If you're new to digital marketing, you're not alone—and it's never too late to start making an online impact. This especially holds true with email—which, for many marketers, has proved to be the Golden Channel. Case in point: Seiko. "Two years ago," writes Dianna Dilworth in an article at DM ... more

On Friday 2/27, Skittles surrendered itself to the Zeitgeist. Visits to Skittles.com led users directly to Wikipedia (later changed to a Twitter search for "skittles," then to the official Facebook fan page), and attempts to explore the site navigation—little more than a pop-up—guided users elsewhere still: flickr, YouTube, Summize. The ... more

In search, you have a very short window of opportunity for engaging your prospect. The key to ensure you get seen through that tiny window: give searchers exactly what they're looking for. One way of doing this, says Medium Blue's CEO Scott Buresh in a MarketingProfs article, is to use ... more

It's refreshing when a company seems to get it right, and DJ Waldow uses a post at the Bronto blog to explain why email messages from US Airways impress him on a regular basis. Why, it's like they're singing "Come Fly With Me!" Here's what sets them apart, according to ... more

Dylan Boyd, who blogs at The Email Wars, tells the story of an email with the subject line: "Limited time only: save up to 25%! Plus get free shipping." Within, he discovered more action verbs than you could shake a stick at. At the top of the email there's a ... more

Last week, we offered tips to help you determine your authentic corporate voice. Now that you've collected some cool insights, here's our second set of tips, to help you in your final phase of daring to go viral. Think hard on the data you've collected, and imagine scenarios where you can ... more

According to Kara Trivunovic and Andrew Osterday, most mom-and-pop businesses can't do much with email marketing advice that concentrates on sophisticated topics like multivariate testing, dynamic content development and data integration. For those who need entry-level advice, they created a 10-point Do-It-Yourself Primer that includes handy tips in plain English. ... more

"Most email marketers do not view soft bounces as being a major cause for concern," says Dela Quist in the UK DMA Email Marketing Council newsletter, "so rarely, if ever, have any specific strategies been in place for dealing with them." According to Quist, this erroneous belief is based on ... more

You know you're on the up-and-up, and that your email messages contain legitimate offers for actual products or services. Unfortunately, though, you're often sharing inbox space with fraudulent messages that claim to come from popular retailers and banks. Those emails are, in fact, nothing more than phishing scams designed to ... more

When he saw a reputable marketer praising the use of Fwd: in the subject line of an original email, Matt Hill decided to explain why he disagrees. "[E]ven selectively this is a bad idea," he says at the Email Karma blog, noting that spammers often use this device to trick ... more

You've just read the first draft of a press release and you can already see where you want to make a few edits. The lede needs more punch. Your audience might not recognize that industry-specific term. You've noticed that your third paragraph fell victim to the passive voice. Once you ... more

Perhaps your spending has spiraled out of control and your conversions haven't budged. Or, like many of us, maybe your performance is fine but your budgets have been slashed, forcing you to produce the same results with less spend. Before you scrap everything and start from scratch, pull out this trusty ... more

In a post at Entrepreneur.com, Susan Gunelius identifies ten words marketers should avoid in the coming year. "I think her list will surprise you," says Drew McLellan at his Marketing Minute blog. "It includes words that traditionally have been touted as buying trigger words … [and] … copywriting 101 tips ... more

In a post at the Emma blog, Jim Hitch tells the story of two emails he received within 20 minutes of each other. "They're similar at first glance," he says. "Almost identical, really. Both are very image-heavy, both came from brand-name clothing retailers, both include simple calls to action, both ... more

In a wide-ranging video interview with BNET, strategist RJ Talyor of ExactTarget discusses a range of email marketing issues, and provides insight on the best way to handle messages sent to subscribers, whether they're reading email at their desk or on the go. Says Talyor, "You need to develop an ... more

Ah, the mobile phone: we know it well as consumers, and as such are in a perfect position to approach it from a direct marketer's POV. Here are a few ground rules for truly covetable mobile marketing: Bait your line. A useful iPhone app could do you right, as could ... more

"It probably comes as no surprise," say Kara Trivunovic and Andrew Osterday in an article at MarketingProfs, "[that] the process of acquiring new customers comes with one of the higher price tags of any of your marketing initiatives." This places a high priority on the cultivation of customer loyalty—and, therefore, ... more

A prospective customer does a search for a product your company carries, and your brand appears in the number one, three, five and seven spots. Terrific, right? Not necessarily. As Shari Thurow, author of the forthcoming book When Search Meets Web Usability, wrote in a recent blog, finding the same content delivered ... more

"One of the little secrets in email marketing is that it's not the same people opening your emails each time," says Mark Brownlow in a post at Email Marketing Reports. "Even if your open rate stays relatively constant, a closer look reveals that it's (usually) different people opening each time." ... more

"Do you ever get that nervous feeling when you click to launch your email marketing campaign?" asks Janine Popick in a recent post at the VerticalResponse blog. "You do it, but then you might quickly cancel it because you need to take just one more look at your content." We ... more

"To get a running start on 2009 projects, yesterday we googled-up some corporate capability brochures to get some ideas," writes Dave J. in a recent B2Blog post. "Immediately, I was drawn [to] what was wrong in these publications." Now, lots of B2B companies have a "Who We Are and What ... more

Last year, Google and MediaVest reported on a brainwave-tracking study about banner ads. According to the ad giants, banner ads rated a 6.3 in effectiveness—which was said to be a "very encouraging score." But combined with overlays, the effectiveness of banner ads increases to 6.6. This is because users find ... more

When your subscribers cut back on spending, you might be tempted to compensate for lost revenue by stepping up your email campaigns. But be forewarned: It's a potentially hazardous strategy. "Instead of being financially rewarded for emailing more," says Barton Schaefer, PhD in an article at MarketingProfs, "you may be punished ... more

You can always find someone willing to sell you a solution for boosting your keyword effectiveness. But in a recent blog post, search marketer PotPieGirl offered her favorite free keyword research tools: Your brain. We were all consumers before we were marketers, she reminds us. So ask yourself, "If I ... more

If you've made some recent improvements—whether to your product, service or customer experience—now is the time to trumpet those changes!  A new year, with consumers anxious for a new start, is a great time to tell your subscribers what they can expect on their next visit to your site. In a post at the ... more