activity has hit an all-time low. With good reason – on December 14, 2007, we filed our S1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of our common stock. The following press release was issued:
http://email.exacttarget.com/ETWeb/pressReleases.aspx?id=2616
Although I can’t comment further on our proposed initial public offering because of the SEC’s quiet period rules, I hope to be more active with my blog in 2008. I expect the upcoming year to be very exciting for online marketers looking to leverage email and emerging one-to-one technologies to deliver relationships and drive business results.
Thanks for reading and here’s to a successful new year!
We’re pretty passionate about email marketing at ExactTarget. We strive to hire the best and brightest employees, we pride ourselves on our outstanding customer service, and we share our industry knowledge with enthusiasm and vigor.
Recently, we learned just how closely our customers’ excitement mirrors our own when Mark Rice of Webinar Resources sent us this song.
Yes, he penned and recorded an email marketing song titled “Rock and Roll Results Delivered.” It quickly rose to the top of the ExactTarget charts—our employees couldn’t get enough.
We can talk forever about email marketing, customer service, and the groundbreaking innovations in our Fall Release. But what really hits home is when our customers (literally) sing our praises.
Thanks, Mark. And thanks to all of you who feel as passionately as we do about ExactTarget. As Mark so harmoniously crooned, “It doesn’t get much better than this.”
That’s music to our ears.
Many Thanks!
Greetings – heading into Thanksgiving weekend, I want to extend my personal thanks to all of our clients and partners. At ExactTarget, we are very fortunate to have a fast-growing business, terrific customers and dedicated partners.
Without question, the most satisfying aspect of our business is helping our clients achieve their marketing and business goals. Our teams of passionate and hard working employees understand that everything starts with helping customers achieve success. In fact, many of our people will be working throughout the weekend to assist our retail clients with their Thanksgiving weekend email programs. Hopefully, these targeted and personalized email communications will drive record-breaking store traffic and online sales!
Thanks again for the opportunity to serve you and your business – and have a great holiday weekend!
Scott Dorsey
CEO, ExactTarget
Most people have a favorite time of the year – for some, it’s the first few crisp days of fall. After ExactTarget’s annual user conference (held here in Indianapolis Oct. 1-3), I am tempted to say my favorite time of the year might be Connections ‘07! Over 500 clients flocking to Indianapolis for three action-packed days of expert panels, client success stories, hands-on product training, and keynote speakers including Martha Rogers, Chip Heath, Shar VanBoskirk, Craig Spiezle, Jeanniey Mullen, and David Daniels – to name just a few.
I went into Connections ’07 with three major goals:
Thank:
With over 6,000 organizations who use our product, Connections ’07 was largely a display of our gratitude for our clients’ business, innovation, and willingness to challenge us every day. (We only wish we could thank everyone “Hershey Style!”)
Inform:
Connections ’07 featured over twenty break-out sessions on hot topics from list growth and email design to testing and international sending. Most importantly, each session emphasized the need to deliver Results and Relationships.
Inspire:
One-to-one marketing is expanding into exciting new mediums like SMS and Voice. Through our new Integrated One-to-One Platform (available with our Fall 2007 Release), clients will be able to manage their digital communication channels from a single platform.
Be on the lookout for exciting updates about our Fall 2007 Release – with relational data, SMS, and Voice, and a ton of UI enhancements on the horizon, these are exciting times at ExactTarget.
For our clients and partners who attended Connections ’07, it was great to see you. For those of you that missed the conference this year, I hope to see you at Connections ’08!
(And don’t forget to check out Judson Laipply’s Awards Dinner performance of The Evolution of Dance!)
ExactTarget Feed
