Will Schnabel says, “Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few months, you’ve probably been bombarded with articles screaming that context-driven messaging is the next big thing in marketing. If you’re really unlucky, you’ve even had your boss forward you one of them, captioned with a cryptic directive like “we should be on top of this.” While hearing phrases like “the next big thing in marketing” justifiably triggers gag reflexes, there is some validity to all the attention. Context matters, especially when you’re talking about communication. Take this example from... [...]

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... [...]

Dave Lloyd says, “There are several psychological principles that marketers can use to help improve their campaigns. Here is a look at four to get you started. Marketers are influencers. Daily we’re thinking either about influencing internal teams to get things done or with prospects who can engage and convert through their marketing activity. We can thank psychology and behavioral researchers, my wife and college psychology professors among them, for providing empirical evidence to support marketing strategies. I was recently combing through my personal library and came across a few psychological... [...]

If you have invested in Josee Bedard’s themes, you know they are beautiful, professional and functional. Now, Bedard and company are offering 9 of the best themes they have ever released in a bundle for peanuts. They call it their Theme Blowout Package, and the sale is for today only. These themes are all responsive to tablets and smartphones. And each theme comes with XML Presets for easy set up and customization. This makes building sites fast and easy. You have the option of buying a single theme (or more) for just $5 each. Or you can buy all 9 for just $25. Either way, this is a good... [...]

Lisa Toner says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year for content marketers. This time of year is when you measure your impact on this year’s company goals and uncover opportunities for moving the needle on next year’s. But when most people run these analyses and calculate next year’s predictions, they forgetabout one crucial thing: market conditions. They’re so focused on internal metrics and results that they miss out on some fascinating, high-level insights. One way to analyze both internal and market conditions is through a content SWOT analysis.... [...]

Heather Smith says, “Retailers investing in social media marketing are finding success in terms of brand awareness, engagement and sales. As many as 93% of marketers are using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as part of their marketing efforts. New data is giving retail marketers more insights into what social practices produce the best results. The effectiveness of using images on social networks, particularly Facebook, is no longer in doubt. Using images has been directly tied to increased engagement, with 44% of Facebook users being likely to interact... [...]

Kari Paul says, “Although there was no shortage of in-store mayhem this Black Friday, shoppers are increasingly opting to take advantage of the major discounts online—and on their phones— new reports show. Black Friday online sales broke new records this year, according to new data from IBM, with mobile traffic outpacing PC traffic for the first time ever leading up to Black Friday. SEE ALSO: 20 lazy people who won’t get out of bed for Black Friday Analyzing customer transaction data, IBM found that on Thanksgiving day, browsing on smartphones and tablets accounted for 52.1% of all... [...]

James Howard has just released Social Bookmarking Backlinks, showing how you can quickly get noticed, and respected, by the search engines. This training is an in-depth look at social bookmarking for SEO improvement. In fact, it’s a step-by-step guide to boosting your rankings IIn the training, you will discover things like: • Where to find outsourcers who can be hired for a reasonable fee<br • How to effectively use outsource workers to do your social bookmarking • What tools are available to do your social bookmarking and what to look for when investing in one • How to bookmark... [...]

Ben Brausen says, “10 Marketing Predictions for 2015 [INFOGRAPHIC] – There have been many changes in the digital marketing space over 2014, and that has marketers preparing to revise their strategies as we approach 2015. So what is the future of SEO, social media, content marketing, and mobile marketing?  Find out. Social Media Today Survey: The 10 Biggest Challenges Facing Social Media Marketers – Assessing the effectiveness of their social media activities is the number one challenge facing social media professionals worldwide, reveals a new study. AllTwitter Google: Stop Using... [...]

Brendan Hill says, “This time of year, with all the online shopping, shipping, and marketing to be done, you might find yourself signing up for several web-based products or services (like VerticalResponse). While it’s tempting to rush through these sign up processes to place your order faster or start using the product more quickly, you want to use a strong password (or passwords) to keep your information and data secure. With seemingly monthly data breaches of big companies like Home Depot and Target, data security is top of mind for more people. Aside from having a good password, we suggest... [...]