Marketers get new way to query

Marketing departments will soon be able to get one step closer to their companies' customers.

2Way Corporation in Seattle, is scheduled to release Tuesday a new software system that allows marketers to conduct Web-based queries of customers and partners without having to do extensive database programming or learn HTML coding.

"Seasoned marketers and product developers know that customers, employees, vendors, and partners are their best source of information," said David Bluhm, chief executive of 2Way Corporation. "2Way users can create a query, distribute it and get back valuable information to inform their marketing decisions in a fraction of the time it would take to conduct a traditional marketing survey."

The suite comes with software for creating the surveys, distributing them, and then tabulating the results. The queries function like online surveys but do not require HTML coding, database programming, or mass emailings. Results from the survey are stored and automatically tabulated in a SQL database where graphic reports can be generated.

Users design the surveys by using tabs. Questions can be multiple choice, single-response, and open-ended. And it is not only marketers that 2Way is targeting, company executives said the system can be used to conduct surveys of employees or to get updates from product teams spread around the globe.

The product is to be available Tuesday and costs between $40,000 and $250,000 depending on the scope of the installation.