Larger companies may be less concerned about the direct correlation between content marketing efforts and deals. But, for the rest of us, it's critical. So, how do you gauge the power of content and the value of your content marketing initiatives? more

Many companies at all stages invest time in planning but lack the processes and leadership needed to ensure a strategy achieves the desired results. Failure is expensive and wastes precious resources. To avoid both and to achieve execution success, check out these four tips. more

The average value of a brand fan on Facebook in key consumer categories increased to $174 in 2012, from $136 in 2010, according to a new report. more

A lot of marketing organizations today think that they are on the path to greater insight because they now have analytics technology. The reality is that it takes a significant investment in four foundational areas to ensure analytics success. Here's a look at each area. more

Education, retail, and computer hardware/electronics are the best-performing verticals in email marketing, according to a new study that benchmarked open rates, click-through rates, and churn metrics across 14 industries. more

Google Analytics is a great free tool for e-commerce websites. It can allow marketers and webmasters to record specific data about items purchased, learn how a user navigates the website, and focus on specific, actionable ways to increase sales. more

Though email campaign process metrics such as delivery, open, and click-through rates have their place, if you don't look beyond them... the true impact of your email marketing—and opportunities for continuous improvement—will go undetected. more

To demonstrate how marketers have adapted to media innovations through the last century and developed measurements for them, IfbyPhone created the following infographic about the evolution of the "growth hacker" from the 1920s to today. more

The term "Big Data" keeps getting bandied about in business, but what does it mean exactly? And what makes data "big"? The following infographic by Wipro defines Big Data and highlights its importance. more

Today's teens, though digital natives, by a wide margin prefer to shop in stores than online, and even their use of what they consider their favorite social networks is decreasing in importance for them, according to the 23rd semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens survey from Piper Jaffray. more

Understanding how the customer behavior you can monitor influences the buying process... is key. Here are three areas to monitor and how to tie them to more outcome-based metrics. more

Conversion-rate optimization can be intimidating, especially since marketers don't have many sources of clear advice on how to avoid common pitfalls, generate strong ideas, and run tests that get real results. more

Online nonprofit fundraising is on the rise, with explosive growth in sustaining gifts and a larger audience of supporters reached via social networks, according to an analysis of leading US nonprofits. However, the long-term decline of email response rates is continuing, even as online revenues increase and social media audiences ... more

Despite the hype, most organizations have yet to develop and implement a Big Data strategy, and few are taking advantage of product, customer, and other data sources, according to a survey of data management professionals by SAS and SourceMedia. more

To find out how businesses are handling the deluge of information that's become available to them, Infogroup Targeting Solutions and Yesmail Interactive sponsored a study, then produced an infographic to highlight some findings. more

Social media is full of numbers, but most of the time we don't use them in any actionable way... because social metrics are often too complicated. But here are some easy (but rough) calculations that will give you a general idea of success. They may not be perfect, but they ... more

As SXSW winds down, insights come flying: See videos on the most buzzed-about tech and startups, and learn to tell better brand stories via social. We've also got tips on ROI-effective Vines, Pinterest's new analytics service, updated mobile advertising guidelines, and the usual tidbits about Twitter, Facebook, Google... and even ... more

Measurability is the battle cry of every digital marketer. The challenge is how to decide which measurements make sense based on campaign objectives. The ultimate challenge is how to optimize in real time to maximize impact on brand-marketing or direct-marketing objectives. more

Although the exponential increase in the availability of customer and business data has enhanced our ability to measure success, it has also increased our chances of misunderstanding and misinterpreting it. Avoid these common errors when setting out to measure your marketing efforts more

The idea of unlimited customer insights, in real time, guiding every decision, is attractive. But before you embark on a Big Data project, separate the buzz from the reality of turning the hype into insight, business value, and, ultimately, increased revenue. more

Slapping a QR code on a handout or a poster is easy, but creating something useful takes thought and planning. So what are QR codes good for? Plenty, including for your events, if you use QR codes wisely. more

If Big Data were personified, it'd be a kid. As anyone who has children or works with them knows, kids love to ask questions. Likewise, Big Data seems to be asking questions all the time. In this infographic, Infochimps playfully compares the questions of children to those of Big Data. more

This week we answer two questions: When is a lead truly "Sales-ready," and what are some best-practices of lead scoring? And we offer two tools you can use to help you answer those questions for yourself. more

Every industry has its version of "buffalo chicken dip," a product or concept with big seasonal peaks. By anticipating those keyword trends and having your search marketing campaigns at the ready, you could hatch the same kind of profits as chicken farms do on Super Bowl Sunday. more

When pricey data tools are not an option, these few simple steps can help make data work for you by allowing you to derive insights that make the most impact across your department or organization. more