Digital Impact jumps on new product

Digital Impact (Nasdaq: DIGI) rose 19 percent Friday after the company released its new viral e-mail marketing product.

Shares in the Internet marketing company were up 7 1/2 to 47 3/4 Friday morning. The company made its IPO last November.

"Forward to a Friend" allows Digital Impact clients to deliver personalized email offers to customers who, in turn, can easily forward these offers to as many as 20 friends. Marketers can track email campaign results from their original list of recipients all the way through to forwarded emails at the individual level, giving them a cost-effective customer acquisition tool.

The sly idea behind this marketing technology is that a referral coming from a friend instantly validates the legitimacy and the value of a product or service. "Initial results show that messages forwarded to friends often yield higher response rates, making Forward to a Friend a powerful tool for opt-in list growth, the company said in a release.

iTurf (Nasdaq: TURF), an online teen network providing Internet community, content and commerce services, has partnered with Digital Impact to build relationships with consumers.

Digital Impact recently reported strong growth in new clients during the fall quarter. Since September, more than 40 name brand businesses selected Digital Impact's eMarketing services, including Dell Computer Corp (Nasdaq: DELL), Evite, living.com, Publishers Clearing House, REI, Restoration Hardware and TravelSmith.

"Digital Impact clients have reported triple-digit returns on investment for their email marketing campaigns,'' William Park, chairman and chief executive officer of Digital Impact said in a press release.