|
About
Advertising
and Promotion
July
29, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Small-Biz
Search Advertising
Surges in 2Q10"
Small-business
advertisers spent on average $2,231 on search advertising in the second
quarter of 2010, up 159.7% from the $859 spent in the same period a year
earlier...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
29, 2010
From eMarketer:
"Marketers
Put More Lead Gen Budgets Online"
The
effectiveness of online channels, coupled with the fact that prospects
indicate the web is the first place they look for more information, makes
it natural for companies to be increasing their investments in web design, email
marketing and search engine optimization...
http://www.emarketer.com
July
28, 2010
From DM
News:
"Is
Location-Based Marketing a Must-Have?"
Marketers
should not rush into location-based marketing just because other marketers
are doing it. They should first consider whether the strategy is
applicable to their brands, depending on the number of their locations and
the type of relationship they have with consumers...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
27, 2010
From eMarketer:
"Why
Email Metrics Are in Decline"
Several
factors that might contribute to fewer opens include cluttered inboxes,
the rising use of mobile devices, and the common habit of turning email
images off, which can prevent an open being triggered...
http://www.emarketer.com
July
27, 2010
From DM
News:
"Tailor
Holiday Messaging According to Calendar"
Consumer
purchase behavior around the holidays peaks at different times for online
versus in-store shopping, and marketers need to adjust their messaging
appropriately...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
26, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"If
You Build Video, Consumers Still Might Not Come"
Retailers
investing in video need to think about promotion and content.
Promotion can include making sure your videos are syndicated to various online
video networks or even blogs, where interested consumers will have more
chances to follow the links back to your web sites...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
23, 2010
From
Retailer Daily:
"June
Email Volume Grows 9% Annually"
Half
of U.S. consumers have made an in-store or telephone purchase after
receiving a promotional email...
http://www.retailerdaily.com
July
23, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Why
Spray-and-Pray Email Marketing Doesn't Work"
There's
a problem with the spray-and-pray approach. It doesn't work to gain
or maintain customer loyalty. Why? Because awareness doesn't
promote action...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
22, 2010
From eMarketer:
"Web
Users Demand Control over Ad Targeting"
Education
without effective empowerment with regard to their own data may not be
enough for consumers to get comfortable with targeting...
http://www.emarketer.com
July
20, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Email
Metrics: Open and Click Rates Decline"
Email
messages with subject lines of 35 characters or less outperformed emails
with longer subject lines, generating open rates 52% higher and click
rates 69% higher, on average...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
20, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Paid
Search Leads Way in Online Marketing"
62%
of online marketers place ads on search results pages...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
19, 2010
From eMarketer:
"Web
Merchants Keep Social Spending Low"
Online
merchants devote just 1% of their total marketing budget to social,
compared with 39% that goes to paid search...
http://www.emarketer.com
July
16, 2010
From eMarketer:
"Why
Consumers Connect with Marketers via Email and Social"
Sophisticated
integration will mean segmenting email and social audiences to understand
how they overlap, what they want and how messages should be customized for
the two tactics...
http://www.emarketer.com
July
16, 2010
From DM
News:
"E-Mail,
Meet Your New Brother, Mobile"
Opt-in
and consumer privacy rights are even more important for mobile than
they've ever been for e-mail. Misdirected or spam messages through
SMS can be seen as so intrusive that it's borderline offensive...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
16, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Two
Key Ways Email Can Boost Results in Other Channels"
Try
an email campaign that promotes an in-store-only offer - one that cannot
be redeemed online...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
15, 2010
From DM
News:
"Synergies
Abound Between E-Mail and Social"
Four
tactics that combine e-mail and social media that enable you to drive
acquisition and engagement across your audience...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
15, 2010
From DM
News:
"Navigating
the Online Contest Trend"
Online
contests allow brands to repeatedly communicate with customers who have
opted in for further communications...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
15, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Engagement
Is Important, But What Does It Mean?"
