A troubled 2009 has seen cutbacks and ad budget freezes across all industries. Both consumers and executives have dithered in purchase decisions, absorbing information, coupons, custom content, product reviews, free trials and freebies before signing the check or invoice.

Forrester Research says that the effectiveness of conventional stand-alone web analytics software is limited by the "action chasm." The action chasm is the delay in action between when an analytics report is generated vs. when it is read, reviewed, and acted upon. The longer the delay between metric measurement and corrective action, the more money you leave on the table.

One of the great benefits of e-mail list rental marketing has to do with four simple letters: from. Unlike its older, much more expensive cousin, direct mail, e-mail can afford the advertiser the luxury of reaching prospects with a greeting from the respective list owner. Even if only through the use of the simple "From line" - the end user can immediately recognize the sender of the e-mail and thus greatly increase the likelihood of opening and then reading the e-mail.

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.

While the vision of search activity reaching past the desktop has been around for a while, the proliferation of mobile devices and new technologies makes "anytime, anywhere" search easier. Marketers may not need all of them, but it's increasingly crucial to be aware of the disparate ways to reach consumers when, where, and how they search.

SMS is more than a teenage communication technology; it can and should be a critical part of the marketing communications mix. The direct and brief nature of SMS (each SMS message permits a maximum of 160 characters, including spaces), allows marketing teams to deliver concise, targeted messages that customers will actually opt-in to receive.

Everybody talks about using multiple channels to reach consumers. Unfortunately, discussing it and doing it - successfully, anyway - are two very different things. Let's look at the fiction, the reality and the undeniable future of multichannel marketing.

The right e-mail at the right time can be a powerful touch point with your customer. At its best, meaningful e-mail content can complement the salesperson in-store and extend the reach of their relationship with customers.

I've been flying a lot this month, both for vacation and business, and e-mail updates for upcoming flights have made the experience smoother.

Soon, most of the expected 191 million Americans carrying a mobile device will be searching for everything local on their phone — an opportunity for marketers to dip their toe into the mobile search waters.