On the heels of the recent announcement that IBM plans to invest $100 million in digital marketing, the technology behemoth has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire marketing automation provider Silverpop. The deal has been rumored for several weeks.
According to Craig Hayman, GM, Industry Cloud Solutions, at IBM, the Silverpop acquisition is central to IBM’s ability to help its clients be more customer-centric. Silverpops marketing automation and real-time personalization offerings are designed to help marketers deliver personalized customer interactions, he noted. “Now, nearly any marketing, commerce, or customer service professional from any business will have the ability to deliver the kinds of personalized customer experiences that make a measurable impact on the brand experience and the bottom line,” Hayman said in a statement.
Silverpop currently has more than 8,000 customers, include Advance Micro Devices, Mazda, and Stonyfield Farm. The purchase adds another tool to IBM’s cache of more than 100 cloud-based offerings, as well as to its ever-increasing Enterprise Marketing Management solutions.
According to a statement from IBM, the acquisition is expected to close in Q2 of 2014. The deal’s financial terms were not disclosed.
