Expert-Only Approach to Integrated Digital Marketing Delivers Performance and Sales for Top Brands

Award-winning digital marketing agency Elite SEM Inc. announced that it has acquired Email Aptitude, an eight-year-old independent CRM & Email Marketing agency. This marks Elite SEM’s second acquisition since partnering with Mountaingate Capital in 2017, with continued growth expected throughout the year. Elite SEM now offers Paid Search, SEO, Shopping & Feed, Paid Social (expanded via the OrionCKB acquisition), Display Advertising, Amazon & Marketplaces, Affiliate Marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), and now CRM, Email Marketing, and Creative Services – collectively supported by Integrated Media Strategy and Analytics/Marketing Science teams. From discovery through acquisition, and now with a stronger emphasis on retention and reactivation, Elite’s services span all stages of an integrated marketing strategy and through the entire customer journey, allowing clients to effectively and strategically evaluate digital marketing spend and increase cross-channel performance.

Email Aptitude is an ESP-agnostic agency focused on full-service email program management, advanced email strategy, CRM, and creative services. A team of more than 85 email marketing experts, known for shattering performance records for clients through game-changing strategy and full-service program management, will merge under the Elite SEM umbrella. Email Aptitude brings an award-winning creative team that will enable Elite to offer comprehensive creative services for all digital channels.

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Prior to and since the acquisition, shared clients like Eddie Bauer, Bombas, and Francesca’s, where both agency teams collaborate on data, have seen a lift in performance across managed channels and services. Both Email Aptitude and Elite have experienced extremely fast growth, and with this acquisition, the new combined agency has more than 330 digital marketers and expects to close 2018 north of $60M, a 30% increase from last year.

“The potential with Email Aptitude was obvious. As audiences become more interconnected across various media channels, it’s vital that these channels speak to one another, sharing data and findings. This acquisition completes our expert-only approach to providing full digital marketing services,” said Zach Morrison, President of Elite SEM. “In addition to leveraging Email Aptitude’s CRM & Email Marketing expertise to offer enterprise strategy and management to our clients, we will be able to enhance other digital channels such as Paid Social, Search, and Display, and prepare for the future of digital marketing with Voice, Push, Chat, and more.”

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Email Aptitude has grown and managed email programs for some of the fastest-growing startups and global enterprise brands, including Pura Vida Bracelets, Peter Millar, Halston, Diff, Brooks Running, MVMT, and Frederick’s of Hollywood. Email Aptitude was named to the Inc. 5000 as the #1 fastest growing email agency in the country; #22 on the Bay Area Fast 100; and honored as #17 on the AdAge Top 50 Best Places to Work in the US.

In commenting on the acquisition, Forest Bronzan, Founding CEO of Email Aptitude and now EVP of CRM & Email Marketing at Elite stated, “Joining Elite’s best-in-class integrated media offerings and bringing Email Aptitude’s award-winning Creative, CRM, and Email expertise enables us to provide even more value and innovation to our clients. Brands demand channel expertise, and I’m thrilled to be a part of Elite’s experts-only approach to offer clients a powerful and truly unique agency experience.”

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