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In an article at MarketingProfs, Josh Nason suggests you might be letting valuable customer data go to waste. "In every campaign that you send out," he says, "you should have direct links to specific pages on your website, helping you gauge and track what's moving the meter in your emails ... more
It seems almost inevitable these days: You run a search on your company's name or product and a negative review, remark or blog post appears in the top listings. What do you do? "Don't ... lose your cool and try to retaliate," says Internet Marketing Consultant Jeremy Martin in a recent ... more
"In the world of multi-channel and [multi]-location opt-in and opt-out, how do you keep your lists in sync?" asks Dylan Boyd in a post at the Email Wars blog. "Can you?" To explain what he means, he outlines the ways that one client—a retailer—builds its email list: Customers opt in ... more
Interactive marketing spend is expected to reach nearly $25.6 billion in 2009—and nearly $55.0 billion in 2014, when it will account for 21% of all marketing spend, up from 12% in 2009—according to Forrester. more
"If you thought saying something useful in 140 characters on Twitter was hard work," says Nick Usborne in an article at MarketingProfs, "good luck with the 95 characters you have available when writing a Google AdWords ad." So how do you convince someone to click through and visit your landing ... more
"Email programs tend to start with slow and cautious frequency, produce easy ROI, and become stars," says Karen Talavera in an article at MarketingProfs. The problems start, though, when management decides that more email would be even better. "[A]s with all good things," she notes, "increased consumption eventually leads to ... more
Does your website feel like a wallflower these days—left out of the online marketing party? Are you seeking in vain those "rich anchor text" links from other websites or blogs that might boost your site into the ranks of the Internet in-crowd? Gaining those much-prized inbound links is an important way to ... more
Marketers are optimistic about the economy for the second half of the year. Even in the midst of a recession, 42% of nearly 1,000 global business leaders polled say they plan to increase marketing budgets in 2009, and 43% say they plan to maintain current levels. more
As it files for bankruptcy, the once-mighty General Motors faces a public-relations crisis of tremendous proportion: How does it convince customers, employees, suppliers and the American public that it not only deserves to survive, but can? "Let's be completely honest," says the narrator of the "Reinvention" video GM posted to ... more
YouTube recently launched a call-to-action overlay ad, which is exactly what it sounds like: a semi-transparent ad that appears over videos, and—get this—enables advertisers to send users to any website they wish. Now, that's a sweet ride! You might be, like, "Didn't that feature already exist?" But the crazy thing ... more
"Building your own opt-in email marketing list is an accomplishment," says Steve Adams in an article at MarketingProfs, "but don't stop there. Once you start reaching out to your list with great content, you can then improve the targeting and relevance of your email marketing campaigns by using segmentation." The ... more
Despite being daily exposed to dozens of ads—including on television, in print, and on the Web—most Americans (55%) say they find advertising to be interesting ("very" or "somewhat"), though fully 41% say it is not interesting, a recent poll found. more
In today's challenging economic environment, marketers are seeking better ways to maximize ROI. One way is to leverage insights from both SEM and email to drive greater success across channels. In a recent article at Inside CRM, Ram Krishnamurthy and Brad Neelan offer up five strategies for using such a twin ... more
When subscribers opt in to your email campaigns, they will most likely make assumptions about the content, frequency and relevance of the messages you send. Accordingly, argues Justin Premick in a three-part series at the AWeber blog, it's important to set some appropriate expectations before they commit to you. "If ... more
"Predictive analysis has a long and profitable history with direct mail," says Arthur Middleton Hughes in a Pro article at MarketingProfs. "Millions of dollars have been saved by focusing on those customers most likely to buy—and not mailing to those who are unlikely to be interested." Only recently, though, have ... more
Heads-up, all of you out there who market to moms: Food mogul Nestlé is using Twitter to promote Juicy Juice—the super-popular, and now vintage, juice-box brand that caters to kids. Expect to see the pea-green pieces on mom-targeted sites like CafeMom and BabyCenter.com. Questions like "How do you stimulate your child's ... more
ZenithOptimedia revised downward its forecast for global ad expenditure growth in 2009 to -8.5%, from its April prediction of -6.9%, after Q1 came in below its predictions, the firm announced this week. more
You might wonder whether the stories you tell in email marketing campaigns should be long or short. In a pair of posts from Chad White at the Retail Email Blog, you'll discover that it, well, depends. He offers two examples. According to White, Neiman-Marcus has been incorporating brief quotes from designers in ... more
"Is your website search- and social-media-friendly?" inquires a recent post at the Online Marketing Blog. According to Lee Odden, search is the most efficient and effective way for consumers to discover content. However, focusing on standard SEO tactics, such as keyword usage and links, is not enough to remain competitive, ... more
"We fuss over subject lines, offers, calls-to-action, and targeting, but sometimes a lack of response is simply a matter of timing," says Mark Brownlow in a post at the Email Marketing Reports blog. "By the time the recipient checked her inbox, your carefully crafted email was buried by Facebook alerts, ... more
When you hand someone a business card at a conference, do you assume your email address will be added to their list for marketing campaigns? Probably not. And that's why Al Iverson was so annoyed when he learned that is exactly why he had recently received something he considered spam—and ... more
As of June 13, Facebook has made it possible for users to secure a URL for both their profiles and any Facebook Pages they administer. Why this matters: Facebook is super-juicy SEO-wise. It's rich with content, oft-accessed, and constantly being updated. Securing a vanity URL with your name (for your ... more
In a post at the Marketing Minute, blogger Drew McLellan admits he gets some rather strange mail. "But I have to say," he notes, "chocolate-covered grasshoppers might just top the list." The unusual package arrived from Grasshopper.com, which provides integrated telephone services, and McLellan praises the company for a well-executed ... more
Looks like the recent $100 million ad blitz for the McCafé seems to be working. The McDonald's experiment in the specialty coffee arena may now have bumped Dunkin' Donuts from the No. 2 spot. But how? more
"Do you know what attracts your readers? What headlines they respond to most? Do they respond to pictures? Do they know what your offer is?" asks Peter Da Vanzo in a recent SEObook.com post. Testing will give you answers, but it can be tedious and costly. Da Vanzo offers the following ideas for quick-and-cheap, ... more
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