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When I saw this ad, I thought it was a joke. A parody, a satire, a lampoon... anything but what it really is—totally legit and serious. If ever there was a marketing message completely unaware of the modern zeitgeist (and offensive), this ad is it! Here's what not to do ... more
QR codes are popping up in more and more places, from billboards to business cards, and mobile consumers are responding: 32% of smartphone users say they have used a QR code and 70% say they would be interested to do so, either for the first time or again, according to ... more
In an environment saturated with new and evolving media platforms, TV is still king: 71% of Americans rate watching TV on any device among their favorite media activities, according to Deloitte's annual survey on technology and media. Meanwhile, smartphone and social-networking use continues to increase. more
The New York Times recently noticed something odd when performing Google searches on terms as diverse as bedding, skinny jeans, area rugs and grommet-top curtains. "You could imagine a dozen contenders for each of these searches," writes David Segal. "But in the last several months, one name turned up, with ... more
Although a brand's coolness is important to up-and-coming Millennials, most surveyed Gen-Y Americans say a brand should be up-to-date (36%) and should have its own style (33%) to be appealing, according to a study conducted by InSites Consulting and MTV. more
People who own smartphones are most likely to be hyper users of email and Facebook: 45% of smartphone owners check email constantly during the day (via multiple devices) and 28% check Facebook with the same frequency, according to a survey from ExactTarget. more
Yahoo Sites comprised the top-ranked Web property in February 2011 with 177.5 million visitors, followed by Google Sites with 175.2 million and Microsoft Sites with 168.8 million, according to comScore Media Metrix service. Expedia (ranked No. 43) joined the top 50 ranking for the first time in February, as did ... more
A recent edition of "Which Test Won" recounts an A/B test in which DIYthemes, a template system for WordPress, invited visitors to sign up for email newsletters. Version A used the headline "Get Email Updates (it's free!)," and used social proof messaging to encourage registration: "Join 14,752 others and get ... more
Celebrities can be valuable to advertisers, but so too can the people who follow them on social media sites: 64% of US adults who follow a celebrity also follow a brand, according to a survey from The Nielsen Company. more
Is duplicate content causing indexing issues for your site? In a recent post at the State of Search blog, Nichola Stott describes how multiple instances of similar pages, especially at the product level, are a common problem for larger sites. According to Stott, duplicate content doesn't necessarily mean that an exact ... more
Only 13% of B2B interactive marketers say they have increased online display budgets in 2011 relative to 2010 levels, in large part due to perceptions of ineffectiveness, according to a new report from Forrester. more
Filmmakers and marketers migrate toward one another because the key to their success is the same: story. Learn how Apple successfully created an emotional bond with its customers that transcends commerce and lives on. more
Despite a lack of investment in marketing technologies and staffing over the past two years, many small businesses are now stepping up investments in digital channels such as social media, search, and online advertising, according to a survey from Network Solutions and the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business. more
Communicating with your customers via the mobile platform is an effective way to engage, share offers, and learn about your consumers. Learn how to reach your target audience and boost your mobile marketing ROI. more
"Every industry has its own language," writes DJ Waldow in an article at MarketingProfs. "The email marketing community, too, has its own jargon that sets it apart. And if you are unfamiliar with it, navigating the world of email marketing can be confusing." Whether you're just starting out, or you've ... more
Nearly one-half of US adults (47%) get at least some local news and information via cellphone or tablet computer, and such mobile consumers tend to be young, affluent, and more plugged into digital media and their local communities, according to a survey from Pew. more
Digital marketers may be missing opportunities by focusing ad campaign spending solely on premium short-tail websites: Average click-through rates (CTRs) for ads placed on long-tail websites are 24% higher than those placed on short-tail sites, according to a study from CONTEXTWEB. more
Google Android surged past RIM BlackBerry to become the most popular smartphone platform in the US, accounting for 31.2% of market share as of January 2011, up 7.7 percentage points from the previous three-month period, according to data from the comScore MobiLens service. more
Though social media has brought clients and vendors together, it's still a tough sell to get clients to agree to do case studies. But the B2B marketers who produce dozens of case studies know a few secrets... and this article shares them with you. more
Retailers ramped up product offerings on Facebook in 2010: Some 7.6 million products—valued at roughly $3.78 billion—were offered on Facebook via SortPrice-built storefronts in 2010, up 60% from the 4.6 million products offered in 2009, according to a report by SortPrice. more
In a recent post at Search Engine Watch, Peter van der Graaf notes that local search results are becoming more important to the SEO mix. In Google Places, for example, businesses can now promote themselves on Google Search and Maps, he notes. But have you ever wondered how you can rank ... more
US consumer spending on deal-a-day offers is forecast to reach $3.9 billion by 2015, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.1% over the next four years, from an estimated $873 million spent in 2010, according to BIA/Kelsey. more
Though social media spending is projected to constitute a growing share of companies' overall marketing budgets over the next 12 months, CMOs say, integrating social marketing into their overall strategies is still a challenge, according to a survey conducted by Duke University and the American Marketing Association. more
Everyone in marketing "has an opinion about how a website should look, function and complement offline marketing campaigns," says a post at the Resource Nation blog attributed to Geoff Kenyon, "but rarely does everyone have the online marketing experience to make the efforts successful." As a result, the initiatives they ... more
Social media has become an important marketing tool for small businesses, particularly younger firms: 32% of small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs) in operation for 0-6 years use Twitter, compared with just 7% of those in business for 11+ years, according to a report from BIA/Kelsey. Meanwhile, Twitter use among SMBs doubled, from ... more
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