US retailers are actively pursuing the mobile channel to enhance customer engagement and loyalty: 73% have some type of mobile initiative in place and 20% of are in the process of evaluating the mobile channel, according to a survey from Forbes Insights, in association with Research In Motion (RIM). more

It's the social weapon you just don't hear enough about: SlideShare. At first glance, it comes across as a mere archive for uploading presentations, but oh—it's so much more than that! When used correctly, SlideShare can help you cleverly boost your messaging, your brand, your very corporate presence online. Consider these four ways ... more

Though the adoption of sophisticated mobile devices continues to climb, the integration of mobile marketing into email and online programs is still low: Less than one-third of marketers say mobile-optimized experiences are relevant to their email audiences, but nearly two-thirds say they are integrating social technologies into their email efforts, ... more

Your B2B email marketing program might have a good reason for sending a steady stream of one-size-fits-all messages to prospects. "The idea being that by keeping these folks exposed to your company's name and logo, you'd stay 'top of mind,'" notes Ardath Albee at Marketing Interactions. "That process is now ... more

Tentative growth in the US advertising market has begun to propel the global ad recovery, prompting a revised forecast of global ad expenditure, now projected to grow 3.5% in 2010, up from the 2.2% forecast in April, 2010, according to projections by ZenithOptimedia. more

"The true test of pursuing either an SEO campaign or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising (or both)," writes Scott Buresh in a recent Pro article at MarketingProfs, "is knowing that it all boils down to your company philosophy, return on investment (ROI) objectives, budget, and numerous other monetary and marketing factors." To help ... more

More than 177 million US Internet users watched video content in June, also viewing more than 4.3 billion video ads, with Hulu generating the highest number of ad views at 566 million, according to Video Metrix 2.0 data from comScore, Inc. more

Ever wonder about the true long-range value of a tweet? Now you don't have to guess. Just plug a link, phrase, hashtag or screen name into TweetReach.com to get a sense of the reach it's achieved via tweets and retweets. The cool part: TweetReach doesn't just reveal how many users ... more

Weakening economic signals are having their effect on the employment outlook for digital and direct marketers in the third quarter (Q3), according to the latest quarterly employment report by Bernhart Associates Executive Search, LLC. more

In April, Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker issued her report on this year's Internet trends. It included this revelation: Mobile is a hit, and in the next five years, people will be using it to get online far more often than any of their desktop devices. The current leader of this ... more

Spain and the Netherlands may be the World Cup final contenders on Sunday, July 11, but official World Cup advertisers in the US and UK also scored big with TV viewers during the first half of the tournament, and their ads outperformed those of non-sponsors, according to Nielsen. more

Chloe Sladden (@ChloeS) of Twitter recently said Twitter was worth more to MTV during the 2009 Video Music Awards than Nielsen was. Twitter worked with MTV to provide illustrated data on reactions as users watched the VMAs. Kanye West's interruption of artist Taylor Swift's acceptance speech made a splash: A ... more

The manufacturing sector is showing early signs of recovery: 70% of industrial-sector marketers expect their sales to increase in 2010 over 2009 levels and 31% plan to increase their marketing budgets—with much of those dollars earmarked for online channels, such as video, social media, and search, according to a ... more

M&A activity for media, information, and marketing services rebounded strongly in the first half of 2010, led by digital and technology-driven companies, according to The Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc. (JEGI). more

Incorporating customers' viewpoints into your business isn't just a fresh form of CRM, it can also make existing and future products better. Community manager Dawn Lacallade says her company Solarwinds actually got its R&D spend down to about 9% (compared with an industry average of about 20%) by strategically incorporating ... more

The US display ad market has made a comeback in the last few months, led by JPEG ads, which accounted for 42.4% of impressions in May, and leaderboard-style banner ads (728 x 90 pixels), among the most commonly viewed display ad sizes, according to data from comScore's Ad Metrix Creative ... more

Writing at the Retail Email blog, Chad White offers some interesting facts about the Baby-Boomer generation. First, by 2015, nearly half of the US population will be age 50 or older (AARP). Second, Boomers currently control over 80% of personal financial assets and account for more than 50% of the country's discretionary ... more

In a post at the SEOmoz blog, Laura Lippay asks, "What makes your site different? Remarkable?" Stumped? Well, one great way to determine how your site stacks up against the competition is to analyze what your competitors are doing right, Lippay says. She offers some guidelines on how best to snoop: "We're ... more

Some 34 billion videos were delivered to US Internet users in May 2010, up 12.0% from 30.3 billion in April, with YouTube reaching an all-time high of 14.6 billion videos viewed during the month—surpassing the threshold of 100 videos per viewer for the first time, according to comScore data. more

Ever wanted to share a snowman in springtime, send a love letter to a stranger—or surprise a loyal customer with a gift message? Get a load of Layar, which puts the magic of augmented reality in the hands of anyone with an idea and an iPhone 3GS or a phone that ... more

Boosted by newer advertising channels and increased marketing activity, ad spending is forecast to increase on average 0.6% in 2011 from 2010 levels, with outlays led by the diversified food products, pharmaceutical, and telecom industries, according to Schonfeld & Associates, Inc. more

With the Internet's speed and rate of growth, who has the time to keep up with everything on it, let alone analyze your website's link structure to see what sites are linking to you? So asks Nick Stamoulis in a recent post at the Search Engine Optimization Journal. Still, "it ... more

Despite major shifts in the publishing world—including dramatic declines in print ad revenues and numerous closures of print publications—consumers still want to read print magazines: 92% say they plan to stick to print; and when given the choice of print, e-reader, or online delivery, 90% still prefer print, according to ... more

"Adding social-media icons to your email campaigns … takes just a few seconds," writes Jim Hitch at the Emma blog, "but it can increase your reach and help you identify your most avid followers. Who knew all of that could be as simple as pushing a couple of buttons?" According ... more

Most social networking sites have lost active users in the past six months, but Facebook has bucked that trend, a new study finds. Eight out of ten active social media users (80%) have an account on Facebook, up from 71% six months earlier, and among them 54% visit Facebook at ... more