Some 13.36% of email message opens occur via mobile device with the iPhone comprising more than 65% of that activity on average, according to a study from Knotice, which also finds that mobile email open levels are highest in the early-morning hours but vary dramatically by industry. more

How many Facebook fans or Twitter followers you have isn't necessarily the best indicator of how many people are receiving your message. But a new breed of engagement metrics can give you those answers, and help mold your messaging to generate the highest levels of engagement. more

"Go to this website, click that link, call this number, fill out that form," writes Lary Stucker at FreshClicks. "Anytime you ask people to do something, you are creating a point of friction," he warns. "Your audience will not continue unless the reward is greater than the friction they are ... more

In a post at his Marketing Minute blog, Drew McLellan talks about the frustration he felt every time he made deposits at his bank. "Like most bank drive-throughs," he says, "they have a commercial lane on the far left and then several 'everybody and anybody' lanes to the right of ... more

Google Sites led the US explicit core search* market in December 2010, accounting for 66.6% of total searches conducted during the month, followed by Yahoo Sites with 16.0% and Microsoft Sites with 12.0%, according to data from comScore qSearch. more

Though few consumers actually make purchases using mobile devices, smartphones are playing an increasingly important role in shoppers' buying decisions, particularly when they are visiting physical stores, according to a new study by ForeSee Results. more

In a post at Email Marketing Reports, Mark Brownlow considers the argument that opt-in permission isn't strictly necessary. "The definition of spam has shifted broadly from 'email not asked for' to 'email that is not wanted,' implying that relevant [or] valuable email will not be considered spam," he explains. But you're ... more

Few things are more fun than learning about yourself, right? At least when the Net makes it easy. Consider the explosion of personality test apps on sites like Facebook or MySpace—or quizzes on their own hosted sites: You can learn what superhero you are, what your kissing style is, or what city ... more

How does advertising yield improve when targeting digital ads to certain audiences? How much influence does the type of content users are reading when the ad is shown have on yield? This article summarizes the results of an extensive study on the subject. more

"As a seller, when you approach a big company, you are most likely more concerned about your fears than theirs," writes Barbara Weaver Smith in an article at Selling to Big Companies. But big-company buyers are often fearful of their own decisions, she argues—especially the decision to do business with ... more

Google's Android mobile operating system (OS) is rapidly gaining market share in the US—particularly among new smartphone buyers—though it hasn't overtaken Apple's iOS, according to a report from The Nielsen Company. more

If your company doesn't send welcome or confirmation emails to new subscribers, you could be missing out on some remarkable opportunities. "Jill LeMaire, director of Epsilon's strategic and analytic consulting group, says that [its welcome emails] have an average open rate of 50%-60%," writes Sherry Chiger at Chief Marketer. "What's ... more

Though the adoption of emerging Web activities such as social media is still dominated by Millennials, older generations are making sharp gains, according to Pew Research. Moreover, key Internet activities such as email and search are becoming more uniformly popular across all age groups. more

Digital media is trouncing traditional channels among up-and-coming Millennials: 81% of affluent Gen-Y adults use Facebook every day—roughly double the number who read newspaper content (45%) or watch TV (44%) daily, according to a new study by L2. Moreover, 45% of such consumers read at least one blog every day. more

With the end of the year comes the compulsion to synthesize what we've learned about the ebb and flow of social media in 2010. Toward that end, John Antonios, writing at the Social Media & Personal Branding blog, has made a list of 100 social media tips to ponder for ... more

Heads up: The age-old "sales funnel" metaphor—consumers begin their decision-making with a large number of options in mind and narrow their choices to an eventual sale—fails to capture the shifting nature of consumer engagement in the digital age, warns David C. Edelman in a recent article at the Harvard Business ... more

"[I]n an effort to reach as many customers as possible at minimal financial cost," writes Mark Smith at Chief Marketer, "many marketers overlook the pricey consequences that can result from sending mass, untargeted emails to their entire audience." To help you avoid that outcome, Smith recommends uplift modeling, which predicts how marketing ... more

More than one-half of senior executives (56%) say they are optimistic about business prospects in their industries over the next six months, up 11 percentage points from the 45% who said so a year earlier, according to a survey from Doremus and The Financial Times. more

Retailers, marketers, and service providers are at an ideal point to capitalize on a massive opportunity to elevate the classic brick-and-mortar shopper experience by embracing emerging mobile technologies. Don't miss the opportunity to use these budding technologies to evolve the customer experience and boost profitability for your company. more

Most online adults (61%) say they're aware advertisers use their online browsing history to target ads to them, and roughly two-thirds (67%) say they are opposed to such tactics, even if those tactics help keep Web content free, according to a survey from Gallup and USA Today. more

Yahoo Sites comprised the top-ranked Web property in November 2010 with 181.0 million unique visitors, followed by Google Sites with 178.7 million, Microsoft Sites with 175.7 million, and Facebook with 151.7 million, according to comScore Media Metrix service. more

Americans flocked to online retail and coupon sites in November to take advantage of early deals and promotions as the holiday shopping season kicked off, according to data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Cyber Monday, the heaviest online spending day on record in the US, contributed a strong portion ... more

Reporting on click-throughs is an important way of determining how engaged your audience is, notes Andy Shore in an article at MarketingProfs. However, "a lot of email marketers throw around words and phrases such as 'Google Analytics,' 'tracking,' and 'metrics' without really knowing how to translate link reports into successful ... more

Today's business executives use a full array of electronic devices for work purposes, but next to the laptop, the smartphone is their device of choice, according to a new survey from Forbes Insights. Younger execs are leading the charge to mobile adoption, particularly in business-related buying, Web searching, and posting ... more

"I love to do business with small businesses—in-store, online, for myself, for others, for pleasure, for work—it doesn't matter to me," writes Guy Kawasaki at his eponymous blog. Based on his experiences, he has 10 tips for making the customer experience enchanting. Here are four: Staff your frontline with personable, passionate ... more