Harte-Hanks Inc., San Antonio, continues its foray into Internet direct marketing services with the expected announcement today that it will partner with e-mail marketer Digital Impact to offer its clients targeted e-mail messages.
Digital Impact, San Mateo, CA — whose client list includes The Sharper Image, Tower Records, Hewlett-Packard, Macy's, eToys and Preview Travel — creates targeted and personalized e-mail messages based on individual preferences and profiles. Harte-Hanks will fold this capability into its customer relationship marketing programs for large-scale businesses, offering clients a combination of database and direct marketing expertise to allow for consistent, integrated direct marketing campaigns both online and offline.
The partnership, which also includes an equity investment by Harte-Hanks into Digital Impact, marks a critical intersection where traditional and Internet direct marketing expertise will combine into comprehensive direct marketing services. In addition to combing offline and online data to create more targeted e-mail campaigns, Digital Impact will help Harte-Hank's clients track whether their customers have opened up e-mails or visited their Web site.
“It will allow companies to target individuals that are not necessarily buying online and targeting them with direct mail,” said Ettore Leale, director of business development of Digital Impact.
The move follows Harte-Hanks' recent announcement that it has signed a reseller and systems integration agreement with E.piphany, a Palo Alto-based provider of Web-based CRM solutions, and has formed a strategic relationship with net.Genesis Corp., Cambridge, MA, which analyzes Web-site visitors' navigation paths and click streams through its software net.Analysis.
