Shelley Kessler says, “Most Valentine’s Day shopping happens at the eleventh hour. With that in mind we put together some last minute tips to help boost your Valentine’s Day email marketing campaigns. We looked at 172 brands that mailed Valentine’s Day campaigns in January and February last year. While the findings provide valuable insights on some items that worked, you need to find out what’s best for your brand. We encourage you to be your own benchmark and test and measure the strategies that work best to engage your customers. Best time to send Valentine’s Day email marketing... [...]

Andrea Johnson says, “According to the CMO Council, digital ads will lead the way for global media growth in the next two years, accounting for 33% of total advertising revenue and growing from $133 billion to $194.5 billion. This month’s MarketingExperiments Web clinic examined how to make the most of this increasing digital investment by focusing on the “Only-Factor” — the point of your value proposition where your product’s exclusivity and appeal meet. Check it out here. The two experiments below illustrate the power of the “Only-Factor.” In the first experiment, a credit... [...]

Mike Orren says, “It was somewhere in the middle of a conversation with Brian Clark at one of Content Marketing World’s parties when it all became clear to me: While Rainmaker.FM has tremendous educational and inspirational assets for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and most general marketers, there’s no podcast that caters to the corporate marketer. That’s not just true on Rainmaker.FM. In general, there isn’t a lot of blogging and podcasting in the corporate marketing space — whether that’s because of a gag order from the legal department or the time it takes to wrangle multiple... [...]

Jack Simpson says, “The content marketing gold rush doesn’t seem to be slowing, and articles advising brands they need to jump on the bandwagon continue to plague the internet like timeshare salesmen in 1970s Spain.  But does your brand really need content marketing? Maybe. Personally I’m pro-content, but I also don’t believe enough thought goes into why and how brands are doing it. If you’re currently planning or revaluating your content efforts, you could save yourself a lot of wasted time and effort by answering these five questions first. 1. Why are you doing it? In marketing... [...]

Cyrus Shepard says, “Howdy Moz Fans, After more than 5 years — including an 18-month hiatus as a Moz associate — tomorrow marks my last day working as a Mozzer. Make no mistake — I love this job, company, and community. Moz has taught me to be a better marketer. Both Rand Fishkin and Sarah Bird (and many others) have taught me more about emotional intelligence and how to treat others than I thought possible of myself. Moz has introduced me to amazing coworkers and industry folk around the world. I’m truly grateful for this experience. Since my first YouMoz post was accepted for publication... [...]

Faizan Raza says, “Online marketing isn’t for the faint of heart. Every week brings news of another algorithm tweak, ad policy change or software version release that upends what we think we know about the business, tearing down long-established models and threatening drawing-board ideas with equal abandon. When change is the field’s only true constant, what’s a digital marketing professional to do? Disclaimer: this post doesn’t answer that question. Analyzing and obsessing over the minute-to-minute changes buffeting digital marketing is a lucrative cottage industry for thousands,... [...]

DMD team says, “We know from experience that working with a small marketing team is great for communication, but the workload can be a bit overwhelming at times. Small business marketers are often juggling myriad tasks on a day-to-day basis, from email marketing to social media monitoring and more. That’s why so many marketers start looking for a solution that can help them do more with less. Marketing automation is a game-changer for small businesses. This white paper from Salesforce-Pardot outlines five easy ways to drive growth with marketing automation. You’ll learn how to: Maximize... [...]

Owen Thomas says, “What went wrong? Most observers are scratching their heads over the surprising announcement that Facebook is winding down Parse, the app-hosting service it bought in 2013 as part of a larger effort to woo mobile developers. Developers will have a year to move their apps off of Facebook’s servers, and can download a version of Parse’s software to run on top of a Node.js server—likely hosted on erstwhile Parse rivals like Salesforce’s Heroku or Amazon Web Services. A Move That’s Hard To Parse The move comes after an exceptionally busy year for Parse.... [...]

Shaun Buck says, “Think about all your relationships past and present. How many of them started because you were introduced to someone through a mutual acquaintance who vouched for you? Most of our relationships, and even most marriages, come about from introductions, not random meetings at bars or in Target while you’re shopping. Let’s look at this from a business standpoint. Imagine you’re at a networking reception and you see your dream prospect off in the distance. This person could help your business like no other. The potential for this account is so huge that if you made... [...]

Ben Davis says, “For a while now, many have bemoaned the lack of creativity in display and programmatic advertising. The Economist bucked the trend last year, creating one of the most eye-catching and witty campaigns of 2015, and winning a Masters of Marketing award in the process. Proximity London was behind the work, marrying provocative content and contextual targeting to help The Economist target new users. A problem of reader brand perception Ahead of this ad campaign, launched in October 2014, The Economist had known for a while it had a problem attracting a key potential audience,... [...]