• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, July 21, 2009

Email marketing software company JangoMail on Tuesday is expected to launch Geo-Tracking reporting.

The new feature is designed to help email marketers better determine the location -- city, state, country, ZIP code -- of recipients through open, click and Web site activity tracking.

Geo-targeting is nothing less than the wave of the future for all marketers, and email marketers are no exception, according to Ajay Goel, president of JangoMail.

"Segmentation and geo-targeting continue to be hot topics in the email marketing industry," said Goel. "We believe the new Geo-Tracking reporting functionality will bring critical intelligence to email marketers."

In addition, email marketers can also determine the IP address, ISP and latitude/longitude data of recipients, as well as segment data by location or by a specific distance from a particular location.

Users, for example, can filter reporting results to show data from recipients who are based within a particular mile radius from a specific ZIP code.

Recent data from Forrester Research indicated that email is holding its own during the recession. Findings suggested that the marketing channel inspired 41% of consumers to make at least one online purchase. Consumer attitudes, meanwhile, demonstrate they are now more likely to respond to ads with coupons and sign up for email promotions than they were when the economy was strong.

Research firm Borrell Associates, meanwhile, recently reported that email advertising has quietly moved to the No. 1 online ad category spot, surpassing all other forms of interactive advertising. Last year, advertisers spent $12.1 billion on email marketing -- more than they spent on display/banner advertising or search advertising -- according to Borrell, while it saw the category grow to $15.7 billion over the next five years.

JangoMail has also integrated with Google Maps to provide users with a visual overlay of Geo-Tracking data. This graphical overlay depicts where opens, clicks and Web page views and conversions originated.

Plus, users can export any segmented data into a new JangoMail group with a single mouse click -- allowing follow-up email campaigns to be sent to geo-targeted segments.

Globally, Chicago-based JangoMail presently claims some 1,800 clients.