NetLedger adds marketing ROI manager

IDG News Service - Hosted enterprise applications vendor NetLedger Inc. has added to several of its software bundles its new Marketing ROI (return on investment) Manager tool, intended to help organizations with end-to-end tracking of marketing campaigns.

The feature, included in NetLedger's NetSuite and NetCRM packages, draws on data from several integrated applications to measure the costs and results of campaigns. Information from the Marketing ROI Manager can be accessed through NetLedger's data-aggregating dashboards.

NetLedger, based in San Mateo, Calif., touted the new feature as an illustration of the advantages of its suite approach. While most of its rivals in the hosted applications market -- including Salesforce.com Inc., UpShot Corp. and Salesnet Inc. -- focus on customer relationship management functionality, NetLedger sells bundles that also include order processing, inventory management, billing and employee management applications.

Marketing ROI Manager taps into those back-office systems, allowing it to tie the initial source of a lead, such as an ad or direct-mail campaign, to any billing or purchase information connected with the lead, NetLedger said. Customers can then directly measure which marketing efforts best spur sales.

Marketing ROI Manager is now available to customers, NetLedger said. An ASP application service provider, NetLedger delivers its software as an online service.