Online Social Marketing

As the sun rises across each time zone, where do consumers start their online day? Your customers' activities first thing in the morning can reveal their priorities and motivations (whether those are business-, social-, or news-oriented), and also provide an indication of how and when to engage with them.

In our 2013 Global Executive Summary, we compare and contrast the findings of our award-winning SUBSCRIBERS, FANS, & FOLLOWERS research series to bring you insight into what consumers worldwide are doing in the morning, as well as how they spend their time on multiple digital marketing...

That is a familiar image, isn't it? The well-traveled, world-weary suitcase, littered with stickers from places visited from Alaska to Zimbabwe. The trusty suitcase that is lugged from state to state and country to country: it may be battered and bruised, but it serves its owner well as they globe-trot across the world.

I used to be envious of the owners of those suitcases. That image motivated me to have my own beat-up, decorated travel companion to visit far off places with.

I have been living outside of America for almost nine years now. I lived in Sydney, Australia for just under five years...

One of the more eye-opening and surreal experiences of my life came in 2007 when I sat in a pit road tower during a NASCAR event. The thunder of the stock cars as they rambled down the front stretch to start the race is a sound and a physical rattling you'll never forget.

Seeing the crews operate behind the scenes was also something to behold. Like the car they each worked on, the crew focused on optimal performance based on speed and precision. Each pit stop had to be prepared for: tires stacked and ready, the drill gun oiled with no kinks in the compression hose (or battery full with cordless...

At ExactTarget, we’re passionate about our clients—they’re some of the best brands we know, and we’re often inspired by their dedication to the work they do. And Von Maur is an excellent example! From the company’s start in the late 1800s until now, Von Maur has always put their customers first.

If you’ve visited one of the retail chain’s stores, you know what I mean—impeccable service, inviting décor, musical ambiance, and top-notch products. And while the company’s perfected their signature “above and beyond” service in stores, Von Maur wants customers to experience the same great service...

It should come as no surprise that traditional advertising is no longer as trusted by consumers as it was in the Mad Men era. Today’s consumers are more skeptical than ever. Less than 50% of consumers worldwide trust TV advertising. So what do people trust? 92% of consumers around the world say they trust word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family over all other forms of advertising.

Brands are embracing new strategies and technologies, which allow them to connect and engage with customers in social channels. The most innovative brands are shifting their strategies from traditional...

Mastered the basics of marketing automation? If the answer is yes, I'm guessing you've already begun reaping the rewards of your initial automation efforts. I'm also surmising that your CRM system is busy collecting plenty of customer and prospect data, and you're actively engaged on multiple social channels. At this point, you might even have a little extra time in your schedule to dive into your RSS feed, or take a longer smoothie break.

You're off to a good start.

That being said, there's always more to learn about the complex clockwork of marketing automation. Take your knowledge to the...

Marketing automation is the intersection of many useful features and functions. It's a proven fact that marketing automation software gives marketers full visibility into aspects of the sales cycle that were previously a mystery. But the sheer number of buttons and tools can seem daunting if they're not old-hat to you just yet.

As you begin to build an effective marketing automation program, you can begin to gain a holistic view of your marketing activities. From there, you can streamline traditionally manual processes (like customer segmentation, email marketing, and campaign management).

Start ...

Join us in San Francisco on May 9^th and Seattle on May 10^th for the launch of the Digital Mornings Breakfast Seminar Series. In this monthly six-part series we’ll gather together to discuss some of the latest research, updates and trends in cross-channel marketing over coffee and breakfast.

In the first session we’ll dig into an overview of the Cross-Channel Marketing Challenge, taking a look at how effective cross-channel campaigns can support the customer lifecycle: acquire, on-board, engage and retain. We will share best practices and case studies on cross-channel programs that incorporate...

The first thing most aspiring marketers learn is the importance of identifying and subsequently engaging those beautiful people called “the audience” no matter where they live online. This lesson gains wholehearted acceptance from everyone in the marketing world. However, the execution becomes complicated, and soon we all learn that feeding something like a blog everyday just simply isn’t enough.

