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"We all have opinions about what constitutes spam," begins a post at the Marketance blog. Indeed, while some would argue that meeting the letter of the CAN-SPAM law puts you in the clear, others insist such legislation is merely the jumping-off point for best practices. In the end, spam is ... more
"The pumpkins come out, the days grow shorter, the weather cools, and there's no mistaking that the holiday season is upon us," says Karen Talavera in an article at MarketingProfs. And though marketers face the challenge of lingering recession worries, you can still add holiday sparkle to a subscriber's inbox, ... more
US consumers plan to spend an average of $682.74 during the upcoming holiday season, a 3.2% drop from last year. More than half say sales and low prices will determine where they shop, although convenience will draw many of them online. more
When dealing with the fallout from an economic downturn, we may try to find comfort in the idea that everything will go back to normal come the upturn. But what if we get there and realize "normal" isn't what it used to be? That may indeed be the case for brand ... more
When your email campaigns encounter deliverability issues—especially those for which you are not at fault—you might think the best way to resolve your problem is to make friends with an ISP representative and schmooze your way to an acceptable solution. But in a post at the Word to the Wise blog, Laura ... more
The first half of 2009 was much tougher on the media industry than expected. As a result, ZenithOptimedia is forecasting global ad spend growth this year at -9.9%, down from its earlier forecasts of -8.5%. more
Local television retook the No. 3 spot from national magazines in July; meanwhile, cable television remained the No. 1 medium in ad spending, extending its lead over No. 2 network television. more
As Americans turned to the traditional activities of the fall season—checking out the new TV lineups, watching football, and returning to school—traffic increased at TV, sports, and education sites accordingly. more
Want to boost search results? Try benchmarking based on the latest trends, says Performics' Michael Kahn in a Chief Marketer article. An analysis by Performics of data from more than 200 paid-search programs uncovered some important shifts this past spring within many actively managed search campaigns; they could signal the ... more
Online ads about prescription medicines and dedicated Rx websites raise consumers' awareness of prescription medicines, increase drugs' perceived favorability, and encourage patients to refill their prescriptions. more
Google's announcement of its third-quarter results sounded a welcome note of hope for everyone in this recession—and for online marketers in particular. more
"I hate shyster pitches on the radio or TV," says Steve Woodruff in a post at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog. "Like the services that want to extract money from your well-intentioned but naive wallet so that they can 'clean' your PC. I want to throttle those marketers." But he ... more
When you have products or services that customers don't buy on a regular basis—for instance, big-screen televisions or luxury excursions on the Orient Express—targeted email offers based on previous purchases may not be the best way to determine what they want next. That's why Sean Duffy of the UK-based EmailCenter ... more
Research coming out of Penn State reports that 20% of tweets—those wee messages published on Twitter—are brand-oriented. And not the way you'd naturally expect. While researchers originally thought they'd find lots of brand engagement in the form of product reviews or referrals, what they discovered was this (hold on to ... more
Newspaper websites attracted more than 70.3 million unique visitors in June (35.9% of Internet users), and their print counterparts inspired 82% of adults to take some kind of action, from clipping a coupon to visiting a website to learn more. more
"Stamps (remember those?) make direct mail work," says Seth Godin in a post at his blog. "Because it costs money to send a piece of junk mail, you'll think two or three times before you mail something to a million people." And how. But because they think of email as "free," ... more
Worldwide advertising expenditure in 2009 is estimated to be down 9.8% compared with 2008, a downward revision of 4 percentage points from projections issued in March, according to media communications agency Carat. more
If you sell products to consumers, the year-end holidays are a make-or-break big deal. So, making sure online buyers find you easily and happily by planning your search strategy ahead of launch is paramount. Derek Gordon provides some useful tips for doing so in a recent issue of VatorNews. Among them: ... more
In a post at the Email Wars blog, Dylan Boyd praises a recent message from Banana Republic. The minimalist email used simple text on an all-black background to announce an online sale that took place on 09.09.09. The copy read like this: "9 Hours Only! 20% off our favorite styles ... more
There are infinite ways to destroy an email marketing program. And in a recent humorous post at the Deliverability.com blog, Andrew Kordek explains how to ruin your reputation in nine easy steps. It's easier than you think! Among Kordek's "tips": Blather. "First and foremost," he begins, "you need to understand ... more
Across all demographics—and yes, we mean all demographics—social networks are where the traffic's at. Because barriers to entry are low and engagement is high, this is perfect turf for marketers who want to communicate with users on a personal level. Best way to do that? Invite them to share in an immersive ... more
"Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan had a problem. With an abysmal delivery rate of 81.29 percent, his email campaigns weren't getting through to many of the people who wanted them. "The company was constantly getting complaints from its subscribers," explains a mobileStorm case study. "Consumers claimed they hadn't received Cesar Millan's ... more
US Internet revenue for the first half of 2009 came in at $10.9 billion, down 5.3% from the same period in 2008, according to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report. more
For the small-business owner, getting your name out via local search is a must. And to many marketers, that means optimizing for Google's universal results. After all, Google is the leader of the search-engine pack these days. But as David Mihm points out in a recent article at Search Engine ... more
According to The Wrap, ABC has chosen an unorthodox way to promote a new comedy on its fall schedule—by keeping it hush-hush. "The network is offering the sneak peak of '[Modern Family]' only to members of a special online fan base it's built called ABC Inner Circle," writes Josef Adalian. ... more
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