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Good news: You don't have to lose sight of your brand's tried-and-true persona to participate in the quest for deeper engagement at the new social sites. Just think of the social-media generation as a silver-dish serving of people who already want to talk to you; you just need to make ... more
You've done a great job of cultivating your email list—and your subscribers have rewarded your efforts with extraordinary loyalty. So far, so good. But Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports says such best-case scenarios come with their own unique set of pitfalls: Becoming complacent. When you don't have to ... more
This article presents a small sampling of the vital research data about today's email, search, and social media marketing that's contained in the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Factbook, designed to be a comprehensive resource for every online marketer. more
Ever wonder how great search results end up that way? Well, in a recent post at the User Interface Engineering blog, Jared Spool says there are no shortcuts to search-result success. According to Spool, "There is no way you can produce a great search-results page [on your website] without spending ... more
You've probably heard a lot that the days of "push" messaging—a mythical golden age when marketers could feed passive viewers whatever rigmarole the ad department pleased—are dead. So true. But for you, it's not a bad thing; it's a chance to develop long-term, even downright codependent relationships with users. And there ... more
"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
We are at a unique place and time. The crossroads of environmental and economic crises provide agile companies with the ability to capture market share in a down market by cutting their media buys and engaging their fan base in new ways. 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
The following 10 elements of dynamic Facebook fan pages will set you head and shoulders above the rest (and keep your fans coming back for more). more
Want to get started with an effective earned-media marketing program? Here are three tips for launching, measuring, and monetizing a low-cost earned-media program that will drive a surge in online word-of-mouth traffic about your brand. more
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