Unica will unveil Monday one Web-page tag that combines analytics, email marketing, personalization and behavioral targeting and testing into one application. It feeds data through one interface into a dashboard that lets clients analyze and customize content on the fly.

Unica Interactive Marketing OnDemand offers one tag with many functions. The application aims to solve the integration problems caused by tying together many applications into one platform. It also aims to solve the difficulties of maintaining or increasing conversion rates, bidding for search terms and attracting the attention of email readers --not to mention the struggle to deliver timely and relevant marketing content, manage a growing number of online channels and affiliates, and cope with a flood of sometimes conflicting data and reports.

Marketers can segment visitors based on recent activity or interest, and create and execute targeted promotions such as designing an email or personalizing a Web page based on the person's online behavior. It also allows marketers to analyze online visitor behavior, identify potential opportunities and turn that analysis into an actionable strategy.

Forrester Research Analyst John Lovett says the ability to use Web data to feed campaign automation and integrate data across several platforms has been a trend surfacing in the Web analytics industry. "The ability to use the Web data to feed campaign automation and seed the customer intelligence in marketing programs is a direction Unica is headed," he says. "It's also a direction of Omniture and Coremetrics. Analytics is a driving factor toward targeting marketing and increasing relevance of messaging communizing with customers."

Interactive Marketing will not include all the triggers and data that marketers might need, but it will tackle the primary applications. For example, marketers who use Interactive Marketing to send out email campaigns will get data back from the snippet of code.

"The code will feed into the system to tell us that 'Joe Blow in California just opened the email," and at the same time send the Web site data that lets the system analyze the clicks," says Andrew Hally, vice president of product marketing of Interactive Marketing OnDemand, Unica. "You only create problems when you try to integrate applications and cross functions. Maybe you have Omniture monitor the analytics and another application support email functions."

Media companies that display banner ads will still need to use a platform to serve up ads, he says -- something Unica doesn't do.

Interactive Marketing is built on Unica's flagship product NetInsights, an interactive marketing campaign management tool. NetInsights is built for larger companies such as Best Buy, Comcast, Monster Worldwide and Time Warner. The on-demand tool aims to support companies that do not have the infrastructure to support the application.

Lovett believes Unica's Web analytics tool will continue to become more closely aligned with their other products.

This news story is important. I recommend that everyone read it.