Four
tips to create relevant e-mail marketing messages and six metrics to
measure engagement...
http://www.clickz.com
July
14, 2010
From eMarketer:
"Shopping
Cart Reminders Drive Quick Email Clicks"
Four
in five recipients click an abandoned cart email within 24 hours...
http://www.emarketer.com
July
14, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"The
8 Legs of Online Marketing?"
Projections
and predictions play a huge part in search marketing, the best you can do
is to take the data and your experience and identify the opportunity, and
your potential share of that opportunity...
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
13, 2010
From eMarketer:
"Double-Digit
Growth Again for Online Ad Spend"
The
Internet's share of total ad spending worldwide will jump from 11.9% in
2009 to 17.2% in 2014...
http://www.emarketer.com
July
12, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Mobile
Alerts Get Young Women into Stores"
Both
men and women are most interested in location-based mobile marketing
messages about food...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
10, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"How
to Make Social Media Work for Your SMB"
The
most important question to ask yourself is whether a given site already
has an active community around your business area or product. It's
far easier to engage with an existing community than trying to start from
scratch...
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
9, 2010
From
MarketingVOX:
"Three
Facts You Never Would Have Guessed About Online Marketing"
Internet
users do prefer targeted online ads. However the right context is
necessary - they will likely opt for targeted advertising when asked to
make real-world, value-for-value trade-offs, such as free access to
Internet content...
http://www.marketingvox.com
July
9, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"The
Art of the Deal"
Marketers
need to start thinking about coupons and discounts not just as a way to
move a pile of products, but almost as a cost of generating a relationship.
The abundance of discounts through online channels means that marketers
should integrate discounts directly into their marketing mix...
http://www.clickz.com
July
8, 2010
From DM
News:
"Making
the Most of Local Search Marketing:
A Guide for Local Businesses"
The
first step in building your business's online presence is to claim it on
the local business listings sections of the major search engines...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
7, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Optimizing
Creative: Testing Benefits and Offers"
Classic
marketing principles work as well for online ads as they do for offline
promotions. Around 70 percent of what influences a person to take action
online is contained in an ad's benefit and call to action...
http://www.clickz.com
July
6, 2010
From
Marketing Charts:
"Social
Media Links Improve Email CTR"
On
average, promotional emails sent by small-to-mid-sized business marketers
that include links to at least one social network have a 9.4% click-through-rate.
Meanwhile, promotional emails without any social network links have a 7.2%
CTR...
http://www.marketingcharts.com
July
6, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Birthday,
Anniversary Emails Generate More Revenue"
Open
rates for birthday mailings over three times higher than for
mass-promotion mailings sent to the same clients...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
5, 2010
From eMarketer:
"Email
Marketing Drives Cross-Channel Sales"
There
is a tremendous opportunity for brands to strategically connect e-mail marketing
to in-store, social networking and mobile channels to drive revenue,
acquire new subscribers and importantly, connect the dots for cross-channel
measurement and attribution...
http://www.emarketer.com
July
2, 2010
From
Marketing Charts:
"JPEG
Accounts for Almost Half of Display Impressions"
Combined,
standard JPEG- and GIF-formatted display ads represented 59.6% of online
impressions in May 2010. Flash and rich media ads combined to
represent 40.3% of all display ads viewed...
http://www.marketingcharts.com
July
2, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Paid
Search Marketing Remains King"
Retailers
are spending nearly 40% of their marketing budgets on paid search...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
2, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Most
Email Opens, Transactions Occur on Day 1"
Nearly
one-half of transactions and over three-quarters of unique opens and
clicks occur within the first day of email receipt...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
1, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Universal
Search: Are Your Marketing Efforts Evolving With the Times?"
