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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
If you sell products to consumers, the year-end holidays are a make-or-break big deal. So, making sure online buyers find you easily and happily by planning your search strategy ahead of launch is paramount. Derek Gordon provides some useful tips for doing so in a recent issue of VatorNews. Among them: ... more
In a post at the Email Wars blog, Dylan Boyd praises a recent message from Banana Republic. The minimalist email used simple text on an all-black background to announce an online sale that took place on 09.09.09. The copy read like this: "9 Hours Only! 20% off our favorite styles ... more
There are infinite ways to destroy an email marketing program. And in a recent humorous post at the Deliverability.com blog, Andrew Kordek explains how to ruin your reputation in nine easy steps. It's easier than you think! Among Kordek's "tips": Blather. "First and foremost," he begins, "you need to understand ... more
Across all demographics—and yes, we mean all demographics—social networks are where the traffic's at. Because barriers to entry are low and engagement is high, this is perfect turf for marketers who want to communicate with users on a personal level. Best way to do that? Invite them to share in an immersive ... more
"Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan had a problem. With an abysmal delivery rate of 81.29 percent, his email campaigns weren't getting through to many of the people who wanted them. "The company was constantly getting complaints from its subscribers," explains a mobileStorm case study. "Consumers claimed they hadn't received Cesar Millan's ... more
US Internet revenue for the first half of 2009 came in at $10.9 billion, down 5.3% from the same period in 2008, according to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report. more
For the small-business owner, getting your name out via local search is a must. And to many marketers, that means optimizing for Google's universal results. After all, Google is the leader of the search-engine pack these days. But as David Mihm points out in a recent article at Search Engine ... more
According to The Wrap, ABC has chosen an unorthodox way to promote a new comedy on its fall schedule—by keeping it hush-hush. "The network is offering the sneak peak of '[Modern Family]' only to members of a special online fan base it's built called ABC Inner Circle," writes Josef Adalian. ... more
Not long ago, the friend of a MarketingProfs colleague—we'll call him Pete—sighed in annoyance as he tapped furiously on his iPhone's keypad. He was visibly angry as he explained he had just received "the thousandth email this month" from a major retailer. "I'm sick of it," he said. "I'm unsubscribing. ... more
Relevancy matters to women when receiving marketing communications. More than half (58%) of respondents in a recent survey said they want information that pertains to their lifestyle or relates to their recent purchases. more
This summer, Pear Analytics released a study that got plenty of play in the Twitter/blogosphere. According to the Pear research, 40.5 percent of the messages published on social-media-darling Twitter are "pointless babble," and a mere 8.7 percent of tweets have pass-along value to others. The piece won itself a lot of ... more
It's not just the recession; the digital revolution has wreaked havoc on traditional music retailers, who can rarely match online juggernauts like iTunes or eMusic on price or convenience. "As of April," reports Amy Kaufman at The Wrap, "there were 185 record stores in the LA area, down from 259 ... more
After improving in August, The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index dipped in September and now stands at 53.1 (1985=100). Consumers' outlook on jobs and business conditions in the months ahead also sagged. more
US consumers are increasingly using e-coupons, as well as their traditional print cousins, to trim spending as the recession drags on. more
Spending on advertising in Jan.-June 2009 fell 14.3% YOY, but the telecom category experienced solid growth (7.5%), with Sprint Nextel, AT&T, and Verizon increasing spending 55.3%, 6.3% and 3.1% respectively. more
We've seen Sarah Haskins critique advertising that patronizes women, and now it's time for Bryan Safi's take on commercials that handle gay topics with varying degrees of respect. In this occasionally off-color video from Current TV, he begins with a few ads that use gay men as the punchline for ... more
If you read many email marketing blogs, you've probably noticed their authors tend to hate the word "blast." Scott Cohen is no exception, and—in a post called "The Naughtiest Word in Email Marketing"—he discusses "its general evilness and lack of thought about the recipients." Here's why he believes the word should ... more
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