CytoSport, the maker of sports drink Muscle Milk, is conducting a viral video campaign for Thanksgiving. The effort, which launched November 19, features a comical viral video in which a partying pilgrim sings about flirting his way to the New World. The spot is running on YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and at www.sexypilgrim.com.

Adknowledge, an independently owned ad network, has acquired the advertising business of SocialMedia.com. Financial terms of the deal, announced this week, were not disclosed. The acquisition strengthens Adknowledge's position in targeting publishers and advertisers in the social apps and social games space. Adknowledge partners with more than 2,000 publishers and developers and has made four acquisitions in the social media space in the past two years.

Less than a week after the US Postal Service disclosed that it incurred a $3.8 billion net loss for fiscal year 2009, it narrowed the list of branches it is considering closing by 130. The agency is still reviewing the possible closure of 241 post offices as of November 20.

E-mail marketing firm Responsys is aiding weight-loss program Nutrisystem with various e-mail programs, as well as developing cross-channel customer-experience initiatives. The company is using Responsys' Interact Campaign, the company's software as a service (SaaS) campaign-management platform.

INO.com awarded MetaResponse Group management of its Investor Masterfile, effective November 24. The file had been managed internally.

Now that Microsoft's and Google's partnerships with Facebook and Twitter are official, search is on its way to becoming the new kind of search engine that Bing promised at its launch.

There's nothing better for an e-mail campaign than a marketer who considers the details. Extra thought about the time an e-mail is sent, personalization and segmentation of marketing messages' content can increase engagement and interest in a brand.

E-mail marketing has come a long way since its infancy. We've developed advanced features allowing marketers to drastically increase ROI. We're leveraging social media platforms by offering integration for e-mail campaigns. Tools like A/B split testing, transaction e-mails and segmentation are standard for serious e-mail marketers.

When it comes to lead management, you can't just roll the dice and expect to be successful. Even with today's powerful marketing automation technologies, process and strategy are essential to developing a strong lead-management program. To win big, you need planning, creativity and technology working in close concert with one another. Here are some key tactics that will help you engage prospects, move them through the pipeline and ensure that you beat out the competition.

For law firms, e-mail marketing can be a tricky business. Aside from CAN-SPAM, law firms are required to follow special rules, depending on the states they practice in, that dictate how lawyers can market to potential clients. Still many firms want to get into digital marketing and are approaching channels like e-mail as a CRM tool, sending newsletters to clients to build relationships.