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,... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “In a survey by Marin Software, just a third of the more than 300 digital marketers polled in the U.S. and UK said they make creating seamless customer experiences across devices a priority. Despite the shift in consumer usage of mobile devices, the majority of the marketerssurveyed said they still don’t make mobile a priority. Over half (57 percent) said they optimize for mobile when they can but don’t put great focus on it and 10 percent said it’s not a significant part of their strategy. Part of the challenge in adopting mobile strategies maybe a function of overload.... [...]

Pete Prestipino says, “Native ad technology platform TripleLift announced it has signed an agreement with The Atlantic to be the platform for the brand’s integrative native advertising efforts across its portfolio of sites. TripleLift’s platform will enable The Atlantic’s integrated marketing team to deliver branded advertising messages that match the look and feel of its site without comprising the integrity of the brand’s original visual content. Through the use of proprietary computer vision technology, TripleLift’s system analyzes unique image data to determine how to crop... [...]

Pamela Parker says, “Online shoppers stopped doing quite as much research and started seriously buying last week, as conversion rates rose to the highest rate seen yet this season — up 1 percentage point from the previous week, and up 76 percentage points (1.8 times) as compared to the baseline week of September 29. This conversion rate occurred on lower online commerce site page views, as compared to the previous two weeks, perhaps indicating that shoppers have done their research and are in serious buying mode. Still, traffic was up 2.4x over the pre-holiday baseline, though it was... [...]

Susan Esparza says, “2015 is racing toward us all, and it’s worth taking a few minutes to think about how you’re going to improve your display efforts when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve. Inspired by common personal resolutions, here are five ways to make 2015 your best year ever. Get In Shape Is your display advertising slacking and weak? Do you want to make your campaigns lean, mean and green(back)-friendly? Then it’s time to get an ad server, friends. Ad servers manage inventory, target demographics and provide reports on how well your campaigns are performing”. 5 New... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Last April, Facebook retooled its long-neglected right-rail ads, boosting their size and reducing the number of ads that appeared for desktop users. Today, the social network released details about how the new format is performing. Not surprisingly, Facebook reports, the news is positive. In an eye-tracking test, Millward Brown found that the new ads were more effective at attracting and maintaining people’s attention than the previous format. Compared to the former ads, they are: 29% more effective at attracting views (noticing the ad) 50% more effective at driving... [...]

Jessica Lorenz says, “I’ve had some pretty terrible online shopping experiences. I’ve dealt with impossible product pages, awkwardly laid-out shopping carts and some sketchy checkout processes. It seemed as if companies were simply allowing customers to shop online, not encouraging it — especially smaller, specialized stores. Then came the rise of sites like Amazon and Zappos. Today, there is no excuse not to optimizing and improvng the customer experience. At IRCE 2014, MarketingSherpa Reporter, Allison Banko, sat down with Lisa Foreman, Marketing Conversion Manager, Nations Photo Lab,... [...]