1 on 1 Business Email Marketing

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing guest articles from experts in the realm of content marketing. This week, Jeb Banner writes.

Jeb is CEO of SmallBox, an Indianapolis web design and marketing company. He is also a co-founder of the Speak Easy, a local co-working space. He is happily married to his wife, Jenny, and they have three amazing daughters.

I attended a local tech panel recently and was starting to space out when ExactTarget's CMO Tim Kopp said something that caught my attention: "Serving is the new selling." It reminded me of something my buddy Kevin Bailey from Slingshot...

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing guest articles from experts in the realm of content marketing. This week, Josh Miles writes.

Josh Miles is principal and founder of Miles Design, a branding firm specializing in branding and website design for professional services and software firms. Josh is the author of the new Content Marketing Institute book Bold Brand: The New Rules for Differentiating, Branding, and Marketing Your Professional Services Firm.

“It will look like you guys are on everywhere, even if you’re not.”

Our media buyer always had a way of helping our clients make the...

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing guest articles from experts in the realm of content marketing. This week, Steven Shattuck writes.

Steven is VP of Marketing at Bloomerang. He is a featured contributor to Social Media Today, and has been published in Search Engine Journal, Business2Community and the Content Marketing Institute. Steven has spoken at national and local conferences, and is frequently interviewed by traditional media outlets in Indianapolis for his expertise in social media marketing.

There's no shortage of content marketing advice out there. Now that most marketers...

There’s a big difference between a first-class flight and a pedi-cab ride. Similarly, there are many differences between an ROI-optimized digital marketing strategy and a half-baked, unprofitable one. As a travel and hospitality brand, you’re tasked with creating a seamless booking process for your customers—or else you might miss that narrow window of time when they’re most likely to convert.

Our own Jeff Rohrs recently shared some tips for reaching the digital traveler in a blog post for Ataway Exchange, where he’ll be speaking next month. Here are five of the top tips from Jeff’s post and...

As I write this, 93% of UK online consumers are email subscribers and 40% of these subscribers are opening, reading and responding to email on their mobile phones or tablets. If you think these statistics suggest UK consumers prefer email above all channels for receiving offers and information from brands, you are absolutely correct!

A new report from eMarketer confirms why more marketing budget is flowing to permission-based email and why email has become “The Linchpin” of integrated digital marketing strategies.

Among the key findings in the report are these:

• Econsultancy and Adestra’s Email...

This week I head to Knoxville to attend Social Slam and participate on a great panel discussing strategies to attract and energize an online audience. In preparation for our panel discussion, my esteemed panelists (meet them below!) and I wanted to provide attendees (and those who aren't able to attend #soslam) some actionable tips to help you better engage with your social audience.

Dino Dogan, our fearless leader and moderator. Founder of @Triberr. Lousy martial artist. Recovering engineer. Singer/songwriter. Blogger. Quiet reader. Loud speaker. Global force for badassery. Hi.

Follow Dino: http...

The mobile inbox is a powerful tool if used the right way. We know that smart phone penetration in the US has reached 55% and mobile email open rates are over 40%. Almost half of your database is opening email via their mobile phone. Are you designing your emails to display correctly?

You could be leaving money on the table by not designing effective mobile email. Actually, you ARE leaving money on the table. Here are four design tips to help you design for the mobile inbox. Need more tips? Check out our Designing for the Mobile Inbox white paper.

1. Design for Your Audience

Know your...

The Marketing Sherpa Email Summit is heavily focused on providing attendees with takeaways to apply in your marketing as soon as you get back to the office--or even before.

The conference provided best practices and real-life examples for the lifecycle of your email campaigns, starting with list acquisition. Matt Byrd of WeddingWire used his presentation to highlight a topic that is extremely helpful, but also stressful for marketers: removing unengaged subscribers from your lists. This topic was recently highlighted by Al Iverson but I wanted to share Matt's experiences as he took on this...

