Amberly Dressler says, “Thanksgiving has quite a bit of ground to make up if it wants to compete with the likes of Black Friday or Cyber Monday, but that’s not to say it didn’t have an impressive retail showing.In fact, the Custora E-Commerce Pulse indicates that online shopping was up almost 20 percent in Thanksgiving 2014 compared to Thanksgiving 2013, driven by mobile shopping and promotions. Many of the top retailers offered their Black Friday deals early to take advantage of those looking for deals online Thursday”.Pass the E-Commerce Please – Thanksgiving Revenue... [...]

Derek S. says, “As more consumers continue to flock to social media, networks are constantly looking for ways to capitalize on their popularity and increase their earnings.Popular blogging network Tumblr has announced that it is launching a new ad service called Tumblr Sponsored Apps.The new service is a mobile ad product that enables companies to have app install ads displayed inside the Tumblr app. The ads will be available for viewing on both Tumblr’s native iOS and Android app.The first ads that will be displayed on the blogging platform are from gaming companies Gree, Big... [...]

Allison Howen says, “Twitter has unveiled a new feature that aims to help merchants increase conversions through the social network.The feature, dubbed Twitter Offers, enables advertisers to create card-linked promotions and share them on the social network. Then, when a Twitter Offer appears in a consumer’s timeline, the consumer has the ability to add the offer to his or her credit or debit card and then redeem the offer by using the card at the merchant’s store.“Because the offer is tied to their card, redemption is seamless and easy: there are no coupons to redeem at the... [...]

Derek S. says, “Whether it’s due to the creation of new network or just updated features, the social media landscape is constantly evolving. As the influential channel changes, it’s important that businesses understand how it has evolved and adjust their approaches accordingly to continue to receive the most out of their social media efforts. GlobalWebIndex (GWI) has released its latest quarterly report detailing the social network trends for Q3 2014. The report saw participation from 41,823 adults between the ages of 16 and 64“.Is Facebook Losing its Edge?Website Magazine [...]

Amberly Dressler says, “It should come as no surprise that e-commerce retailers turn to Twitter and Facebook more in December than any other month, but how do they stand out from the crowd?Salesforce Marketing Cloud recently analyzed more than 3 million tweets and 2 million Facebook posts and found several key insights for the e-commerce and retail industry. For starters, as brands tweet more in the holiday months, consumers respond – nearly doubling the amount of replies to retail companies. The takeaway here is that brands should tweet often during the holidays. Salesforce’s... [...]

Allison Howen says, “The holidays may be a time for socializing, but last year not all e-commerce brands mingled where it counted – the top social media networks.According to a quick report from StatSocial (infographic below), a social analytics platform, the social chatter around last year’s Black Friday blew Cyber Monday out of the virutal water. Last year, there were 1.6 million tweets around Black Friday, compared to just 486,000 tweets about Cyber Monday 2013. Men tended to also tweet more about Black Friday than they did Cyber Monday last year”.Here’s to a More... [...]

Allison Howen says, “Google has introduced conversion estimates in its Keyword Planer tool.According to the company’s Google+ announcement, Keyword Planner will now show users how varying bids may influence their campaigns’ performance differently for desktop and mobile devices. Users are required to enter their conversion rates and values in order to see how changing their bids may impact metrics like estimated conversion, return on ad spend (ROAS), average cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and total conversion value for both desktop and mobile campaigns”.Conversion Estimates Available... [...]

Travis Bliffen says, “Many of the tasks involved in setting up, managing and running an SEO campaign can be quite time consuming.Thankfully, there are several tools that can be used to improve efficiency and automate some of the more tedious tasks that SEO professionals are required to do in order to stay atop the search engine result pages”.10 SEO Tools to be Thankful ForWebsite Magazine [...]

Allison Howen says, “A new study reveals that the number one reason consumers avoid online shopping is the lack of in-person assistance and proactive engagement from brands.The study, which was commissioned by Moxie Software and surveyed more than 2,500 consumers, found that 72 percent of respondents want brands to proactively engage with them online – especially when they are struggling on a website. Moreover, two out of three shoppers say they would do more of their shopping online if they were offered proactive engagement”.Is Live Chat the Key to Conversion for Holiday Shoppers?Website... [...]

Pete Prestipino says, “It is easy to forget the degree to which design-related choices made for a website can impact everything else – from user experience and conversion, and apparently to search engine optimization initiatives as well.Website owners and ‘Net professionals that have content placed in tabbed areas or through “click-to-expand” javascript features (a design/UX approach which is less intrusive overall) are struggling to get that content into the search index at Google. In a recent Webmaster Hangouts video with Google’s John Mueller, the reason... [...]