Selecting Vendors/Buyer's Guides

SUMMARY: An email survey is an effective way to find out what your customers think about you and your products or services. But to get a great ROI, the survey must be done correctly and within your budget. Need help selecting a vendor?

Here’s a guide to the top survey companies in the field, including information on pricing structures, functionalities and specialties. Each offers proprietary technology, low-cost DIY options and features for marketers with more money to invest in customer research. read the complete article

SUMMARY: As 2009 winds down, we are reflecting on one of the most turbulent economic years in recent memory. Despite the challenges brought about by the recession, marketers managed to do more with less, demonstrating resolve and creative thinking through revealing case studies, best practices and new insights.

Below, you’ll find links to five Great Minds articles from 2009 that show how marketers continued to adapt to new challenges, finding inventive ways to achieve perennial goals, such as:
o Linking PPC campaigns to offline conversions
o Negotiating with vendors
o Forging stronger relationships with their IT departments read the complete article

Who says email marketing is dead? Not the venture-capital firms that continue to funnel email expansions. The latest is Convio, which just announced it raised $15 million in a fourth round of financing to help fund product development, expand services and "advance toward profitability."

The money came from a mix of new and present backers, including Adams Street Partners, Granite Ventures and Silverton Partners.

Convio specializes in helping nonprofit organizations with Web and email services, including... read the complete blog post