Affordable Email Marketing

Whether you're just getting started with mobile optimization or you're a pro and need some tips to share with your colleagues, here are our top mobile design resources for email.

Report: Designing for the Mobile Inbox
Get strategic and practical advice to help you deliver content that’s easy to consume on any device in this new report on mobile optimization.

Case Study: CareerBuilder's Responsive Email Design Results
Learn how CareerBuilder optimized their email design and saw increases of more than 20% in click-through and more than 15% in open rates.

Quick Guide: Design Tips: Mobile + Email
This...

Are you a digital marketer? Do you work for a travel brand? If you answered yes, then this blog post is for you!

ExactTarget recently released Reaching Today’s Digital Traveler, a compilation of tips and tactics that are critical for digital marketers in the travel and hospitality industry. Here’s the list of tactics, plus the questions you should ask yourself to keep your digital communication strategy on track.

1. Grow Your Subscriber list

To determine why your brand might be missing out on conversations with interested and ready-to-purchase travelers, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you...

What are you doing with your Facebook presence right now? While many companies are spending big dollars and lots of time on results-driven social media marketing, many others are doing nothing.

Fortunately, there are strategies you can employ to drive results regardless of the time and resources you have on hand. 

1. Good
   Passive List Growth: Create a new Facebook Tab where Facebook users can sign up to receive your email campaigns. You won’t see a hockey-stick growth curve on Day 1, but this is a super easy, cost-effective way to increase email subscriptions and improve results in the email...

In a world where smartphone penetration in the US has reached 55%, marketers can no longer afford to think of email messages in terms of “mobile” and “non-mobile.” The reality is that subscribers will likely view your messages on a wide variety of devices—including desktops, laptops, smart phones, and tablet computers.

Looking for more interactive design tips for email and new ways to make your brand voice distinct and effective? Read our latest whitepaper, Designing for the Mobile Inbox.

I recently read an article on TFB (The Future Buzz) which argued against the principle of using simple communications to reach out to the mass of your customers. I must admit, I wholly agree with assuming that you have a smart base of customers! It is definitely apparent that "dumbing down" messages does not guarantee that they will be engaged with by everyone, especially in today's digital age of smart and service-focused consumers.

The same blog post argues that using generic and simple messaging can portray your brand as "cheap" and "untrustworthy." I am not a businessman, but I am sure...

What happens after your customer engages with your mobile program? Your welcome strategy for any new mobile customer should include a combination of channels—email, mobile, and social—to support consumers’ cross-channel behaviors.

Don’t think of “welcome” as a single message. Whether your welcome strategy covers the first 10 days or two months, as with any relationship, it takes some time to get to know each other.

Here’s a sample step-by-step welcome campaign. We’ll use a retail company’s mobile app as an example, but you’ll see how these basic ideas can apply to almost any industry.

Day 1:...

STRATEGY OVERVIEW:
Providing superior service for your customers should be your number one priority. But keeping your customers satisfied can be challenging and requires ongoing maintenance. That’s why SMS can be an invaluable weapon in your marketing arsenal during those times when it’s necessary to get a quick communication out to your customers.

By launching an SMS response program, you make your customer service representatives available to assist your most critical customer interactions and provide a more convenient experience for those choosing to accept assistance via SMS. It’s a win-win...

I read a really funny article today that included a list of things you should never, ever say to a working mom. I've heard almost all of them over the last 15 years, but here are a few I've heard lately:

1. I’d give anything to get away from my kids all day!
2. I’d miss my children too much.
3. Can’t you afford to stay home?

Awkward, right? I work full time--always have--and I adore my three kids (twin six year olds and an eight year old). Since I’ve worked their entire lives, I’ve heard my share of strange comments. But I’ll tell you; working in social media has its advantages and is often very similar to...

If there was ever a sporting event that didn't need another pixel devoted to its promotion, it is the Super Bowl. From its humble beginnings in front of 62,000 fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (100,000 capacity, mind you), the "Big Game" has ballooned into a worldwide phenomenon that commands $4 million per 30-second advertisement. Marketers, of course, watch from start to finish--not so much for the game, although it has been super of late--but for those advertisements.  And we in the digital marketing space have paid particular attention to see if and when brands would finally realize...

"We record anything, anywhere, anytime.” - Sam Phillips

Way back when in the year of 1950, Sam Phillips created a platform for what would become the foundation of American rock and roll. Sam Phillips founded Sun Records, a recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Phillips not only discovered Elvis Presley, he also helped launched the career of many of the most important artists in music history: Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Howlin’ Wolf, just to name a few.

