Jacob Davis says, “There was a time when marketing was purely art. The Don Drapers of the world felt that an angle, a message, a concept would work, and then they went and executed – the “genius artist” was at work.Of course, this isn’t entirely true. It’s a romantic idea, though, especially for those of us in the current marketing world, where we’re inundated with data, spreadsheets and KPIs all meant to tell us what works and what doesn’t. Numbers without context, though, are just numbers, and worse, they can be misleading. That’s why marketers need to systematically test... [...]

John Fetto says, “According to our research, 99.8 percent of online Americans say that the Internet is the first place they look for information on one or more topics. As a result, our web browsers and search engines know us better than just about anyone. They know our aspirations, desires, fears, wants and needs. Given this fundamental shift in information seeking, search has become one of the post powerful, and yet untapped, sources of consumer insights.Watch this short video to explore five ways that marketers today can generate more accurate, more insightful and more actionable consumer... [...]

John Fetto says, “I recently had the pleasure of presenting with digital marketing agency PM Digital, about luxury consumer trends and digital strategies. During our research, we found the luxury market online saw a 20 percent increase in monthly visits last year with a majority of traffic now coming from mobile devices. Luxury brands have become experts at translating the key elements of their offerings into the online realm and beyond. High price points and prestige aside, luxury apparel’s continued online success can be instructive to marketers from all walks of life.Who is today’s... [...]

Casey Chang says, “Mobile marketing has become a critical player in today’s cross-channel marketing lineup. Consumers are increasingly mobile – in fact, according to The 2015 Digital Marketer Report, 70 percent of Millennials say they use mobile devices constantly from the moment they wake up to when they go to sleep. Through mobile devices, customers can check their emails, browse the web, text their friends, post on social media, find the nearest store location… all from the palm of their hand. This seamless behavior across channels means marketers need to integrate their channel... [...]

Shelley Kessler says, “As the holiday season gets underway, it’s quite clear that mobile will play a major role in the consumer experience this year.For example, in our last Holiday Hot Sheet we found that 35 percent of all Website visits came from smartphones or digital tablets during the week ending October 17, 2015. And the number of mobile visits to retail sites is only expected to increase as we get closer to the holiday.Email engagement via mobile is on the riseBased on October 2015 mailings, we saw that 55 percent of email opens occurred on either mobile phones or tablets. This... [...]

Lauren McKinney says, “We recently completed our 2015 email data quality trends research with 200+ research participants who came from a variety of company sizes and industries. The research study to took a comprehensive look at what poor email deliverability costs an organization, the challenges associated with email collection and email database maintenance, how companies track email marketing success, and different ways to improve subscriber interaction.Last week we had three of our email industry experts discuss the research and share their insights on our “Email data quality research:... [...]

John Fetto says, “This holiday is poised to be the first mobile-dominant season for retailers and marketers need to be ready.A growing number of Americans are turning to their smartphones and tablets as their primary device for accessing the Internet. In fact, one-third of all U.S. adults (33.7 percent) say they access the Internet more often through a mobile device than through a computer, up from 24 percent in 2013. Furthermore, Millennials are the first generation to be mobile dominant, with 53 percent of consumers aged 18 to 34 reporting that they use their phone more often than a computer... [...]

Shelley Kessler says, “The first hot sheet of the holiday season looks at email by the numbers. Volume in the first two weeks is up 25.5 percent year-over-year across all industries. With this large increase, it’s not surprising that performance metrics have been slightly lower.Marketers need to work smarter, not harder.Analyzing and understanding the data from last year can help make the holiday season bright for your customers. We know this is a busy season, so we’ve done (and in this Holiday Hot Sheet series will continue to do) the work for you.The best days to send email to increase... [...]

Jim Kelley says, “More than half of all email opens and 38 percent of clicks occur on a mobile device, which is why it’s crucial to mobile optimize your emails. Responsive design is the “buzz term” that solves this problem, and marketers want it now.As a solution guy, the first thing I’ll communicate is that responsive email is not your typical slice and dice, get-it-out-the-door coding project. It requires a bit of planning, a new design methodology and a potential change in workflow. Why?Classic responsive designIn what I like to call “classic responsive design,” a new email... [...]

Spencer Kollas says, “In one of my college communication courses, the professor began every semester by writing C=f(p) on the blackboard — communication is a function of perception. This couldn’t be any truer in today’s world of digital marketing, where communication can only be effective if the customer perceives value in both the message and in the communication method.Contextual marketing seeks to solve this problem — providing value to the customer by offering them the perfect message at the perfect time and place. Ultimately, it will provide value to the business as well. To... [...]