Direct marketing relies upon reaching a targeted audience, based on customer data gleaned from point-of-sale, subscriptions and purchased lists. The potential for error when dealing with thousands or millions of customer records is indisputable and sometimes devastating. The horror stories are well-known: companies sending credit card offers to pets, children or even the deceased? These mistakes are inexcusable and easily avoided using basic data quality solutions.

Q: How did Quest Software promote its first virtual industry event in Unisfair?A: We began two months in advance with e-mail blasts and on-site adver­tising. We also experimented a little bit with Google Adwords, which paid for itself in terms of the number of leads that it generated. A month prior to the event, our partners be­gan marketing it to their customers.

The US economy is in serious trouble, and it's hard to pass a newspaper without seeing a headline indicating that "the good times are over." While it is impossible to predict the depths of the current economic slowdown, how long it will last, or its ultimate effects on the so-called "search ecosystem," it's clear that many marketers will need to take steps to adapt to the rigors of this new climate.