Last week, ExactTarget had the opportunity to participate in one of our first tradeshow events in Stockholm, Sweden, home to our newest office location. Webbdagarna was a two-day event attracting more than 1,500 of the Nordic region’s interactive and web marketers--all keen to understand more about the future of cross-channel, how to implementeffective programs, and where to start in bridging the gap between offline and online channels.

ExactTarget Nordics recently opened its doors in Stockholm, Sweden, in the Östermalm business district. We’re excited to have a local team led by Henrik...

Permission-based email has become the foundation of successful one-to-one marketing, and a company's database of email subscribers is one of its most valuable assets.

And with good reason! As our 2012 Channel Preference Survey revealed, 66% of US online consumers report making at least one purchase that was triggered by an offer received via email. And for BtoB marketing, nothing tops email for aiding the customer’s buying decision. In a 2012 article, BtoB Magazine reported that 59% of BtoB marketers say email is their most effective channel for generating revenue.

At the recent 2013 MarketingShe...

Last week I had the pleasure of listening to Lori Wizdo from Forrester Research on a webinar with our own Adam Blitzer. It was a great learning experience, covering how the sales and marketing processes have changed in recent years. Since it's so hard to give up an hour to attend a webinar these days, I wanted to share a few key takeaway from Lori's presentation.

Stat #1: 86% of B2B buyers engage with social media while working

I love this stat, and here's why. As marketers we have two weapons at our disposal: tools and techniques. Most marketers use the same set of tools; it's the techniques...

Last week I attended the On Deck Sports & Technology Conference in Silicon Alley. The inaugural conference was billed as “a group of top innovators and entrepreneurs in sports technology and business.” Leaders in sports business were on hand from teams, properties, leagues, media networks and sites, agencies, brands, and startups.

The day started with a keynote from Bob Bowman, CEO of Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM), and was followed by a series of speaker panels, rapid fire presentations from technology companies, and a pitch contest between seven start-ups to end the day. The...

As a follow-up to the article I wrote for ClickZ the other day, I wanted to talk a bit more about the use of technology and the adoption of best practices in large B2B organizations.

My research for the ClickZ article looked at B2B companies on the Fortune 500* and their adoption of modern marketing tools. But when you look at the raw data, it becomes clear that there are three easy lessons for any B2B marketer.

Lesson 1: Technology is only the beginning

When adopting radical new technologies, the technology itself is often only part of the story. The other part is a shift in thinking or action....

During a game of trivia the other night, I decided to cheat! I pulled out my phone, and was able to find out “Silent Bob’s” real name in less than 10 seconds.

This availability of information has programmed our society to have very high expectations when it comes to the question-and-answer process. If we have a hard time finding the answer to a question, we often get frustrated and build a negative connotation with brands that make it difficult to find information we seek.  This is not a new concept, so when I went to check out some of the most prolific B2B brands, I was surprised to see how...

The margin for error in Marketing has become razor thin. Here are five "MegaTrends" that underscore why marketing professionals need to be at the top of their game in 2013.    

MegaTrend #1: Customers are More Informed, More Influential, and Less Patient

Today’s customers are better connected, more informed, and more technically savvy than even 3-5 years ago. They have considerably more access to information to make smarter purchase decisions. They are much less patient with brands that do not deliver the information and offers they want. And they are much more vocal in expressing satisfaction –...

ExactTarget has a larger-than-ever team focused on leading the market in our Voice of Customer efforts. A major initiative this year is to further enhance how we "close the loop" with clients after they fill out our annual Client Success Survey. 

As a company with roots in email marketing, it may not be surprising that a large part of this strategy involves triggering targeted emails to teams across our organization when survey responses come in. These emails have proven to be instrumental in not only quickly informing about what are clients are saying, but also spurring action.

Here are some of...

This week, I'm presenting a series of posts that reveal some of the top things consumers want from marketers—backed by solid, statistical data. Then we take it a step further by providing real, actionable recommendations to help you improve your cross-channel marketing program.

Check out Part 1 of this series, then read on for today's tip!

TIP #2: Consumers want to buy from the brands they interact with

Online interaction has a direct impact on purchasing behavior. Our research tells us that , while email and direct mail have the strongest impact on purchase decisions, other channels...