Email marketing might seem like a routine activity by now, yet it remains an important aspect of reaching valuable customers.
Effective email marketing is about reaching the right customer with the right message at the right time.
In a sea of numbers, there are some that matter when it comes to email marketing and some that only look important.
Understanding the role of print and production in achieving hyper-personalization is critical, so consider the following four tips to drive the effectiveness and efficiency of your next direct marketing campaign.
What happens when messages are sent within a printed business document? You may be surprised to know that they get read.
You want to strike a chord with your customers and prospects. But as you can imagine, the more complex the personalization, the harder it is to put it together.
Three tactics for companies to reward (and attract) influencers this holiday season while building brand loyalty and generating sales
Loyalty is about transforming from generic earn-and-burn "transactional" models to interactive, personalized, and differentiated "emotional" ones.
In the B2B space, a 2x2 chart correlating purchase value (product/service cost) to purchase frequency is a simple tool to match efforts to the right opportunities.
For loyalty marketers and retailers, one ongoing challenge is finding new ways to create, maintain, or increase customers' attachment to their brand.
When it comes to planning their approach to data-focused demand generation, many B2B marketers are at a loss as to how to proceed.
Companies need to access data from across those multiple channels, along with CRM, to create a truly overarching view of a customer.
Customer lifetime value is a common metric that—if calculated correctly—offers insight into building a customer strategy.
Internet marketing is a two-step forward, one-step back process largely built on trial and error.
Webinars are a good source of leads for many marketers, especially in B2B—but they also have their fair share of challenges.
In this new world of empowered and engaged consumers, a lead is only a lead if you have connected what is relevant to the customer.
Stop gambling with next year's marketing budget and play your cards right with Content, Cadence, and Closure.
Today's marketer needs a more complete solution that fully contemplates the customer's desire for relevancy and cross channel consistency.
As mobile usage continues to grow, it is becoming critical for marketers to understand mobile customers' experiences, intentions and desires.
Getting search marketers to switch from last-click has been difficult because it's considered easier to manage, measure and explain.
When utilized properly, social media generates awareness, consideration, loyalty and advocacy — all of which can be measured.
Search is about more than just keywords. This month, our expert columnists discuss strategies for staying relevant and searchable.
Managing your data so that it works for you takes work — especially in the data-driven b-to-b marketing world.
Whether you call it circulation marketing, audience development or relationship marketing, the need is the same — to build leads and maximize ROI.
DRTV no longer exists in a vacuum. The advent and wide usage of social media has seen to that — which means it's more important than ever for direct response TV marketers to integrate social media into their strategies. Our expert columnists weigh in.
Email marketing is no longer a one-to-many communications strategy. Our experts offer up their best advice to help marketers take advantage of consumer expectations.
Our expert columnists this month offer practical advice regarding the most effective ways to use social media to foster greater loyalty among customers, including strategies around providing meaningful content for maximum engagement; how to use data collected to improve targeting in a way that is integrated with other marketing efforts; and how to measure and track social marketing efforts.
Despite the still-shaky economy, marketers continue to increase their investments in search engine marketing, according to several reports. Two of our Plug-ins experts this month provide their best advice on how to look at navigating the retargeting landscape. Our third expert provides best practices for maximizing search in holiday marketing campaigns in the e-commerce arena.
The printing and production sector has undergone major transformation in a digitally dominated market, and many marketers can now use the dual impact of print media and technology to communicate marketing messages to customers. At the same time, there has been a recalibration of expectations for improved sales and greater return on investment.
Generating qualified, sales-ready leads is often a primary objective for b-to-b direct marketers. The good news is that direct marketing, if done right, is one of the most effective ways to generate, nurture and qualify leads.
Email marketing enables marketers to deliver custom messages directly to an in-box that many consumers check multiple times a day. Best of all, consumers have opted into most email databases, meaning they've already expressed interest in receiving communications from that brand.
With the advent of social CRM, companies can now track and monitor customer behavior to inform segmentation and customization of marketing messages.