Back in 1950, there were far fewer channels to reach customers: television was a luxury that few could afford, only 10% of homes had a...

The SocialPages team has been hard at work – and we’ve just released great new features for you as we kick off 2013!

We all know that having mobile-optimized and mobile-friendly campaigns is a must.  That’s why it’s always been a major shortcoming of Facebook to not support Facebook Tabs on mobile devices. 

In response, we are now providing our brand new Smart URL feature. Smart URLs recognize what device is accessing the tab and redirect mobile users to mobile-friendly versions of your Facebook Tabs – while the desktop traffic continues to go to the regular version of the tab. With so much of...

Every year, one event consistently redefines the limits of hype, production value, and viewership when sports and entertainment are combined. That event, of course, is the Super Bowl. Companies spend millions of dollars to sponsor, advertise, and promote throughout the 4-hour broadcast, achieving a reach of over 100 million individuals. But not until 2013 has a brand attempted to create an interactive experience for these viewers.

The Super Bowl halftime performer was announced in early January to be Beyoncé, with the return of Destiny's Child. One would think that with this announcement, Pepsi...

Today we're pleased to present a guest post from Morgan Stewart of Trendline Interactive, the firm behind the numbers of our SUBSCRIBERS, FANS, & FOLLOWERS series. Morgan's unique behind-the-scenes perspective on this report is sure to provide some interesting insights!

As marketers, we live, eat, breathe, and sleep marketing.  We are always on the lookout for new tools and channels to use in our efforts. 

As we started our research for Marketers from Mars, we predicted that marketers would be different from consumers in terms of both how often and why they use communication channels such as...

As a nod to the North American International Auto Show starting today in Detroit, we present this bonus #InspiredMarketing Predictions post from Jamyn Edis of Dash Labs. These predictions have been compiled in our new whitepaper, Inspired Marketing Predictions for 2013.

The Automobile Ascends

As the evolution of consumer engagement moves from web to social to mobile, we'll see an increasing desire to leverage the latest innovations. The amusing thing is, a lot of that will be right under our noses— everyday objects. Some people call this the “internet of things.” Others call it “physical...

When it comes to professional athletes today, everyone has a voice. Gone are the days where glory and fame are only given to the brightest stars of the sports world. In the age of social media, even a punter can have a voice, and a large one at that.

For many athletes, the spotlight that shines from performing in front of millions of fans is already bright enough. The privacy that many of us take for granted is a simple pleasure that is not often afforded athletes of today. However, for Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee, social media is not a way to brighten the spotlight, it is a way to dim...

For those of you who do not know, apparently the world is going to end on Friday, December 21. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. 

There are a couple of theories on how the world will end:

1. Mr. Earth meets Black Hole and the ensuing chaos will destroy mankind.
2. North Pole will play musical chairs with the South Pole and destroy mankind.
3. Aliens will visit the planet, consume all the fast food, and destroy mankind. 

Many scientists have shrugged off the notion of the world ending, stating that the 2012 phenomenon is purely a...

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing predictions on the future of marketing from 25 industry thought leaders. These predictions have been compiled in our new whitepaper, Inspired Marketing Predictions for 2013. Today, Ashraf Montaser of AdInfinity shares his thoughts.

True Cross-Channel Marketing Arrives

How many times have you heard the term “cross-channel” bandied about? As a marketer, the answer is probably more times than your average political candidate has been pictured kissing babies—constantly.

What is usually meant is that you can do web and social and email and offline and...

Last week we hosted over 4,000 Interactive Marketers in Indianapolis for our annual user conference Connections. We also announced key social partnership including Moontoast, a technology innovator in social marketing, social commerce, and social analytics. We sat down with, Daniel Hightower to talk about about Facebook Marketing and eCommerce.

SM: So what exactly is Moontoast? Love the name, BTW!
DH: Moontoast is a Social Activation Engine that helps brands turn their social audience into paying customers. Brands use Moontoast's library of mobile optimized apps to extend marketing and...

That's right. Facebook hit a BILLION users. That is BILLION with a B. Staggering is an understatement but with staggering figures like these, marketers cannot afford to ignore Facebook. Regardless of size or marketing budget, brands can benefit from an effective Facebook strategy.

Consumers are more active on social media than ever before, and not surprisingly, many marketers are struggling to keep up. It seems that, with an ever-evolving sea of data and technology, marketers don’t know where to start. Marketers are told what they need to do, but no one’s telling them WHY these tactics are...