• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, January 19, 2011

As further evidence of social media's rising currency, email service provider Emailvision on Wednesday announced the acquisition of social media marketing firm ObjectiveMarketer.

Indeed, as social media is moving from a novelty to a mainstream form of communication for brands, Emailvision CEO Nick Heys believes it has created a disruptive force in online marketing.

"Social media has rapidly evolved from becoming a personal habit to a business-critical form of communication and revenue generation for brands," said Heys. "Online marketers need to manage marketing programs across all of the major social media channels."

Founded back in 1999, Emailvision's clients are expressing a growing interest in social media, and more sophisticated campaign measurement.

"It's also evident that many email marketers are increasingly required to be community managers," Heys added. "They need the tools that can rapidly help them to adapt to this new role."

ObjectiveMarketer's software presently uses Cisco WebEx, Answers.com, BMW Motorrad, and MINI Colombia.

According to Heys, ObjectiveMarketer's social capabilities will complement Emailvision's flagship product, Campaign Commander, which is used by online marketing managers to manage their email and mobile campaigns.

Going forward, Heys said he was committed to making immediate investments in ObjectiveMarketer's research and development so as not to let its edge dull.

Today, Emailvision claims to deliver over 4 billion email messages per month on behalf of roughly 3,000 clients.