Social media use has become so pervasive in the lives of American teens that having a presence on a social networking site, Facebook in particular, is almost synonymous with being online, according to a report by Pew Research. more

With the rise of mobile search and social media, local Web-presence optimization is crucial for small businesses. Learn how to secure a top spot on Google's search results—and knock out the competition. more

According to the 60 Second Marketer blog, email marketing is powerful because it delivers your message to a subscriber's inner sanctum—alongside party evites from friends and photos from recent family trips. Because of this, they argue, "You need to develop a relationship with the consumer as well. Otherwise you are ... more

More and more organizations are investing in marketing automation platforms. Is yours one of them? If so, learn how to select the right one, plan for its adoption, and avoid common implementation pitfalls. more

We've talked up a storm about "gamification," and here's why: As ShuffleBrain CEO Amy Kim says, "gamers are everywhere; everyone's a gamer." And the best way to engage these fun types in a marketing effort is with smart game thinking—a balance of playfulness and strategic design. Kim has produced a detailed ... more

To deliver the critical wow factor that draws people into loyalty programs and keeps them there, marketers must get inside customers' heads to identify what motivates them. Learn five key points about driving customer behavior. more

When Apple mastermind Steve Jobs died in October, tributes praising his genius flowed forth. As Apple's chief evangelist for years, Guy Kawasaki knew Jobs well—and learned invaluable lessons from him. Here are four of them. more

Are you enduring a steady decline in clickthrough rates? Having more difficulty proving ROI? Or seeing unsubscribe rates rise while the lifetime of an average opt-in falls? According to Michael Leander, these trends are the stark reality for many email marketers. "As a result, the channel has become less reliable ... more

Today's B2B marketers can't focus only on generating leads and turning them over to Sales. To get results, they need to create effective, targeted programs that hit the right people via the appropriate channel. Here how. more

If the 2011 holiday shopping season follows the trends of the 2010 season, consumers are likely to start searching online for holiday gifts early this year and Cyber Monday will edge out Black Friday as the most profitable day for online retailers, according to data from Marin Software's 2011 Online ... more

A third generation of landing pages has emerged over the past year that incorporates ideas from content marketing, social media marketing, and mobile marketing. Learn what features define Landing Pages 3.0. more

Any SEO strategy hinges on offering relevant, valuable information. But that might not mean what you think it does. According to the Todaymade blog, we content marketers gravitate toward discussions of our core businesses. "But the challenge that we all have in marketing is moving past those spheres of immediate influence ... more

Marketing is changing and evolving at a rapid pace. Are you keeping up? Here are five major changes taking shape in 2012 that CMOs can't afford to ignore. more

The US recession has affected consumers' purchasing behaviors across various product categories, leading them to increasingly "buy down," or purchase less expensive brands in order to save money, according to new report by comScore. Technology is enabling such price-seeking behaviors with the Internet cited as the most popular channel for ... more

With the exponential rise of the multilingual Web in recent years, extending your online marketing strategy internationally is more timely than ever. Here are five key tips for effective global digital marketing. more

Despite the renewed excitement in 3D entertainment over the past few years, would-be TV buyers appear to have little interest in purchasing a 3DTV set, according to a new survey from Retrevo. more

Should you change the from line you use in email campaigns? According to Mark Brownlow, most people would advise against it—strenuously—on the grounds that messages might be ignored or marked as spam. "This argument is perfectly logical," he writes at Email Marketing Reports. "However, the problem is not changing your ... more

Today, B2B buyers are busy, busy, busy... doing the work of multiple people. The last thing they have time for is a salesperson who takes a spray-and-pray approach: a generic presentation that's all about the product/service being sold. more

We say the customer is always right. But what happens when bad customers co-opt the adage to justify their bad behavior? At least one company "fires" them—to the delight of its good customers. "Two years ago," notes Jackie Huba at the Church of the Customer Blog, "we wrote about the best ... more

Have your email campaigns gotten into a rut? When you bombard subscribers with the same basic message over and over again, your offers start to lose their power—even when they herald the tantalizing discounts and free shipping that customers typically crave. Consider the case of one hapless retailer, which sent ... more

What can you learn about content marketing from video vignettes of lawyers speaking candidly about their professional philosophies and personal viewpoints? For one, you can humanize your business and show off your personality in a creative, interesting, and wholly unexpected way. more

Throughout the 40 years I've produced radio advertising, one question has come up more than all others: Should we put our phone number in the commercial? Anyone with a reasonable amount of marketing experience knows: Don't do it. Think "landing page" instead. more

Just as in dating, being too pushy or too neglectful when marketing could get you dumped. Learn how to effectively woo prospects into becoming long-term committed customers who stick with you through thick and thin. more

Today's product-savvy customers expect more from in-store shopping experiences. Learn why new technologies, knowledgeable salespeople, and stellar service are critical in today's shopping climate. more

When thinking about the celebrity they'd like most to cozy up with on a flight across the Atlantic, surveyed women chose Johnny Depp and George Clooney as their top choices, while men favored Jennifer Aniston and Megan Fox, according to a new survey from Air New Zealand. more