By
utilizing the social media platforms that are now included in universal
search, companies are able to show up multiple times in a given search...
http://www.clickz.com
July
1, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Companies
Using Social Media Without Game Plan"
74%
of companies say social media should be marketing's responsibility, but
over half view the channel as a corporate communications function and 28%
say it should be the responsibility of the executive team...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
|
About
Customer
Service
July
27, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"5
Lessons You Haven't Learned From Search Engines"
Most
people are intimidated by advanced search options and contrary to our
hopes, have little or no knowledge of search operator commands. Put
them at ease with smart links and navigation that can help drill down to
find exactly what they're looking for...
http://www.clickz.com
July
27, 2010
From
Retailer Daily:
"Shipping,
Returns High Cross-Channel Priorities"
77%
of consumers use the ship-to-store option when making an online
purchase...
http://www.retailerdaily.com
July
24, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"Eight
Copywriting Rules for Increasing Conversion"
Don't
assume customers understand your products...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
July
22, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"The
Eye of the Beholder"
If
you think you're doing your customers and prospects a favor by building
your website to work the way you think best, think again...
http://www.clickz.com
July
22, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"Searching
For the Perfect Purchase Process in Social Media, Real-Time Search"
Reference
search has been the tool of choice for finding information on the web in
the considered purchase process. But with the expanding set of tools
more grounded in social media, it's increasingly clear that we have other
search and search-like tools that should be able to help in evaluating
purchase alternatives...
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
16, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"A
Product Content Strategy for Commerce Anywhere"
An
evolutionary shift from product information management to product content
management is under way in the battle to give customers a consistent
multichannel e-commerce experience...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
July
15, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Content
Curation: Engage Your Customers in Three Simple Steps"
Content
curation allows for customers to receive a manageable amount of relevant
content from trusted sources; and it encourages a brand or company to
share outside content as well as its own in order to offer the most
relevant and useful results for its client...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
13, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"Delivering
Exceptional Customer Experience in a Multichannel World"
It
is important to develop a strategy to move different types of transactions
to the most appropriate and cost-effective channel...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
July
13, 2010
From DM
News:
"Deliver
Online But Don't Slow Down the User Experience"
A
website has only two seconds to capture a customer's attention or they
move on to another site. In that time, content must load,
uninterrupted and be fully ready for customer engagement. Keep this
in mind when building in high-bandwidth content...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
7, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Provide
Blog-Worthy Service"
For
a customer to freely and happily take the time to publicly praise a person
or a company's service is an exceptional affirmation. It is also
about the best marketing you'll ever get...
http://www.mpdailyfix.com
July
6, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Wake
up Your Customers with New Subcategories"
Consider
fun new category groupings for familiar products. Subcategory
groupings of favorite products can pique the interest of your more savvy shoppers...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
3, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"10
Tips for Creating a Winning Mobile Strategy"
Every
product or service exists to serve a consumer need. Think about the
time or place that the need manifests itself, and how mobile can play a helpful
role...
http://www.clickz.com
July
2, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Make
Your Emails More Readable"
Increasing
font sizes is becoming vital as more email and websites are viewed on
mobile devices, which often scale content down, making text even harder
to read...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
1, 2010
From
Nielsen Wire:
"Global
Online Shopping Report"
Consumers
all around the world shop online, but what they're buying and how they use
product reviews and social media to influence their decisions vary
widely...
http://blog.nielsen.com
|
About
Webstore
Management
July
31, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"You
Hear What Customers Say, But Do You Know What They Mean?"
Effective
listening and insights analysis allow you to track not just the volume but
also the meaning of online conversations across a complex web of consumer-interaction
channels...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
30, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"7
Golden Rules for Paid Search Copy"
Update
your copy all the time - your paid search campaigns can't be stagnant if
they are going to be as effective as possible...
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
30, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Two
Subject-Line Traps to Avoid"
Make
sure you place your hot words right at the front of the subject line...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
30, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Opportunity
Knocks for Merchants Who Embrace Optimization"
Retailers
have a lot more keyword real estate they can cover. Because many of
the products are not highly specialized, there are more keywords open...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
30, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Five
Ways to Get Unique, Keyword-Relevant Content on Your E-Commerce Site"
Although
category pages may be the focus for primary keywords, product pages offer
a wealth of longtail keyword opportunities. Rewrite manufacturer-
provided product descriptions to make them
unique...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
29, 2010
From
Gartner:
"Majority
of Consumers Rely on Social Networks to Guide Purchase Decisions"
Companies
attempting to use social networks should develop relationships with key
customers over a period of time and progressively refine the social
network profiles of those individuals...
http://www.gartner.com
July
29, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"Which
Conversion Rate to Measure?"
