How Will E-Mail, Social Media Marketing Merge?

E-mail marketing giant ExactTarget bought CoTweet, an early leader in helping businesses manage their presence on Twitter, in a move today that will combine their offerings in e-mail and social media.

It’s probably the right move: ExactTarget decided it would be better off buying an enterprise-focused Twitter startup instead of building a social media product in-house, while Twitter’s forthcoming commercial features may encroach on CoTweet’s core offerings. Neither disclosed terms of the deal.

For now, the two products will remain separate but they may merge into a platform where companies can run e-mail, Twitter and Facebook campaigns from one place.

CoTweet raised $1.1 million in funding last July from Founders Fund, Ron Conway’s SV Angel fund, Baseline Ventures, First Round Capital, Maples Investments and Freestyle Capital while ExactTarget attracted $140 million in capital last year from investors including Battery Ventures, Scale Ventures, and fund-of-funds Montagu Newhall Associates.