You wouldn't add random people to your email list without their permission—you know better than that—but perhaps you're willing to take liberties with the email addresses of prominent bloggers like Chris Brogan. After all, you might reason, if he likes what he sees, he might forgive the spam you sent—and share the ... more

The smartphone market will climb to 37% of global handset sales in 2014, expanding from 16% of market share in 2009 to 37% in 2014, with emerging markets driving the growth, according to Pyramid Research. more

The consumption of media among the Chinese末and the influence that media exerts on Chinese purchasing behavior末is significantly different from what it is for American consumers, according to ProsperChina.com and BIGresearch. Chinese consumers are also educated about Western brands and tend to be selective in their purchases. more

Small business owners are planning to engage customers in new ways in 2010, according to an Ad-ology Research study: 28% say they will spend at least the same or more on online video, an increase of 75% over last year's plans; 25% say they will commit more resources to social ... more

"[T]here is altogether too much guessing and not enough proving in email marketing," says Stephanie Miller in a post at the MarketingProfs Daily Fox blog. "With inboxes overflowing, subscriber fatigue growing and competition from social networks increasing, it's no longer enough to broadcast out your best guess as to what ... more

Consumers are asking for three features when they buy their next cell phone, including better connectivity, better audio, and simplicity, according to a survey by In-Stat. more

When McDonald's launched its specialty coffees earlier this year, its banner ads inviting consumers to "McCafé Your Day" were all over the Web. Great branding, but does such online advertising send customers to local establishments? The short answer: When combined with search, it does! According to Christa Hoyland, editor of QSR Web, Google research ... more

If there's anything Second Life has taught us, it's that people like having a place to come back to—a virtual hideaway where you're always well-coiffed and surrounded by friends, and everybody knows your (avatar's) name. Well, here's some good news for mobile marketers: virtual living just got a whole lot ... more

According to DIRECT's Ken Magill, a recent announcement from AOL hints at where Internet service providers' spam-filtering techniques are headed, and "what marketers had better start doing if they want their email lists to continue to perform." Here's the scenario: Until now, senders with consistently low complaint rates earned a coveted ... more

Americans 65+ comprise less than 10% of the active Internet, but their numbers are growing: In the last five years, the number of seniors actively using the Internet grew 55% to 17.5 million in November 2009, up from 11.3 million in November 2004, according to a survey by Nielsen. more

If there's one thing marketers know how to do, it's to make things sound better than they actually are. Consider a drink often requested by Paul Williams at Starbucks—that purveyor of infinitely customizable beverages: Iced, tall, no-shot Americano. Even if you know how to decode Starbucks lingo, you might still ... more

You might not have the big-time marketing budget of a major retailer—but as the holiday season peaks, don't forget there's a secret weapon in your arsenal. "Email marketing campaigns are affordable, and can help small retailers to compete with the big boys during this crucial sales period, " says Wendy Lowe ... more

In late October, Twitter launched its Lists feature, which might just improve your life in a panoply of organization-friendly ways. The new feature helps you sort your own contacts based on personal relevance, but—maybe more importantly—it also provides you with ready-made groups of people to which to target your messages. ... more

Americans can't live without the Internet and television; they prefer advertisements that are innovative and playful; and they are open to new technologies that monitor their media usage if privacy is ensured, according to a recent study by Synovate. more

Few companies have been spared the ravages of the recession, but some strategies seem to be working to help small businesses stay afloat. In a recent article at Inc., Elizabeth Wasserman suggests tactics that small retailers might employ to add some ho-ho-ho to the late-holiday sales season—and boost results in the ... more

Annual global advertising expenditure will have declined 10.2% by the end of 2009末the worst annual drop in modern times末but is forecast to stabilize and grow 0.9% in 2010, according to projections by ZenithOptimedia. more

"Every once in a while," writes Ardath Albee at the Marketing Interactions blog, "I get a bit irked at the irresponsible email practices of companies that play fast and free with their databases." In this case, an email from a marketing solutions company raised her ire by lying to her. Repeatedly. ... more

In the third quarter of 2009, Americans' consumption of new media formats grew at a brisk pace: DVR use increased 21% year over year, while the use of online video increased 34%, according to Nielsen's latest A2/M2 Three Screen Report. more

How much B2B branding is too much? You want to incorporate your B2B brand message into every encounter with prospects and clients. But how do you do that without overdoing it? more

The purpose of a pay-per-click (PPC) ad, says Nick Usborne, is "to match a thought in a reader's mind and then move that person forward to your landing page with a click." But here's the catch: You have to do it in 95 characters or less if you're writing a ... more

Get this: 8 in 10 smartphone users say they have trouble accessing content from their handhelds. What's more, they swear they'd spend at least $9 more per month on purchases if the products they wanted were easier to find. The stats come from a survey of both US and UK smartphone ... more

Peruse the blogosphere for email marketing guidance, and you'll discover a number of seemingly inviolate dictums—rules that must not be broken if you aspire to a successful email program. But in a post at the Email Marketing Reports blog, Mark Brownlow argues that many "best" practices are in fact simply ... more

Signaling continued restraint in marketing spending, the revenue for three key B2B media platforms declined during the third quarter of 2009 at approximately the same rates as during the first half of the year, according to American Business Media's Business Information Network. more

Since 2003, senior executives have steadily increased their use of electronic media—so much so, that as of 2009 80% say within five years they will be consuming over half of their work-related media online and 60% say the same for leisure media, according to a Decision Dynamics Survey cosponsored by ... more

With today's increasingly price-conscious consumers, there is ample room for improvement in advertising efficiency: The ratio of average short-term return on marketing investment末sales within three months of media execution末is $1.09 for each dollar spent, according to a recent study by Nielsen. more