Listen to this articleAdestra is a global provider of one-to-one email and lifecycle marketing software solutions. The company recently announced $7.2 Million in a new funding round. Adestra’s digital marketing platform, MessageFocus, provides marketers with a strong, robust infrastructure to enable them to communicate more effectively with their clients through tools that deliver hyper-relevant contextual messaging. Adestra is headquartered in Oxford with offices in London, New York and Dallas. Below is our interview with Ryan Phelan, Vice President at Adestra:
Q: Ryan, how would you describe Adestra in your own words?
A: Great question! Beyond all the marketing speak, Adestra is a family of highly skilled and dedicated people with one goal – to make our clients and the industry better then we found it! In 15 years of being in this business, it’s rare to find people that you trust and that share the same vision. Since joining the company in May, I have been impressed with the level of effort that each team member puts into this business. There’s so much opportunity in this industry and within our own talents. It’s really crystal clear around the team’s true ownership of the mission, vision and goals that that set us apart. Adestra for me continues to be a unified family, plain and simple.
Q: What is your core competence?
A: The email marketing industry has seen a resurgence in the last year based upon a few different influences. One of the largest is from the increased focus on big data and the extension of the customer conversation to nearly every touchpoint. Though email’s connection to the consumer, we can help make those consumers addressable and speak to them more intelligently as well in their channel of preference. That along with the changes in marketers needs and the providers that serve them, we see three things that are core to why we help our client partners be successful.
1) Scalable technology that marketers can and actually will use
Built to fit any companies business; Adestra’s technology is uniquely designed from its core, using a multi-layered structure that is infinitely scalable and adaptable. At its core, it’s not only built for marketers, it’s built around marketers to conform to their business needs. From single campaigns to complex, data-driven and dynamic real-time communication programs, whether they’re an organization with one team or a large scale enterprise with a number of globally distributed marketing teams; with Adestra they can deliver with ease.
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2) Connected technology at the heart of companies MarTech landscape
Our open API and extensive partner network allows clients to connect with the systems and the rich data and content they need. We believe in letting CLIENTS choose the context that drives their communications to deliver the best possible results. Why? Because we believe that an email platform should conform around what the marketer needs.
3) Customer-obsessed service and support, assuring channel success
A 10 year plus reputation of being a global award-winning client service network which is responsive, thought-leading and determined to help our client partners meet their goals. With a 98.7% client retention rate, clients have a true partner invested in their continued success.
Q: You’ve recently raised $7.2 Million in new funding, tell us something more?
A: Sure. Adestra is a 10+ year old business and while that’s a long time to be in business, what’s equally as impressive is that we’re profitable and stable. With this investment, we see a path to capitalize on opportunities in the US market. There are three key pieces that we see that lead us to believe that we can fill the gap in the US market.
Innovation Fragmentation: With the consolidation in the marketplace at the (Responsys (Oracle), ExactTarget (SFDC), the enterprise ESP’s are in flux. Marketers want stability and historically, acquisitions did not benefit the acquired company or the customers they serve. With the instability comes a stalling of innovation from the leaders while parent companies attempt to determine the appropriate product path and integration with companies that typically don’t want to be a service organization. We see our innovation over the last 10 years in making the tactics of executing email marketing easier and the insights more actionable. Why? So that marketers can actually use the functionality of a provider and also use the data they have at their fingertips to get to a 1:1 conversation with the subscriber.
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Service Degradation: Currently, all of the primary enterprise players are optimizing their service organization either through assimilation or reorganization. This has greatly affected the customer loyalty and dedication that has driven some organizations brand equity. This leads to an industry that has focused too much on the technical aspects, and not enough on service excellence. We solve this by being obsessive about our service to our client partners and really believing that it’s about software and a service! We’ve focused on both!
Industry Definition: The typical definitions that have separated mid-market and enterprise companies for years are rapidly being dissolved as companies add technology and innovation at a quicker rate. Enterprise companies, through consolidation, have moved slower where the marketer needs quick reaction, innovation and the ability to adhere to their technology. We’ve seen this by a mix of companies that want the best tool regardless of where they have historically sat. They’re more focused on technology and the support they can get with a partner.
I think what stands out about us is our track record of profitability along with running a great business and believed in our path. It ties in directly to the above points and meeting the needs of marketers. What you also see is the developments in our industry and that is where we can take investment and use that wisely as we have in the past.
Q: What were the main challenges you faced in developing the company?
A: I think it’s the challenges of any company. It’s commonly about where to invest and what to invest in when reading the market and the needs of marketers. The adoption of technology by consumers and digital marketers innovate faster than at any point in our past. Yet, we have to make decisions on what innovations are “shinny moments” in our time or those that are going to have broader adoption. So investment becomes a challenge in seeing the distinction. Thankfully, we invested in the right way along the right path that met the needs of our clients and of the marketer.
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Q: What can we expect from Adestra in the future?
A: Oh, you’re going to see a lot more of Adestra. We’re obsessively dedicated to bringing our technology and service to the marketplace. You’re going to see the conversation changing from technology solutions that meet a tactical need, to more focus being on the assistance that providers provide. Listen, at the end of the day, the marketer needs to look back on the day and say “Did I innovate”. Too many times, providers have made that answer a no. Either through their lack of support or a technology that is too hard to navigate. We’ve spent the last 10 years putting our clients first and have the awards to show it. We’re going to change this conversation to software and a service not because it’s a marketing slogan, but because with the rapid change in technology, that’s what the marker needs.
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