"It's high time email marketers assess campaign performance in terms of the business and marketing goals, objectives, and contribution expectations that matter," says Karen Talavera in an article at MarketingProfs. She recommends placing data into two broad categories to drill down to what really counts: Process Metrics—which are diagnostic in ... more

US advertising spending fell 15.4% in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008, declining more than $10.3 billion to a total spend of $56.9 billion in 1H 2009. more

In a Pro article at MarketingProfs, Kathryn Roy discusses seven infectious diseases often found in B2B marketing efforts. And she not only explains how to diagnose each disorder but also provides cures that can lead a campaign back to health. Here are a few examples: Glitzitis: This "refers to companies that ... more

In a post at Deliverability.com, Andrew Kordek acknowledges the ongoing push for relevant email campaigns—sending the right message to the right person at the right time. But despite these discussions, he worries that email marketers stop short of demonstrating true R-E-S-P-E-C-T for the people on their email lists. "Are you ... more

Applying SEO best practices like keyword research and link-building is a surefire way to start increasing your search rankings. However, in a recent Search Engine Watch post, Chris Boggs warns us not to forget the non-SEO ways to get websites consistently ranked for relevant desired terms. "SEO involves getting lots ... more

You've just presented a rough cut of your latest television ad when an executive begins asking questions that demonstrate he doesn't understand the concept of a rough cut. "It isn't color corrected, the sound is uneven, effects are sometimes missing, and if there's music at all it's generally just a ... more

"For small businesses, it can be a challenge to look uber-polished and sophisticated with every communication and customer-relationship tactic," says Heather Rast in a post at the Insights & Ingenuity blog. "The reality is that small-business budgets are, well, smaller than that of their mid- or large-sized counterparts." And that ... more

"Imagine if a customer in one of your stores asked a rep where to find a particular product and that rep directed [her] to a door that led to the alley behind the store," says Chad White in a post at the Retail Email Blog. "What do you think that ... more

OK, we admit it: For a platform as popular as it's become, Twitter's surprisingly hard to understand to the untrained eye. What are all those messages? IMs? Forum discussions? Public IMs? And what the heck is a "tweeple," for goodness sake?!! Most importantly: What's with this rumor that Twitter can ... more

"Banner ads are tried-and-true forms of advertising that can deliver great results while driving a return on investment," says Kim Stearns in an article at MarketingProfs. "So why are advertisers so hesitant to use them?" It might be, she conjectures, that serious businesses look askance at the sheer volume of ... more

"The business environment is shifting so fast these days that I'm continuously seeing companies jump from one idea to the next in some kind of frenzied attempt to force results to happen on their time line," says Ardath Albee at the Marketing Interactions blog. "If something doesn't work immediately, they ... more

Consumers and advertisers largely disagree about the effectiveness of many types of ads, as well as in their assessments of Internet advertising and Twitter, despite some areas of agreement, finds a recent survey by LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll. more

"In email marketing, we seem to tolerate a level of mystery that would not be acceptable in any other channel," says Stephanie Miller in a post at the Daily Fix blog. Take deliverability: You might know, for instance, that you have a "delivered" rate of 95 percent. "This is a ... more

Your own keyword analytics data is the most valuable marketing asset of your company. In fact, the data contained in the keyword report from your Web-analytics application (which tells you how people are finding your site through paid and organic search) is much more valuable than traditional marketing data, such ... more

Even in the midst of a recession, when advertising spend has been drying up, this website doubled its ad revenue. How, exactly? Take a gander... more

What are two of the biggest obstacles companies face in link marketing? Consultant Justilien Gaspard believes they are: (1) developing linkable content, and (2) making people aware of it. In a recent Search Engine Watch article, he offers advice on how to overcome these Big Two and start linking up with hot ... more

Online ads that are integrated into the content of a page, such as half banners and rectangles, are the most effective in driving online ad awareness and purchase intent, according to recent research. more

In a post at the AdHole blog, Jason Fox tells about a terrific series of ads. Produced for Dunkin' Donuts, they feature former football coach Barry Switzer as he attempts to whip non-football players into shape. The first spot finds Coach Switzer—cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee in hand—amid a group ... more

If you worry that an email with a horizontal (left-to-right) scroll will confuse your subscribers, Dylan Boyd is prepared to disagree. Unless it tests well, he doesn't suggest using this type of scroll as a regular feature, but he does think it can serve as a useful interrupter that spurs engagement. ... more

Recently, TubeMogul reported that Twitter refers some of the least-fickle viewers to video sites, with tweeties watching videos 36.91 percent longer than those referred by Facebook, and 49.98 percent longer than those referred by Digg. Got dreams of broadcasting live to this eager bunch? Now you can! Ride the statistical wave ... more

In a post at Copyblogger, Sonia Simone reports on a recent study from Return Path that found 23 percent of permission-based email never reaches the inbox of Gmail users. "No, I'm not saying it goes to a junk box," she says. "Most of it doesn't get delivered at all. No ... more

When your product competes with the iPhone, you have to get creative. Which is just what Samsung did. more

In a recent post on the SEO.com blog, Dustin Williams notes that every successful search campaign starts with finding the right keywords. It's important to not rush that precious keyword research, he says, because, "the goal is not only to rank well for many search terms but to also rank well ... more

One year ago, Lynda Partner wrote—but did not publish—a blog post that eviscerated a software company for taking liberties with her email address, and then treating her complaint with stunning indifference. "Why publish it now, you ask? This week I got more spam from this same company," she says. "It ... more

As an email marketer, you'll be, well, interested in a new development at Gmail. "Some of you already use the 'Report Spam' button on all kinds of unwanted email," Brad Taylor tells users in a post at the Gmail blog, "and for that we're very thankful: The more spam you ... more