ExactTarget Hunts for CMO

Wanna move to Indianapolis? ExactTarget’s Chris Baggot stepped aside in February as chief marketing officer to pursue a new venture and the Midwestern e-mail software concern is looking for a new CMO.

And no, Baggot apparently hasn’t left “to pursue other interests,” or “spend more time with his family,” as the cliché press releases always say when someone gets bounced out on his rear end. Baggot is actually, really pursuing another interest—a corporate blogging technology provider called Compendium Software—and will remain a shareholder and member of ExactTarget’s board.

Which, of course, begs the question: Is the new CMO going to have Baggot breathing down his or her neck? Not so, according to ExactTarget’s CEO Scott Dorsey.

“The CMO will have complete free reign,” Dorsey said. “We are looking to hire someone at a very senior level who will have full control over branding, demand generation and all the elements of a sound marketing strategy.”

Dorsey said ExactTarget is also looking to expand its international business, which currently accounts for about 5% of the company’s sales.

He added he realizes he may have to look outside the immediate industry.

“We have feelers out in the industry and out in the broader software-and-services industry, as well,” said Dorsey. “We’re most likely going to be hiring someone with strong software-and-service experience, but perhaps from a different field than e-mail marketing.”

Since the company was founded in 2000, it has reportedly grown to almost $20 million in annual revenue. According to Dorsey it has 225 employees, 20 of whom will report to the new CMO.

And yes, the new CMO will have to live in Indiana. “We believe it’s important to have someone in this type of strategic role based here in Indianapolis,” Dorsey said. “We’re hoping that we’ll be able to entice people to our wonderful city.”

ExactTarget is not involved in Baggot’s new venture, according to Dorsey.

Baggot also has a new book coming out this week available on Amazon.com: “Email Marketing by the Numbers: How to Use the World’s Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level.”