Tessa Wegert says, “Social influencers, who spread the word about your brand, can help boost your marketing efforts in an authentic way. Here are three ways to get them on board with your brand. It isn’t a stretch to say that social influencers are more valuable to brands today than ever before. Their role in marketing campaigns isn’t new – generating word of mouth has always been an advertising priority – but modern influencers have an amplified voice that can be heard around the world. Their soapbox is the Internet, their bullhorn social media. When they talk, consumers listen. Today’s... [...]

Jeanne Jennings says, “What’s the argument for using a double opt-in email marketing campaign as opposed to a single opt-in one? Read on to find out. It’s been a long time since the phrase “double opt-in” has crossed my lips, but it came up in not just one but two different conversations in the past few weeks. Both were friends that work in the digital marketing and product development world and they’re really good at what they do. But email isn’t their primary wheelhouse, like it is mine. So it was interesting that both considered double opt-in the way that email marketing... [...]

Motoko Hunt says, “The systems many international websites use to redirect their users can have a huge impact on global SEO. But does anyone wonder what that might be – and why should we care? Many international websites use some type of detection to redirect visitors to content that has been designed for a specific country and/or language rather than to let visitors choose on their own. While this may come from good intentions of great user experience, if not done right, it could cause some major issues for your site that will result in a huge loss of business opportunities. First, let’s... [...]

Liz Rutgersson says, “What’s in store for the coming year? Look out for attribution, viewability, transparency, and an increased focus on audience. Last year I wrote about my five predictions for real-time bidding (RTB) in and what a year it has been! The ever-changing nature of the digital industry is heightened in the highly dynamic and fast-growing programmatic and real-time bidding (RTB) space. Programmatic buys including rich media, social, video, and the private marketplace (PMP) all saw massive growth in 2014. Publisher and advertiser attitudes have shifted and programmatic has... [...]

Yuyu Chen says, “We consulted with industry leaders about what digital marketers should focus on in the coming year. Take a look at their expert tips and predictions. As 2015 approaches, we all begin to look forward to the new opportunities that might await us in the months ahead. What can digital marketers expect to see in the new year? To answer this question, ClickZ spoke with industry leaders from Havas Worldwide, J. Walter Thompson (JWT), and Tribal Worldwide, as well as LinkedIn, Tumblr, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to learn their thoughts on the largest trends we can look... [...]

Kristin Kovner says, “This monthlong plan will help you develop a social media presence for your brand without having to pay for followers. Are you ready to get started? I’m often asked how a B2B company should start building a social presence. My consultancy works with many start-ups in the ad technology and digital media space, developing their go-to-market strategies and often launching their first marketing campaigns. As B2B start-ups focus on building products and securing clients, most of these companies (rightly) don’t give a thought to social media until they already have significant... [...]

Derek Harding says, “That text-only version of your email is causing more harm than good and it’s time to get rid of it once and for all. If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution for your email program I have a suggestion: drop the text version. It’s a hangover habit that you just don’t need anymore. First off let’s make sure we’re all clear what we’re talking about. When you send an HTML email you have the option to include a text-only alternative as part of the same message. Technically your email contains a header that indicates your message has multiple parts that... [...]

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... [...]

Yuya Chen says, “A recent study by Nielsen commissioned by xAd reveals that the best location-based mobile marketing tactics differ greatly depending on the industry vertical. Mobile devices ­ and the real-time view of consumer foot traffic they enable, are the key to connecting online activities to offline commerce and store visitation, according to a recent mobile study by Nielsen commissioned by xAd. The study, “Campaign Design for Driving In-Store Visits,” analyzed and measured consumer behavior across 12 major brands and nearly 80 individual ad campaigns in the retail, restaurant,... [...]

Robin Neifield says, “There has been lots of noise lately surrounding the effectiveness of marketing on social channels. But don’t be fooled – your brand does indeed need to maintain a presence on social platforms. There has been a lot of public hand-wringing lately about the new Facebook policies that require marketers to pay for marketing messages. Brands that spent a lot of time, effort, and advertising dollars in the last few years building up their fan communities are upset with new restrictions on the promotions language and messaging allowed in News Feed posts. If posts look... [...]