Interactive Marketing And Advertising

One of the most powerful capabilities of email marketing is that it enables small brands to “level the playing field” with bigger competitors and produce AMAZING RESULTS.

And one of the best examples I can point to of how a small CPG (consumer packaged goods) brand is using Email as the backbone of its digital marketing strategy is Dreamfields. With the help of its digital marketing agency, HyperDrive Interactive, this small but very savvy marketer of low-carb pasta is using email marketing to fuel sales and energize a growing community of “Dreamfields Brand Fans” who happily recommend...

I’m not a big fan of country music.

I don’t mean to alienate anyone due to personal preferences, and I’m sure we can find common interests even if country is the only genre on your iPod, but country tunes are just not my favorite tunes to hear.

That being said, one of my closest friends loves country music. We were recently at a restaurant that was playing a country song called “Where I Come From.” I was poking fun at the whole situation because I’d recently heard a completely different country song also called “Where I Come From.”

Lo and behold, there are two country songs with the exact...

Once upon a time, in an age not so long ago, marketers were schooled to create a mobile-optimized version of their website. While this approach still offers advantages over most single sites, updating content on two separate sites is inefficient—and gets old quickly.

Smartphone penetration in the U.S. has reached 55%, and tablet usage climbs daily. Does that mean you now must have a tablet-optimized site, as well?

Not if you want to keep your sanity. Enter: responsive design.

Responsive designs adapt automatically to the size of the device, meaning the same site is navigable, legible,...

Viral Marketing: A marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message. Similar to the way a virus infiltrates its host to spread, this marketing tactic has been used for years through a variety of different mediums.

But more recently, the internet has allowed for viral marketing to be a much more low-cost/high-effect strategy. Videos like Gangam Style and The Harlem Shake have multiplied through YouTube like wildfire, having great impact on sales for these musicians in turn. But these stories came at audiences so hard and so fast, can they actually...

Multiple touch points and disparate systems can often prove challenging for organisations trying to make sense of their data, leaving them with no way to leverage the information they have to gain insight into their customers.

At TFM&A (Technology for Marketing & Advertising) in London recently, I was struck by the number of similar conversations I had with various marketers. Consistently, they expressed frustrations around having to depend heavily on IT to obtain data in order to send out customer communications and how this generally leads to delays and unnecessary additional costs.

Whenever a...

Consumers continue to demand real time communications from brands, and it is important that those brands learn more about and engage with their audience. By learning about their consumers, companies are better equipped to custom tailor products and services for the price their audience wants. These real time communications have forced many companies to look more closely at their digital marketing efforts.

As traditional mass media continues to fragment and diminish, marketers are being forced to look at digital media. Technology and connectivity have made news and publications...

The film industry has used a variety of different tactics to interact with audiences and promote their products throughout the past 120 years. From the age-old tactics of print advertising to the new-fangled social networking approach, it's no secret that film distributors want to engage potential viewers and entice them to pay for admission.

Take a look at the timeline below for an in-depth view of how this industry communicates with the public, both past and present.

Clearly the trend of movie marketing has evolved from mass distribution to a more segmented 1-to-1 approach. Consider this type...

In the fast-moving world of cross-channel marketing, it’s almost impossible to keep up with the news as it happens. Luckily, the Content Marketing team here at ExactTarget is here to help! We’re always on the lookout for fresh, interesting content, to help you stay up-to-date with the latest news and trends.

Here are a few of the top stories, posts, and other content that caught our eye this week:

World Internet Stats: Websites, Email, Social Media, and More (Marketing Profs)

Case Study: Where's the Best Place to Put Your CTA? (Unbounce)

10 Tools for Creating Infographics and Visualizations (SEOmoz)

9...

The Super Bowl has come and gone. The lights have been turned on, turned off, turned back on, and turned off for the last time on the most popular American sporting event. In the social media marketing industry, Super Sunday turns into a weeklong analysis of well, just about everything: infographics, conversations, opinions, statistics, speculations, and conclusions.

One common theme to come out of the 47th edition of the “Big Game:” real time wins. (Oh, and senior citizens really enjoy Taco Bell but that’s beyond the scope of this article.) Oreo and Tide have garnered a lot of attention for...

Did you see that blackout last night?!?  No, not the one that stopped Super Bowl XLVII dead in its tracks for over 30 minutes.  I'm talking about the near total blackout of meaningful email, mobile, and social calls-to-action in the commercials that brands were rumored to pay nearly $4 million per 30 seconds.

In my previous post, Super Bowl, Super Audience Building, I shared that I was looking forward to more brands hopefully following Papa John's lead by using their $4 million ad spend to build and engage email, mobile, and/or social audiences. To say I was sorely disappointed would be an...

Twitter has already created a way for consumers to communicate their thoughts to followers within seconds. Now they have progressed to allow users to share visual information and sound to their followers at the same speed. Last Thursday, Twitter launched a short video creation and sharing app called Vine.

The Vine iPhone app allows users to share 6-second video clips, and many brands have already begun to take notice. Six seconds at a time, users can get a glimpse of what’s happening in the world, including what their favorite brands are up to. So how can your business benefit from Twitter’s...

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...

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...

In this #InspiredMarketing blog series, we are 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. In today’s post, Linda Woolley from the DMA shares her thoughts.

Regulatory Threats Rise Up

The economic turmoil of the past four years has deeply affected the marketing industry. Yet, of all the changes I’ve observed, perhaps the most significant has been the evolution of marketing data as a highly effective driver for bottom-line growth.

According to “The Power of...

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...

In this #InspiredMarketing blog series, we are 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. In today’s post, Kip Edwardson from Scotts Miracle-Gro shares his thoughts.

Get the Picture(s)!

As a fan of the Cleveland Browns and the Minnesota Vikings, I’ve been wrong more often than not when it comes to predicting the future. If I was right, my teams would have at least five Lombardi Trophies apiece. And I never did marry Drew Barrymore like I told everyone...

In a ritual that spans the age, people of all ages, nationalities, races, genders, and walks of life would sit down to play and listen to musical performances. For centuries, music existed as a written language that transcended word of mouth and served as a primary source of entertainment.

That was then. This is now, the age of digital. 

It is more common today for individuals to sit down at their computer, push a few buttons, and instantly gain access to 10,000 songs. It is no secret that the digital revolution has presented numerous road blocks for the entertainment industry. Purchasing...

Twitter announced last month that they have come to an agreement with Nielsen to create a "Nielsen Twitter TV Rating" -- a tool that will measure the total audience for social TV activity on Twitter, including both people who comment and people who are exposed to their comments. This announcement is worthy of much more than 140 characters. 

Twitter and social media have been changing the way we go about our everyday life since their introduction. This is just another step along the disruptive technology's path. Steve Hasker, President, Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen,...

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, our own Susan Marshall shares her thoughts.

Slimming Down, Shaping Up, & Getting Organized

It sounds like a New Year’s resolution that could easily go awry, but it sums up what will likely be a rude awakening for many marketers. Quality of fans and followers will matter more than quantity, and savvy marketers will begin to find creative ways to leverage social to drive...