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First it was support for e-mail 
marketing , then it was a user interface that displayed real time system data -- also known as the "Dashboard." Now the latest must-have feature in on-demand CRM, at least as evidenced by two separate offerings, is paid search.
Both NetSuite and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) have introduced new features that support paid search advertising on Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and, in NetSuite's case, on both Google and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO). Salesforce.com acquired Kieden Corporation, a provider of paid search technology, earlier this month, and has incorporated the function into its latest offering. NetSuite developed its paid search functionality in-house, over the course of the last few months.
While there are differences in execution and layout between the two applications, both firms emphasize the return on investment that incorporating paid search advertising into a CRM application can deliver.
The paid search function in NetSuite "can seamlessly track one key word campaign from clickthroughs all the way to real ROI," Mini Peiris, vice president of product marketing, told CRM Buyer.
"It gives customers the ability to have cross-channel comparability on ROI," Kendall Collins, vice president of product marketing, said of Salesforce.com's offering.
Straight From AppExchange
Salesforce for Google AdWords is an AppExchange mash-up that allows users to buy keywords and create ads directly within Salesforce. Companies can correlate ad clicks with sales metrics such as leads, opportunities, deals, revenue -- even search terms. In a demo of the application, a user could see what search terms had been entered into Google that ultimately led the prospect to the paid ad. This is a particularly useful feature, Collins said, in such cases when the search term differs from the keyword ad.
During the initial pilot phase, Salesforce.com for Google AdWords is available for a free 30-day trial to all Salesforce.com customers. The application will be released in the second half of 2006 and will cost US$300 per organization per month.
Core to the Application
One way that NetSuite's offering -- NetSuite Keyword Marketing Module -- differs from the Salesforce.com app is that it has been incorporated into NetSuite and NetSuite CRM+ at no additional cost, Peiris said. Another is that it supports both Google AdWords and Yahoo Sponsored Search. However, Collins noted that Salesforce for Google Adwords can likewise be developed to support other search engine advertising programs. "If that is what our clients demand, then we will do it," he said.
Features in the NetSuite application include a search engine keyword campaign creation wizard, keyword campaign management capabilities and several pre-built reports to manage Google AdWords or Yahoo Sponsored Search purchases. Keyword campaigns can be tracked by keyword or groups of "keyword families." They can also be analyzed by product, offer, landing page or message. Finally, NetSuite's order management capabilities track each keyword through the sales process, on up to revenue generated.
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