Previous installments of this article series have describe the importance of relevance in direct digital marketing and three of the five keys to achieving a relevance-centered approach. This article looks at the fourth key: taking an incremental approach to creating more relevant, valuable communications every day. more

Writing at the Retail Email blog, Chad White offers some interesting facts about the Baby-Boomer generation. First, by 2015, nearly half of the US population will be age 50 or older (AARP). Second, Boomers currently control over 80% of personal financial assets and account for more than 50% of the country's discretionary ... more

The previous installments of this series of articles covered the idea of relevance in digital marketing and discussed the first two of five keys for achieving relevance. This installment covers the third: tactical execution in the form of segmentation and optimization. more

Every time we hear or read "Hispanic market," we also hear the tagline "acculturation level." So what is acculturation, and why is it vital to take it into consideration? Because without segmenting this increasingly important market by level of acculturation, you'll never be able to speak their language. more

You must be realistic about the size and characteristics of your target market. So what do you do when your prospects are few in number and elusive? You face the facts—and do battle where you have the best chances of winning and the least chance of suffering casualties. Before all ... more

Predictive analytics take you beyond the traditional slicing and dicing of your data so you can be smarter and more agile in marketing. With predictive analytics, you can gain faster insights and optimize programs by simultaneously testing copy, offers, and creative rather than deploying the more traditional A/B-testing methodology, which ... more

Although most US businesses recognize the growing influence of Hispanic consumers, over one-half (51%) of those surveyed don't market to Latino consumers in Spanish, and 82% have no plans to begin or increase existing efforts aimed at Hispanics in the next 12 months, according to a survey from Orci. more

Good news, nonprofits! At Le Web this year, Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan discussed how, in an era when a panoply of tech options are available to us at a finger-swipe, we can pick and choose the charitable causes we support in the same way we pick and choose ... more

We are in a perfect storm brought on by the economic downturn, emerging consumer interest in sustainability, and the power of social media. And whether for reasons of cost savings or family health, women who are moms, write blogs, and self-identify as "green" have exactly the motivation and conviction marketers ... more

Attracting early adopters is critical for providers of new consumer technologies, and the profile of the cutting-edge consumer is changing, according to new research from In-Stat. more

We like to emphasize that mobile is probably the most personalized technology available so far in the 21st century. And these days, finding ways to incorporate yourself into users' daily rituals is crucial to maximizing brand exposure on their up-close-and-personal handhelds. That's one reason for taking a look at GM's new ... more

Understanding customer behavior is key to creating marketing campaigns that generate high response and revenue. One of the best ways to understand customer behavior is to study customer migration patterns—to learn when and why a customer ends up in a segment different from the one he or she had been ... more

Baby Boomers' consumption of media has shifted dramatically to the Internet: 62% of Boomers (age 45-63) spent more time on the Internet in 2009 than they did the year before, and the majority of Boomers had joined Facebook within the previous six months, according to survey conducted by CPH Research ... more

You'd think that to get half of your subscribers to click through, you might have to give away a million dollars every month. Publishers Clearing House actually does give away millions of dollars, but that wasn't enough on its own to earn a significantly higher-than-average response rate on its email ... more

Remember when we told you about Twitcam, the service that lets you stream live video via Twitter? This is kind of like that, but with more oomph and less lag. Say hello to tinychat, which lets you host live Web meetings, TV shows, music jam sessions—or whatever else you wanna do ... more

The new Apple tablet has wide appeal and will significantly expand Apple's customer base, as half of potential buyers don't own an iPod or iPhone, according to an SRG survey of online Americans age 12+. more

As subscriber engagement becomes a critical factor in the deliverability rates of email campaigns, removing inactive recipients from your list is more important than ever. To keep your list as clean as possible, "Mark" of the MailChimp blog recommends a three-message series that asks non-responsive subscribers if they still want ... more

A well-designed conversion path does more than guide a user toward the ultimate goal of becoming a customer. It leads you and the user into a richer, better-informed relationship. more

"The problem with the word 'segmentation' is that it has lost its meaning," says Andy Hasselwander in a recent post at the B2B Marketing Confidential blog. "Like [saying] 'analytics,' saying 'segmentation' can mean virtually anything." To better hone their targeting efforts, B2B marketers need to focus in on creating more ... more

When McDonald's launched its specialty coffees earlier this year, its banner ads inviting consumers to "McCafé Your Day" were all over the Web. Great branding, but does such online advertising send customers to local establishments? The short answer: When combined with search, it does! According to Christa Hoyland, editor of QSR Web, Google research ... more

If there's anything Second Life has taught us, it's that people like having a place to come back to—a virtual hideaway where you're always well-coiffed and surrounded by friends, and everybody knows your (avatar's) name. Well, here's some good news for mobile marketers: virtual living just got a whole lot ... more

You might not have the big-time marketing budget of a major retailer—but as the holiday season peaks, don't forget there's a secret weapon in your arsenal. "Email marketing campaigns are affordable, and can help small retailers to compete with the big boys during this crucial sales period, " says Wendy Lowe ... more

In late October, Twitter launched its Lists feature, which might just improve your life in a panoply of organization-friendly ways. The new feature helps you sort your own contacts based on personal relevance, but—maybe more importantly—it also provides you with ready-made groups of people to which to target your messages. ... more

A new study by the Marketing to Moms Coalition—a not-for-profit group that seeks to share insights about moms to help marketers better engage with them—shows just how much American moms are sacrificing so their families can stay afloat during the downturn. The survey results reveal that "mothers are sacrificing purchases for ... more

Direct marketers have long struggled to achieve the ultimate goal of getting the right message to the right person at the right time—and thereby gaining a sale. Now, the advent of location technology has added another dimension to that time-honored formula: getting a marketing message to the right place. In a ... more