Marketers' use of social media and mobile marketing has steadied over the past year, whereas the use of viral online video (e.g., use of YouTube) has continued to grow, according to the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) 2012 Digital and Social Media Survey. more

As Google continues to personalize search results, the data you see in ranking reports might not mean what you think. Why? They only tell you what rankings would look like in a non-personalized search. Most of your customers, meanwhile, see rankings driven by their behavior—so your Web page might rank ... more

The process of developing and overseeing a campaign for a company's advertising or marketing program can be broken down into these five steps that a marketing manager must oversee or personally complete. more

Though professional news organizations contributed more than one-half (51.2%) of the most popular news footage posted on YouTube during the 15 months ended March 2012, over one-third (39.2%) of such content was uploaded by private citizens, according to a report by Pew. more

If you're still wondering about the value of segmentation, consider these numbers from eMarketer, as reported by HubSpot: "39% of email marketers that practice list segmentation see better open rates; 28% see lower opt-out and unsubscribe rates; and 24% see better email deliverability, increased sales leads, and greater revenue." HubSpot's Corey ... more

As paid video content becomes more available via different channels, tablet and wireless phone viewing of paid video has increased from 2011 levels, while viewing via PC/Mac has decreased, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 US Residential Pay-to-View Study. more

Marketers remain bullish on the potential of QR codes, but a Temkin Group study in April found that only 24% of US adults are actually using them. So notes Dan Wilkerson in an article at Mashable. According to Wilkerson, there are five common mistakes being made by QR-code marketers that are turning ... more

To achieve brand marketing goals, you must know your target audience—and how best to reach that group. Learn three key questions to ask before funneling marketing and ad dollars out of your television advertising budget and into new media. more

It's easy to send "just one email with the same content to everyone in your database," writes Matthew Johnson at the Vision6 blog. "But how do you send that same email and make it relevant to everyone in your database?" The short answer is: You can't. And that's why you need conditional ... more

Mobile devices have a strong hold on today's consumers, so much so that some users are becoming totally mobile dependent, whether at home or on the go: Half of smartphone and tablet users (51.1%) say they now check their email using only their mobile device, according to a recent survey ... more

Google accounted for 65.02% of all US searches conducted in the four weeks ended June 2, 2012, according to Experian Marketing Services' Hitwise. Bing-powered search accounted for 28.12% of searches more

With smartphone’s taking the majority share in mobile phone usage in America this year, it’s easy to see that the future of the Web is mobile. No one can afford to ignore it. more

Only one in five B2B marketing and sales professionals (20%) say their demand generation campaigns are fully effective, whereas 80% say they are ineffective to semi-ineffective, according to a survey from Corporate Visions. more

Every email marketer knows that great calls to action don't just happen on their own. "Clearly identifying what you offer and how you want to convey that offer requires thoughtful consideration and good timing," says Leigh Dow in an article at MarketingProfs. So how do you craft calls to action that ... more

Humorous ads consistently resonate best with viewers, regardless of the state of economy or year, according to a report by Nielsen, which examined the advertising effectiveness of more than 4,000 ads before, during, and after the "Great Recession." more

With more than 180 million US Internet users watching some 36.6 billion online content videos in May 2012, video ads posted another month of record-breaking gains, surpassing the 10-billion mark for the first time on record, according to data from the comScore Video Metrix service. more

Driven by the need to compete more aggressively in their core markets, nearly nine in ten American manufacturers (86%) say they are investing in online marketing in 2012, and 52% are increasing those investments over 2011 levels, according to a survey from ThomasNet.com. more

Have your marketing efforts gone "SoLoMo" yet? Learn why combining your social, local, and mobile marketing efforts are critical in today's market—and how you can go "SoLoMo" in seven ways. more

Internet advertising revenues reached $8.4 billion in the first quarter of 2012, up 15% from $7.3 billion a year earlier, setting a new record for the reporting period, according to a report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC US. more

In only two years since the release of Apple's iPad, tablets have reached critical mass in the US: One in four smartphone owners used a tablet during the three-month period ended April 2012, according to data from comScore. more

Nearly three in four mobile users (74.0%) say they fully pay attention to mobile ads while browsing the Web, either on a regular (35.3%) or occasional (38.7%) basis, according to a recent survey from Prosper Mobile Insights. more

Building to its IPO, Facebook unrolled improvements that let marketers optimize ads for multiple actions (not just Likes). In a post at Mashable, Victoria Ransom shares four tips for enhancing performance with those action-driven optimization capabilities. Now more than ever, she notes, "the challenge to create organic-feeling and genuine ads ... more

Marketing automation is on the rise: 59% of senior marketers say they expect the number of automated campaigns to increase over the next 12 months, and 83% expect the use of marketing automation to improve the efficiency of their marketing processes, according to a report by Forrester Research and Silverpop. more

Asked which aspects of e-tail shopping they'd like retailers to improve, 58% of online shoppers cite free or discounted shipping, while 42% cite ease of returns and exchanges and 38% cite the variety of brands and products available, according to a study by comScore and UPS. more

In today's social and mobile media landscape, confusion reigns regarding who in the organization controls the customer conversation: 58% of C-level executives say the CEO is responsible for customer communications via social and mobile channels, but only 28% of middle managers agree with that assessment, according to a report by ... more