As phishers (criminals masquerading as trusted entities to grab usernames, passwords and credit card info) become more sophisticated, and your subscribers become more cautious about online commerce, it's important to know how the average customer vets the marketing messages you send—especially those in which you request personal information. A legitimate appearance—in ... more

Business owner Fran Murdy presented all the symptoms of full-blown Search Overload Syndrome (SOS), Microsoft's term coined in its recent commercials for Bing, when he fessed up in a forum discussion not too long ago at InboundMarketing.com: "I'm in desperate need of help to find keywords for my business." Soon afterward, fellow ... more

Few things are as irresistible as a mobile game that lets players rack points up during waiting-room or bus-ride lulls. But if you're a brick-and-mortar shop, or a restaurant, there isn't much incentive for throwing another branded version of Tetris out into the ether. What to do, what to do? Solution: Hook up ... more

Those of us who check multiple email accounts throughout the day can hardly imagine a world in which people don't read messages as soon as they receive them. But in a post at the Retail Email blog, Chad White reports on a Pivotal Veracity study that found email recipients in August ... more

In a recent post at the Online Marketing Blog, Adam Singer summarizes Charlene Li's keynote at Search Engine Strategies San Jose last summer. Co-author of the business bestseller Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, and a MarketingProfs presenter, Li examines the intersection of search and social media. According ... more

You're in the business of communicating, and in the age of Internet-and-mobile, your platforms for doing so have expanded almost exponentially. But here's a down side: From fielding phone calls to checking email to ensuring your personal/company blog and Twitter accounts are well-populated, how do you manage it all? Lucky for you, slews of ... more

"Having an offer for your products or services that is truly risk-free might be just the ticket you need to really make a difference in your email marketing campaigns," says Janine Popick in a post at her Vertical Response blog. She points to retailers like these that generate customer loyalty and ... more

Gen-Y women have emerged as a distinct and influential consumer demographic, and they wield significant brand influence over older Gen-X women, according to a study conducted by Radar Research for Sugar Inc. more

As mothers carefully budget for their families, they are sacrificing purchases that are for their own use in order to ensure their families get what they need, according to a study by the Marketing to Moms Coalition. more

In March 2008, Amber Duick began receiving email messages from a criminal fugitive who identified himself as Sebastian Fowler. "Amber, mate!" read one missive. "Coming 2 Los Angeles. Gonna lay low at your place for a bit till it all blows over." Over the course of five days, he advised ... more

Despite a gradually improving economy, consumers plan to spend less and save more this holiday season, according to Nielsen's annual holiday retail survey. Some 42% of consumers plan to spend less this year on holiday gifts than last year; only 4% say they will spend more. more

Kevin Nalts, a marketing director who produces hi-lar-ious videos on YouTube under the handle nalts, once joked that after cutting a bazillion notches into his belt, he still has no idea what makes a viral hit with users. And that's the accepted wisdom: Creating a truly viral video—something people want to ... more

This holiday season, 54% of Americans say they will buy toys as gifts, compared with 47% who said so last year, according to a Harris Poll. Among consumers who intend to purchase toys, 41% say they will spend the same amount as last year and 39% say they will spend ... more

Consumers are willing to spend small monthly sums to receive news on their personal computer and mobile devices, according to a study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). more

Newspapers are read by a critical mass of adults in the US on a daily and weekly basis, according to the latest Integrated Newspaper Audience (INA)* study from Scarborough Research. more

"Give a man a hammer," says Lori Feldman at The Database Diva blog, "and everything looks like a nail. Email marketing campaign software often has the same effect on novice email marketers. They forget how much they hate advertising mail when they start sending it out themselves." It's a hazardous mindset—and ... more

Nearly one in five holiday shoppers will rely on digital advancements such as social media and mobile phones for help with holiday shopping this year, according to Deloitte’s 24th Annual Holiday Survey of retail spending and trends. more

Last month, we offered a bunch of options for optimizing your local search advertising. Well, here's a way to extend your local search marketing options even further: through your good-old local news guys. In a recent article at Search Engine Land, KeyRelevance's Chris Silver Smith suggests three ways to optimize ... more

Mobile marketing is on track to grow 27% to a $2.1 billion market in 2010, according to the Mobile Marketing Association. The total mobile audience is still relatively small, however, and is confined to a limited market segment; moreover, marketers who reach out to the wrong mobile audience risk turning ... more

Marketing messages with personalized subject lines usually fail to impress DJ Waldow. "[Most] of those emails use my first name as the 'hook' to get me to open," he writes in a recent post at the Email Experience Council blog. "This never works for me. Never. I know it's fake. ... more

For the first time, the number of small and medium-sized businesses using digital/online media has surpassed the number using traditional media, according to the Kelsey Group. more

Smartphone units sold worldwide in 2009 will grow 14.5% from 2008 levels, according to a forecast by Infonetics. more

Hoping to position Lufthansa as bigger than just a German airline, digital agency Profero has helped it create MySkyStatus—a tool that has brought Lufthansa's branding catch-phrase, "passion for precision," to life in a hands-on way. "Communications needs to have a use," explains Profero's Wayne Arnold in a recent article at Adweek. "Saying ... more

Consumers flock daily to social media sites to keep in touch with friends and family, but they are also keen to buy from brands that they have seen on these sites, according to new research from Performics and ROI Research. more

Warren Katz uses a post at the Elephant Bites blog to discuss the recession-driven microtrend of "glamping"—a freshly coined portmanteau for glamorous camping. In essence, its proponents want the low-budget benefit of a holiday in the great outdoors, but don't care to leave all the luxuries of home behind. "So, who ... more