Brands need to gain the most from their sales and marketing investments, and now more than ever, proving return on investment is the minimum price of entry to unlocking budget. The most surefire way to gain valuable insight into what's working and why is through marketing analytics, the practice of measuring and managing marketing performance to drive maximum ROI.
If only you had a crystal ball that showed you where your target audience was traveling online, and what it already knew about your company, products and brand.
You can only go to the well so many times.
Most b-to-b marketers continue to be challenged with finding the very best direct and digital marketing strategy — one that is effective and appeals to the right constituents within organizations — while not breaking the bank on the marketing budget.
Mobile has the potential to amplify any marketing channel while at the same time connecting everything, from TV to print to online. Most marketers have not been taking full advantage of the fourth screen, and as a result are leaving money on the table.
Speed is integral to improving the mobile user experience. People count on fast, reliable information delivered to their mobile devices, but Web browsing and SMS-based services are vulnerable to delays caused by the platform's limited bandwidth.
The power of the mobile device for marketers has been validated as an incredibly effective vehicle to deliver personal, highly relevant messages, especially when those messages are delivered based on context, such as a person's location. However, that information alone does not tell us what a potential customer might want or which message is most likely to resonate with them.
If the latest crop of infomercials and short-form direct response television commercials is any indication, this method of advertising can be used for just about any type of product or service.
Direct response television is effective in generating immediate revenue results and helping build brand awareness. Every company is focused on the bottom line. Nielsen ratings — at their best — are an inexact science, while DRTV is measurable.
Maximizing ROI can be more of an art form than an exact science. There are two simple ways to increase the ROI of a direct marketing campaign: decrease the cost per order (CPO) or increase the revenue per order.
Direct mail doesn't work, direct mail is too expensive, and now direct mail is obsolete — I've heard this type of rhetoric for years. It's a true "if I had a dollar" type comment...and it seems especially prevalent in the last few years.
As direct marketers, we've been warned. Much research has shown we have three seconds to convince our target to open our mailing. If we don't hook people then, we've lost them.
Direct mailers all know about the relative importance of factors that contribute to direct mail success and above all, the value of constant testing to maximize return on investment.
A few short years ago, social media was new and marketers were cautious about the medium.
Social media marketing can produce significant return on investment when it is done well, but many companies jump into it without setting clear objectives.
While the concept of word-of-mouth marketing has been around for ages, the Web and social media have taken it a step further.
According to global intelligence firm IDC, "In 2010, 1.2 zettabytes of digital information will be created." A zettabyte is one trillion gigabytes! More than ever, we are surrounded by data.
After selecting a new marketing database vendor, marketers can become complacent. After all, if the marketer just spent considerable effort putting vendors under a microscope, the last thing they want is to be hands on afterward.
Have you ever received a promotion from a company for a product you've already purchased from them? If so, you're not alone.
Five tips for e-commerce marketers who want to attract and retain customers, as well as maximize conversions, by providing fast, reliable Web experiences that meet consumers' stringent expectations.
Direct marketers can generate cost savings, sales volume and more by using micro-strategies to get more granular with media buys.
If you're an e-commerce marketer who wants to capitalize on this highly influential group, consider these tips.
There are three components to successful integration of mobile marketing into the overall marketing mix.
Integrated marketing requires realignment throughout a marketing organization, and a systematic shift in strategies from a product orientation to a customer focus.
Integrated marketing is a strategy, and implementing it is not a one-time task to cross off your list. In addition to the high-level activities of describing vision and brand essence, the marketing mix and customer communication points require special attention.
What's in our mailbox this month: fitness postcards from Retro Fitness, American Woman Fitness Centers, Union's United Taekwondo Academy, and Bally Total Fitness. (We're totally pumped.)
Social data can improve a brand's bottom line and customer relationships. Just ask brands Infiniti and Diamond Nexus.
Here are three must-have data sets that every marketer should include in his or her email strategy.