The
funnel conversion rate is the percentage of unique visitors that place an
item in their shopping cart and purchase in the same web session. On average,
30 percent of visitors that place items in the cart go on to complete the
purchase in the same session...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
July
28, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Consumers
that Shop Across Channels Are More Lucrative"
65%
of merchants say that consumers that shop across multiple channels, such
as online, in-store and on their smartphones, are more profitable than single-channel
consumers. That's up from 56% a year ago...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
28, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"12
Ways Your SEO Mileage May Vary"
Search
engines can track how quickly a user returns back to a set of results and
clicks on a different result, presumably because the user did not get what
they wanted from the result they first checked...
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
28, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"The
Dull Default"
Your
Web page's meta tag description is the new phone book ad. Not just
the index page description, either. Each and every page that might
pull a listing for a key phrase needs to have a compelling description
attached to it...
http://www.clickz.com
July
28, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"6
Reasons to Not Fear Negative Reviews"
All
feedback - even negative feedback - builds authenticity...
http://www.clickz.com
July
27, 2010
From
Smiley Cat:
"What's
the Best Search Box Size?"
The
average search box length is 29 characters and the median is 27 characters...
http://www.smileycat.comp
July
26, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Redesign
Best Practices"
When
redesigning, it's important to have a post-launch plan. Usually this
involves analyzing site usage and metrics and tweaking things once they're
used in the real world...
http://www.clickz.com
July
26, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"After
the Click: What Products Do Your Users Actually Buy?"
Consumers
often start by researching a keyword, and through general research, or due
to promotions on the site, purchase something else. What are the
similarities in the keyword to the product purchased...
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
24, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"How
Mobile Commerce Can Capture In-Store Sales"
The
quick research conducted on a mobile device while in-store is frequently
the final push customers need to make the purchase. Retailers that facilitate
the research process through mobile shopping tools synchronized with
in-store execution will ultimately close more sales...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
July
23, 2010
From DM
News:
"Segmenting
Tweens/Teens"
Tweens
totally want what teens want. Don't try making something
specifically for them because they don't want to be treated any
differently than the teen. But at the same time, you have to always
be mindful of the age difference, however slight...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
23, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Click
Fraud Rises"
18.6%
of paid clicks on web ads were fraudulent in the second quarter, up 6.9%
from 17.4% in the first quarter, and a 46.4% jump from 12.7% in the second
quarter of 2009...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
22, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Consumers
Plan to Spend More
Online
this Summer"
Consumers
plan to spend an average of $271.77 online in the third quarter, up 20%
from what consumers said they planned to spend in 2009's third quarter...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
21, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"Brand
Building Ain't What It Used to Be"
Establish
your company, products and services in online directories and websites
frequented by your target audience. Choose ones that help your brand
become visible and recognized by allowing you to display your logo,
product images and technical specs...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
July
21, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Accessibility
and You"
One
of the side benefits of building a website that is accessibility compliant
is that you're building a website that's going to be search engine
friendly...
http://www.clickz.com
July
21, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"More
Households Will Shop Online for Back-to-School this Year"
30.8%
of households will shop online this year to get kids ready for school
compared with 22.2% last year...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
20, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"SEO,
the SERPs, and Your First Impression"
A
great way to analyze how your web searchers interact with your search
engine listings is to assess impressions vs. click-through rates...
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
20, 2010
From
MarketingVOX:
"Moms
Share More Data -
If the Price Is Right"
More
than 60% of moms said they would provide information about themselves to a
trusted brand if it meant they would receive more personalized content...
http://www.marketingvox.com
July
19, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"SLAPP-down"
The
Web has made reputation and brand experience a participatory sport.
Brands have become collaborations, created from the interplay between what
companies say about themselves and what others say about them online...
http://www.clickz.com
July
19, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"How
Social Are Your Customers?"
There
are ways to determine if your customers actively participate in social
media...