We must put ourselves on the customer's online path.

Think goals first, campaigns second and tactics third.

What’s the goal? Always start there. That’s what the university lecturer taught you a long time...

Email list growth is a concern for many organizations--so you're definitely not alone if it's one of your concerns! In order to succeed in your email marketing efforts, you want your subscriber base to grow, not stay static. Fortunately there are numerous ways to build your email list.   

Depending on your industry, a web form may be the most effective way to capture more subscribers. Other options include social media tactics, mobile strategies, or even an offline approach. The possibilities are limitless.

Since this is such a popular topic and concern for marketers, there is plenty of informati...

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...

As brands become more social and customers become the social mouthpiece of brands, the intersection of advertising and word-of-mouth recommendations is now online. Traditional advertising methods fade into the background as customers are more wary of brand promises and, instead, turn to their friends and family when making a purchase.

Like any marketer curious about the numbers that back up such claims, I was interested to hear Jay Baer (of Convince and Convert) and Greg Shove (of SocialChorus) discuss the stats in their webinar The Influence Triangle: How to Leverage 3 Types of Brand Fans to...

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...

March 13, 2013, was a historic day for Kickstarter, the website dedicated to social funding for anything from software development to stage shows and everything inbetween. Ex-hit television series "Veronica Mars" launched a campaign to raise $2 million in financing to produce a motion picture of the cult favorite, hitting its goal in under 10 hours and setting a record for the quickest $1 million to be raised in the site's history.

Fans rejoice at the impending return of their favorite moonlighting private eye, but what does this mean for the film industry? And what does this say about...

This week, Flipboard announced a new version of its application for iPads and iPhones for creating social magazines. It's a very cool product that now has over 50 million users. I watched a demo of the product and recommend you consider creating one of these for your brand, particularly if you are an online retailer that lends itself to a magazine-style format with high quality images and videos.

Here's how it works:

1. Start searching the internet for images using the new content search feature. Any type of content can be included.
2. Select images and "flip it"  into your magazine....

I had the pleasure of interviewing David Berkowitz, Vice President of Emerging Media at 360i, about the idea of marketing moving towards a cross-, multi-, or omni-channel world. This is the first video in the series where David talks about integration and future of cross-channel marketing. What should brands focus on when building a cross-channel strategy? 

It starts with internal teams. 

How do you believe the channels fit together?

We are seeing all types of integrations happening. It is really exciting in the sense that we have a ton of different angles. You have some marketers who are saying...

As part of our reserach for the recent SUBSCRIBERS, FANS, & FOLLOWERS report, Marketers from Mars, we asked consumers to share their thoughts on how marketers could improve their cross-channel communcations.

We're happy to share a few of their repsponses here:

How do you improve email marketing performance?

“Make your site stand out from others on the net. Offer a site that is simple to navigate. Offer a 24-hour customer helpline service and also reply to all emails received within the hour. Don’t inundate your users with emails—one per week will do. Make your subject line eye-catching so the...

March 27 is observed as the festival of colour, Holi, by a large number of Indians across the world. This holiday is a particuarly interesting social experiment, and one I've grown up observing since early childhood.

It’s a day celebrated not just with friends and family, but with pretty much anyone you can get your hands on--neighbour, neighbour's dog, et al. The key is dousing your victim in either coloured water or colourful powder dyes. In fact, it's not unusual for prim and proper suited office workers refusing to get into the spirit of things to be hit with water balloons thrown by school...

The 20^th annual SXSW interactive festival in downtown Austin, TX, brought in tens of thousands of people competing to maximize their brand’s visibility. From swag to branded pedi cabs to exclusive parties, people are doing whatever they can to create brand awareness and build lead generation. Who will break out of the mainstream and leave an impression on this year’s SXSW?

Here are a few noteworthy announcements:

1. Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot Industries (known for their 3-D printers) revealed the MakerBot Digitizer. This device uses lasers to scan the contours of physical objects. These...