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- Lingerie label Agent Provocateur is characterized by its risqué unmentionables and the naughty ladies that grace its adverts. So when it announced plans to explore social media earlier this year, we thought we knew what to expect: simpering femmes fatales that appeal more to men than women. We scoped out ... more
- When David Greiner decided to redesign the Campaign Monitor newsletter—rather than give it a simple facelift—he first studied the advice his company gave to customers. "Turns out we were breaking a number of the recommendations we'd been advocating for so long," he notes, "and it was time to remedy that." ... more
- Last week, we offered tips to help you determine your authentic corporate voice. Now that you've collected some cool insights, here's our second set of tips, to help you in your final phase of daring to go viral. Think hard on the data you've collected, and imagine scenarios where you can ... more
- According to Kara Trivunovic and Andrew Osterday, most mom-and-pop businesses can't do much with email marketing advice that concentrates on sophisticated topics like multivariate testing, dynamic content development and data integration. For those who need entry-level advice, they created a 10-point Do-It-Yourself Primer that includes handy tips in plain English. ... more
- Marketers may think they have to sacrifice site usability to maximize their rankings with the search engines. But the truth is, the most efficient strategy is finding a balance between the two strategies. As Netconcepts' Stephan Spencer said in a recent MarketingProfs article, "SEO, when done right, enhances the usability ... more
- "Most email marketers do not view soft bounces as being a major cause for concern," says Dela Quist in the UK DMA Email Marketing Council newsletter, "so rarely, if ever, have any specific strategies been in place for dealing with them." According to Quist, this erroneous belief is based on ... more
- You know you're on the up-and-up, and that your email messages contain legitimate offers for actual products or services. Unfortunately, though, you're often sharing inbox space with fraudulent messages that claim to come from popular retailers and banks. Those emails are, in fact, nothing more than phishing scams designed to ... more
- You've just read the first draft of a press release and you can already see where you want to make a few edits. The lede needs more punch. Your audience might not recognize that industry-specific term. You've noticed that your third paragraph fell victim to the passive voice. Once you ... more
- How many times have you heard the phrase, "Content is king"? When it comes to search marketing, it's not hyperbole. Content is, well, the key to keywords. "This is the reason writing articles is probably the most [popular] Internet marketing tool being used today," writes Uchenna Ani-Okoye in a recent ... more
- In a post at Entrepreneur.com, Susan Gunelius identifies ten words marketers should avoid in the coming year. "I think her list will surprise you," says Drew McLellan at his Marketing Minute blog. "It includes words that traditionally have been touted as buying trigger words … [and] … copywriting 101 tips ... more
- In a post at the Emma blog, Jim Hitch tells the story of two emails he received within 20 minutes of each other. "They're similar at first glance," he says. "Almost identical, really. Both are very image-heavy, both came from brand-name clothing retailers, both include simple calls to action, both ... more
- In a guest post at the HubSpot blog, Paul Gillin argues that women's interest magazines like Redbook face the same basic challenge as your online properties: grabbing a distracted person's attention and convincing her to become a regular reader. As he analyzes a sample issue swiped from his gym, he ... more
- "It probably comes as no surprise," say Kara Trivunovic and Andrew Osterday in an article at MarketingProfs, "[that] the process of acquiring new customers comes with one of the higher price tags of any of your marketing initiatives." This places a high priority on the cultivation of customer loyalty—and, therefore, ... more
- Gary Vaynerchuk is a podcast natural—the affable, energetic wine aficionado has become an Internet superstar by producing entertaining reviews for his Wine Library series. "Because they give relevant information, the podcasts brand Gary Vee as the resource for wine," says Lisa Formica in an article at MarketingProfs. "As a result, ... more
- A prospective customer does a search for a product your company carries, and your brand appears in the number one, three, five and seven spots. Terrific, right? Not necessarily. As Shari Thurow, author of the forthcoming book When Search Meets Web Usability, wrote in a recent blog, finding the same content delivered ... more
- "One of the little secrets in email marketing is that it's not the same people opening your emails each time," says Mark Brownlow in a post at Email Marketing Reports. "Even if your open rate stays relatively constant, a closer look reveals that it's (usually) different people opening each time." ... more
- Last year, Google and MediaVest reported on a brainwave-tracking study about banner ads. According to the ad giants, banner ads rated a 6.3 in effectiveness—which was said to be a "very encouraging score." But combined with overlays, the effectiveness of banner ads increases to 6.6. This is because users find ... more
- When your subscribers cut back on spending, you might be tempted to compensate for lost revenue by stepping up your email campaigns. But be forewarned: It's a potentially hazardous strategy. "Instead of being financially rewarded for emailing more," says Barton Schaefer, PhD in an article at MarketingProfs, "you may be punished ... more
- You can always find someone willing to sell you a solution for boosting your keyword effectiveness. But in a recent blog post, search marketer PotPieGirl offered her favorite free keyword research tools: Your brain. We were all consumers before we were marketers, she reminds us. So ask yourself, "If I ... more