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
14, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Three
Things You Need To Know About Website Design"
Too
many enterprises initiate their Web efforts by reviewing their
competitors' sites. This practice, however, comes with a built-in
problem. Without critical information about how well these sites
perform, how can you know what's worth retaining or rejecting?
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
14, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Measuring
the Online Impact of User-Generated Content"
Compare
key metrics - such as average order value, sales conversion, and traffic
to the product page, among others - before and after user-generated
content is added to the site...
http://www.clickz.com
July
13, 2010
From Get
Elastic Ecommerce:
"The
4 Pillars of Ecommerce Copywriting"
Visitors
need only to eyeball your site to figure out if the copy is readable, so
use headings, subheadings and bullet points liberally, and pictures and
icons where appropriate. It is recommended that you keep sentences
and paragraphs as short and sweet as possible...
http://www.getelastic.com
July
12, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"The
Case for Launching Sub-Niche Websites"
A
successful sub-niche website depends on identifying a particular product
line from your main site that has high enough search volume to drive
significant traffic, and is substantive enough that you can build an
entire website around it...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
July
12, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Reputation
Management Is Not Needed... Until It's Needed"
With
social media and Internet technologies, now company decisions and actions
are mostly public, including those of front-line employees. Actions that
happened last week, last night, or 10 minutes ago can be broadcast across
the globe in seconds...
http://www.mpdailyfix.com
July
9, 2010
From DM
News:
"What's
Next for Online Lead Generation?"
Encourage
your customers to talk about you in their Internet communities, whether
through social networking, online reviews, blog postings or forum threads.
Prospects generated in this manner are often considerably warmer and have
higher close rates, shorter close times and larger order sizes...
http://www.dmnews.com/
July
9, 2010
From
eMarketer:
"When
Kids Shop Online"
There
are two kinds of online purchases. There are cash purchases, where a
credit or debit card is required. The second form of currency, which
by and large is used much more by kids, is less about cash and more about
credits that have been offered and exchanged by brands or organizations
for usage...
http://www.emarketer.com
July
8, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"Three
Simple, But Overlooked, Conversion Tips"
Show
shoppers shipping rates at the product detail page level even before they
have added an item to the shopping cart...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
July
8, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"11%
of Mobile Phone Owners Make Purchases through Their Phones"
72%
of consumers send or receive text messages, compared with 65% in 2009; 34%
send or receive e-mail, versus 25% in 2009; and 38% access the Internet on
their phones, versus 25% last year...
http://www.internetretailer.com
July
8, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"Don't
Just Build a Community -
Engage It"
Social
media is about asking open-ended questions of your community and then
analyzing the incoming data. If you're really on top of what your
customers think, you don't need to invest as much time turning negatives
to positives and reading tea leaves...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
July
7, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"Why
No One is Linking to You"
Look
at your site as a perspective linker might, is there great content?
Is the site attractive and easy to use? Are you approaching your
topic in a way that can appeal to more than just a die-hard demographic?
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
7, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Your
Launch Strategy and Beyond - at Cyberspeed"
Post-launch
shifts in marketing strategy can cost you immediate expenditures, longer
time-to-revenue, and even a first-mover advantage you might otherwise
enjoy. They may also negatively affect your brand, which depends on
clear and consistent messages repeated over time...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
July
6, 2010
From DM
News:
"Online
Retailers Stick to Proven Strategies"
86%
of retailers have a social media page and 78% have microblog feeds.
However, the use of social media remains experimental.
80% of retailers say they do it mainly to test the medium, and 59% say the returns are
still unclear...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
5, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"Universal
Design: One Site to Rule Them All"
Clean
compliant accessible code = better sites = better everything!
http://searchenginewatch.com
July
5, 2010
From DM
News:
"Retailers'
Websites Need More Personality"
Emotional
engagement is key to targeting customers. Brands get that in the traditional
sense, but seem to be a bit slow to understand this in the digital
realm...
http://www.dmnews.com
July
1, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Tips
for Comparing Your Site to Competitors: Do You Stand Out?"
What
makes your competitors sticky, what makes them linkbait, what makes them
lovable. Because SEO today isn't just great meta tags...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
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