"Many companies are stressed out about marketing to Generation-Y, those born between 1982 and 1993," writes Tim Hare at MarketingProfs. And with a good reason: "I'm sure you've heard about how sizable the Gen-Y demographic is: 80 million consumers and $200 billion in spending power." But it's not as difficult as ... more

The Millennials have arrived! The first wave of the Millennial generation (born between 1980 and 2000) is now entering decision-making positions at companies across the land. And in a post at Godfrey's B2B Insights blog, Ken Jones asks, "Are you ready to communicate with them?" There's one big reason why you need ... more

Although "Super Buyers" are highly connected and mobile-savvy, they tend to mix and match their shopping with online and offline methods to find just what they want, according to a report by Forrester Research. more

So you've set your company's sights on selling to smaller businesses. Sure, they aren't the heavy-hitters, the star accounts, but their loyalty could provide a nice budgetary cushion for your bigger sales efforts. And they'll surely be thrilled to tap into your products or services, right? Well, hold on a minute. According ... more

If you're still wondering about the value of segmentation, consider these numbers from eMarketer, as reported by HubSpot: "39% of email marketers that practice list segmentation see better open rates; 28% see lower opt-out and unsubscribe rates; and 24% see better email deliverability, increased sales leads, and greater revenue." HubSpot's Corey ... more

It's easy to send "just one email with the same content to everyone in your database," writes Matthew Johnson at the Vision6 blog. "But how do you send that same email and make it relevant to everyone in your database?" The short answer is: You can't. And that's why you need conditional ... more

Social media is now a global phenomenon, with most online adults in North America, Europe, metro Asia, and Latin America regular users, according to a new update of Forrester's Global Social Media Adoption In 2011, originally published in January 2012. more

In this week's Marketing Smarts, Melanie Notkin, founder of SavvyAuntie.com, discusses an important niche market neglected by marketers—women without children of their own, but with children in their lives. more

What do women want? The age-old question has baffled men and marketers for centuries. NetBase, a social media intelligence company, set out to find the answer by listening to and understanding what women—and men—say in social media, and then asking them for more information via a Harris Interactive survey. more

Many interactive marketers rely on email subscriber valuation (ESV) to justify budgets and plan messaging strategies, according to a new report by Forrester Research, which presents a three-step formula for calculating ESV. more

"Popular is the last thing smart business people should want to be." At least that's the firmly held belief of Erika Napoletano, author of the forthcoming book The Power of Unpopular, and this week's guest on Marketing Smarts. But whatever could she mean? And why would any smart businessperson set ... more

"Today I was sad," writes Tara Jacobsen at the Marketing Artfully blog. "I got a message from someone who I like a lot and have been 'friends' with on the Internet for a while." The problem? Unlike the steady stream of relevant content the business friend used to distribute, this ... more

In a post at her eponymous blog, Elaine Fogel asks how frequently you receive email with content that has no relevance. "I'll bet it's a lot," she says with certainty. "Let's just look at the ones you receive from companies and organizations that have your permission to send communications. Count ... more

It's the time of the year when businesses need to say "Thank you!" to their customers during the holiday season. And what better way than event-driven email campaigns that show gratitude to customers? more

"Are your campaigns reaching the intended audiences?" asks Darren Megarry at MarketingProfs. "That's a key question facing marketing professionals, as the combined wave of technology, communication access, and spending power continues to extend across the globe." But you don't need a global business to understand the importance of multicultural marketing. ... more

"[H]ow many of us do one-to-one marketing?" asks Elaine Fogel at MarketingProfs. "I don't mean sending out personalized mass communication. I mean marketing to one person at a time." It takes a lot of time, but it can be remarkably effective—especially when your marketing budget is, essentially, zero. Fogel discovered ... more

Brands that conduct Facebook marketing can gain huge benefits by targeting the friends of their Facebook fans, according to a new report by comScore and Facebook, which also found that Facebook users spend 27% of their time browsing homepage newsfeeds. more

Marketing budgets are on the rise again: 57% of senior-level marketers say they are increasing their overall marketing spend in 2011; among them, most (26%) plan to increase budgets between 1% and 5%, according to the CMO Council's State of Marketing Report. more

"Fifty years ago, the concept of John Doe, an average American in a relatively even society where vast numbers of people had similar consumer needs, was real," writes Karen Talavera at MarketingProfs. But results from the 2010 census—due to be released this summer—will show just how much that picture has ... more

Digital media is trouncing traditional channels among up-and-coming Millennials: 81% of affluent Gen-Y adults use Facebook every day—roughly double the number who read newspaper content (45%) or watch TV (44%) daily, according to a new study by L2. Moreover, 45% of such consumers read at least one blog every day. more

For years, writes Stephanie Miller at the Deliverability blog, marketers have enjoyed the linear nature of the email inbox—your newsletters and offers sitting cheek-by-jowl with personal correspondence from a subscriber's friends. But you shouldn't get too comfortable with this privileged arrangement. "The world is changing," Miller says. "A new set of ... more

"It's a global trend," writes Geri Stengel at MarketingProfs. "Consumers want to buy from, employees want to work for, and other businesses want supplies from, socially responsible enterprises." So how can you demonstrate your commitment while improving your bottom line? Stengel suggests the following: Treat your employees with respect. Social responsibility ... more

As our recessionary hangover drags on, you're probably thinking of evermore-creative ways to engage customers. But Drew McLellan of the Marketing Minute blog offers this caveat: "As you are crafting a new campaign or gimmick that you hope will go viral—always ask yourself, is the juice worth the squeeze for ... more

"Even in an increasingly real-time Web, email remains a critical channel to embrace for B2B marketing success," says Maria Pergolino in a post at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog. "However, it's a channel that's poorly treated due to our excitement at the extreme ROI potential." Sloppiness can impair deliverability and damage ... more

US marketers are expected to more than double their investments in online-derived data sources by 2012, allocating a projected $840 million to information about digital audiences, transactions, and clickstream behaviors, according to a study by the Winterberry Group. more