Amy Gesenhues says, “What’s in store for marketers next year? To help prepare for 2015, we asked sixteen of today’s leading CMOs their predictions for the new year. From Taco Bell CMO Chris Brandt who forecasts mobile’s ever expanding role in the consumer experience, to Salesforce Marketing Insight VP Jeff Rohrs’ prediction that 2015 will be the year of collaboration, marketers have much to look forward to during the next 12 months. While everyone would like a crystal ball to forecast the future, the following CMO insights very well may be the next best thing.”. What Does The... [...]

John Tackett says, “Discounts can be tempting to use as a tool to increase your sales volume. There are plenty of cases where incentives have been successful; however, one caveat to consider is they also come with their own set of consequences. When the dust settles and the results are in, every marketing team has to determine one thing: Are discounted product offers always the optimal choice for a price point strategy? That’s a question one large media company recently posed in their testing efforts that I wanted to share in today’s post to help you learn more about the potential impact... [...]

Gina Broom says, “When you go shopping, whether it be online or in the “real world” (I know, that’s sooooo last century), you browse to see what’s on offer before making a decision. Did you know that 90 percent of customers say that their decisions about purchasing products are influenced by online reviews? Marketing Land wrote a blog post about it: So why not do the same with affiliate networks? This is the place to get the inside scoop on two of the top-rated networks around: Rakuten LinkShare and ClickBank”. Affiliate Network Battle: LinkShare vs. ClickBank Mark... [...]

Amy Gesenhues says, “Social media analytics company SocialBakers is throwing more fuel on the fire that is the Facebook video versus YouTube video showdown. Two months after forecasting the number of videos uploaded directly to Facebook would exceed the number of YouTube videos, SocialBakers says its prediction has come to pass. SocialBakers evaluated 20,000 Facebook pages belonging to brands, media outlets, celebrities and entertainment companies to determine how content marketers are implementing video content on the social media site”. More Brands Uploading Video Directly To Facebook... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Instagram’s surge past Twitter in active users — 300 million to 284 million — was big news last week, even sparking discussion about whether Instagram could eventually unseat Twitter as the top social news service. That’s a battle that won’t be settled soon, but this week social analytics firm Socialbakers chimed in with a reminder to marketers that in terms of engagement Instagram is already blowing Twitter away. Socialbakers compared the top 25 brands in Instagram engagement with the top 25 on Twitter and found per post engagement rates nearly 50 times higher... [...]

Lara O’reilly says, “APTwitter CEO Dick Costolo’s Twitter feed may be packed with autoplaying videos soon. Twitter is debating internally whether to launch a feature that would see videos begin to automatically as users scroll through their timelines,sources have told Adweek. One industry insider called the debate “a tug of war.” It’s a move that would no doubt please advertisers, as more people’s eyes would be attracted to their branded content and ads, but could send users running as videos begin to clutter up the feed. Twitter autoplay video would build... [...]

Grace Smith says, “As a small-business owner, you may not have the budget to purchase industry leading software, however you still want to process images and photos for your website or offline media. These feature rich photo editing applications are capable of enhancing your images, creatively adding effects and filters, without breaking the bank, with many available free. We’ve collected 14 of the very best photo editing applications. Many of these are browser-based, so there’s nothing to install or download; you can upload images directly from the computer, transfer from your social... [...]

Jordan Elkind says, “It’s been a big holiday season so far for online shoppers, with over 20% growth in sales this year vs. the holidays in 2013 according to the Custora E-commerce Pulse. But knowing that sales are up isn’t nearly as interesting (or useful) as knowing what’s different about holiday shopping habits and what those differences mean for online stores for the rest of the season and beyond. Read on for three ways that email and mobile have come to the fore of Holiday 2014 and what their prominence means for marketers. The data for this analysis comes from the Custora E-commerce... [...]

Andrew King says, “Last month, I explored some of the most innovatively-designed emails of 2014, which included sliding carousels, videos, progressive disclosure and live content. Those emails might have impressed you, but also left you wondering “how can I apply some of those techniques to my own campaigns?” So, to help you become an email design superstar I’ve put together a list of steps that you need to take. The Steps To Email Design Superstardom 1. Track Which Email Clients & Devices Are Most Popular Among Your Subscribers. Use an analytics tool such as Litmus or Email on... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “In a new paper titled “State of Viewability Transactions 2015,” the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) aims to set expectations as the industry shifts to measuring and buying display ads on a viewable-impression basis rather than by served-impressions. First and foremost, buyers and sellers implementing viewable-impressions as measurement currency should not “expect to observe rates of 100 percent in analyses of their campaigns.” That statement echoes that of the Media Ratings Council (MRC). The IAB calls 2015 a transition year in which agencies, publishers,... [...]