Welcome to 2010! I have a lot to share with you about our plans for this coming year—which, by the way, marks the 10-year anniversary of MarketingProfs.

But all that can wait. Right now, I want to take a moment to remember the year that was.

You know that saying about how you can't understand where you're going unless you understand where you've been? Or something like that? That's the reason I've pulled together this list of the top stories of 2009.

Actually, it's your list and you pulled it together for me—you picked 'em by clicking 'em.

So what interesting trends emerge from this list? At least three:

1. What do we do with Social Media? Last year was clearly a year that marketers began to pay attention to Social Media in a big way, and began to explore in earnest what Twitter, Facebook, and the like can do for brands and business. In other words, social media has evolved from the passionate early adopters to the mainstream marketing agenda of the CMO. Many of the content categories covered here are clearly dominated by social media, both from a strategic angle (Jason Baer's "Putting the Why Before the How" was the top seminar of 2009) as well as tactical (how to use Facebook was a theme across many content categories).
2. How can we do more with less? 2009 was the year of the Great Recession. So it's no surprise that marketers were also looking for ways to maximize their budgets. Jonathan Kranz's two-part story on 10 high-impact, low-budget marketing ideas was a clear winner last year, and one of the most-read Get to the Po!nt quick-read newsletters was on that topic. Of course, looking to do more with less also made marketers curious about what free social media tools were capable of. (See No. 1, above.)
3. Two words: Digital marketing. Online was a key driver of marketing in 2009, at least for our readers. Even in a newly social world where Twitter and Facebook are the brightest and newest toys, things like email, landing pages, and website conversion remain the backbone of digital marketing. It'll be interesting, in 2010, to see increasing convergence of social tools with the rest of the digital toolkit.

So herewith, the most-read, most downloaded, most watched stuff of 2009 at MarketingProfs:

Top 10 MarketingProfs Today Newsletter Articles

1. The Dark Side of Twitter: What Businesses Need to Know by Michael Stelzner
2. 13 Essential Social Media 'Listening' Tools by Clay McDaniel
3. 10 High-Impact, Low-Budget Ideas for Marketing in a Down Economy (Part 1) by Jonathan Kranz
4. Seven Words That Will Make Your Web Site Worth Viewing by Jerry Bader
5. How to Develop a Successful Facebook Fan Page by Mark Ivey
6. Top 10 for Online Marketing Success by Aaron Kahlow
7. Ten Steps for Creating a FANtastic Facebook Fan Page by Mari Smith
8. 10 Email Marketing Tips for Small Business Owners by Kara Trivunovic and Andrew Osterday
9. 10 High-Impact, Low-Budget Ideas for Marketing in a Down Economy (Part 2) by Jonathan Kranz
10. Social Media 101: Use Twitter to Attract Prospects and Engage Customers by Debra Ellis

Top 5 MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog Posts

1. With Facebook Pages, Who Needs a Web Site? by Paul Dunay
2. Why Do People Use Twitter? by Ann Handley
3. Top 10 Secrets to Social Network Superstardom by Paul Chaney
4. Have You Ever Seen an $11,000 Tweet? by Mack Collier
5. Do Your PDFs Have Embedded Sharing Options? by Galen De Young