BY INMAN NEWS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011.

Inman News™

VerticalResponse, a provider of Web-based self-service marketing tools for small businesses, hasacquired social network marketing technology company Roost, the companies announced today.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both companies are based in San Francisco, which helped the two “get to know each other” and realize they had similar audiences, Roost said in an announcement to users.

Roost was founded in 2007 as a property search portal. In September 2010, the company changed its business model to focus on helping real estate agents and brokers gain referral business through social networking on Facebook.

In late March 2011, Roost unveiled its social marketing platform and simultaneously expanded its business model beyond real estate professionals to other small-business owners, such as lawyers, accountants and restaurateurs.

VerticalResponse’s offerings include email marketing, online surveys, event marketing, and direct-mail marketing. This is the company’s first acquisition in the nearly 11 years it’s been in business, said Janine Popick, the company’s CEO, in a statement.

“The number of our customers who share their email marketing campaigns with their social networks has increased over 1,400 percent since the beginning of 2011, so it’s clear that small businesses understand the power of social media. Now with Roost’s social media marketing tools, they can take their customer engagement efforts to the next level,” Popick said.

Click here to read full article

Related articles

• VerticalResponse Acquires Roost, Eyes Facebook Integration (allfacebook.com)
• VerticalResponse acquires Roost to expand online marketing service for small business (zdnet.com)