Small Business

Dell's transformation

Tim Peterson February 01, 2012

Dell strives to better target its customers and market its brand.

VerticalResponse acquires social marketing firm Roost

Tim Peterson December 15, 2011

Self-service marketing company VerticalResponse acquired social marketing firm Roost, the company said on Dec. 15. VerticalResponse CEO Janine Popick said the acquisition closed yesterday but declined to disclose terms.

Experian launches North American consulting practice

Dianna Dilworth December 06, 2011

Marketing services firm Experian expanded its Global Consulting Practice, the company's data and analysis consulting division, to serve clients in the North American market.

Q&A: Janine Popick, founder and CEO, VerticalResponse

Dianna Dilworth December 05, 2011

Janine Popick, founder and CEO of VerticalResponse, discusses how small businesses are integrating email with social media.

Twitter offering limited access to self-service ad platform

Tim Peterson December 02, 2011

Twitter provided a "handful" of advertisers access to its self-service ad platform in November, Twitter spokesperson Matt Graves confirmed via email on Dec. 1. The company's chief revenue officer Adam Bain had mentioned the roll-out during in an interview at the Business Insider "Ignition 2011" conference on Nov. 30.

Marketo launches marketing tool for small businesses

Tony Case October 12, 2011

Marketing automation company Marketo on Oct. 11 launched Spark, a marketing automation system tailored for small businesses.

SocialCrush buys social media firm SayItSocial

Tim Peterson July 27, 2011

Consultancy SocialCrush has acquired SayItSocial, a social media marketing firm. Tim Moore, CEO and cofounder of SocialCrush, said that the acquisition will build the company's social media expertise and consultancy work for clients.

Facebook touts small business marketing capabilities

Tim Peterson July 27, 2011

Facebook has launched a dedicated site to educate small businesses on the social network's marketing tools. The Facebook for Business portal features links to step-by-step how-to guides to help small companies use the site's advertising offerings, such as Pages, Ads and Sponsored Stories.

Marketers cast skeptical eye on daily deal promotions

Tim Peterson June 15, 2011

Less than half (48%) of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that have run a daily deal promotion say they would use the promotion vehicle again, according to a study by Rice University professor of management Utpal Dholakia. Of the 324 businesses surveyed, about a third (32%) said they were uncertain if they'd run another daily deal promotion, and 20% said they would not.

Small businesses investing in social media marketing

Tim Peterson March 14, 2011

Café Ba-Ba-Reeba is part of a trend of small businesses using social media to engage customers. According to a study released last week by Borrell Associates, two-thirds of the 2,872 small and medium business owners interviewed said that they use social media to communicate directly with customers, and one-third said that they plan to increase their social media spending this year.

UPS Store, Mail Boxes Etc. conduct localized effort to promote Web printing service

Frank Washkuch September 22, 2009

Local branches of Mail Boxes Etc. and the UPS Store, both UPS companies, are conducting a multifaceted marketing effort to promote online printing services, which allow consumers and businesses to publish documents from the Web. The initiative targets small to midsize businesses.

National rollout of FedEx Office print platform completed

Chantal Todé September 21, 2009

FedEx Office has completed the rollout of its Design & Print Center platform, which was announced in May. Working with commercial printer VistaPrint, FedEx Office has created a digital self-service tool for small business owners to create and order custom business cards, letterhead and marketing collateral. The service is available in the more than 1,100 FedEx Office stores either via an in-store kiosk or from the computer terminals available for customer use.