• December 20, 2009

Silicon Valley email marketing firm StrongMail has acquired a small Indiana consultancy, in part to bolster its social media offerings and gain a foothold in the hospitality industry.

The Email Advisor is run by Chris Lovejoy, who has focused on email communications for three years, following an extensive career in hospitality marketing. His firm is based in Saint John, Ind., about 35 minutes from Chicago.

Earlier this month, StrongMail released survey results showing that 69% of marketers plan to integrate social media platforms with email campaigns in 2010.

In a statement, it said the acquisition will help it move toward realizing "the full marketing potential of email and social media."

StrongMail is backed by the likes of blue-chip venture capital firms Evercore and Sequoia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Its clients range from Zappos to Fox Sports to Hyundai. --David Goetzl