The latest ClickZ blog post is titled “5 Pervasive Email Challenges – and How to Fix Them”. Simms Jenkins says, “There are many things that can wrong in an email marketing campaign, from conception to delivery. Here are five of the most common challenges, and simple steps to take to fix them. The email marketing train is a constant and fast-moving one. It is hard to get off at the high speed and seemingly even harder to slow it down and take in the view. I know many email marketers that find it very hard to change less-than-successful practices or gain momentum on new techniques and strategies.... [...]

The latest ClickZ blog post is titled “Triggered Email Messages: Keys to Success”. Jeanne Jennings says, “Sending triggered email messages can be an extremely effective marketing strategy, as they have been shown to produce much higher open and click-through rates. Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at the Monetate Agility Summit about one of my favorite things: triggered email messages. And I’m not the only one who likes them. According to a December 2012 MarketingSherpa survey, 39 percent of marketers cited them as a way to improve email relevance and engagement. That was... [...]

The latest TopRank blog post is titled “5 Steps to Content Marketing Awesome – You Can Do This!”. Lee Odden says, “Successful content marketing programs are ongoing communications efforts that empathize with customers and deliver useful experiences. Each content object published is a promise to the community that something relevant, useful and info-raining is in store. Consistently producing content experiences that inform and inspire creates one of the most powerful customer states: anticipation. Few things are more powerful for attracting a loyal following of customers and advocates... [...]

The latest TopRank blog post is titled “The Hashtag Test: Best and Worst Practices for Social Media Marketers”. Nick Ehrenberg says, “Hashtags are wonderful social media marketing tools. They can highlight trends, tie campaigns to chosen keywords, and isolate conversations. The allure of the hashtag is strong, especially for brands that desire a customized platform for their content. Twitter (and, to a lesser extent, Facebook, Instagram and Google+) thrives on hashtags for everything from primetime TV shows to organic political movements. However, like all good things in life, the hashtag... [...]

The latest ClickZ blog post is titled “7 Strategies to Optimize Your Email Marketing Campaign”. David Bakke says, “Pinterest might be flashy and Twitter might be trendy, but old-school email is still the best in the business when it comes to generating customer interaction and sales. When you send an email to a list of customers or clients, you’re reaching targeted individuals who opted-in to receive your content. That means they’re already primed and ready to follow through on whatever you’re offering. However, your email campaign is only as good as the follow-through you... [...]

The latest TopRank blog post is titled “4 Essential Trends in Social Media Marketing in 2014”. Evan Prokop says, “The energy was sky high at Social Media Marketing World this year. Marketers, brands, consultants and business owners from over 40 different countries gathered together to learn about the latest innovations in social media marketing, rub shoulders with social media rockstars, and enjoy unprecedented networking opportunities. Having the event in beautiful San Diego CA didn’t hurt either. I had the pleasure of sitting in the opening keynote speech from the conference organizerMichael... [...]

The latest TopRank blog post is titled “Measuring Social Media ROI – Brands Pull Back the Curtain at #SMMW14”. Emily Bacheller says, “Marketers are increasingly faced with the challenge of proving the monetary value of social media marketing to the C-suite. Since social media is typically less of a sales tool and more of a means of nurturing new leads and maintaining a relationship with current customers, putting a price tag on social media can be a difficult thing to do. The C-Suite will always be concerned with profit, so it’s imperative that marketers can either prove that social... [...]

The latest ClickZ blog post is titled “3 Ways to Maximize Email Marketing Results This Year”. Kara Trivunovic says, “The growing popularity of social media and mobile marketing has caused many industry leaders to question whether email marketing is still a relevant consumer marketing channel. In fact, email remains an incredibly powerful and trusted communication vehicle that enables marketers to build long-term relationships with the most loyal and engaged customers. While the vast majority of subscribers – some estimate as high as 80 percent – admittedly subscribe to email lists purely... [...]

The latest TopRank blog post is titled “5 Must Read Perspectives on Social Media Marketing Strategy”. Lee Odden says, “The eternal debate in marketing: Strategy before tactics vs. Tactics to develop strategy. So many companies have become comfortable reacting to industry trends and competitors with tactics, that they end up with wasted effort, poor performance and plenty of frustration. This is especially true in the world of social media marketing as companies roll out social media tactics only to be left wondering in 6 months what the ROI is. Answering Why, for Who and with What tactics... [...]

The latest ClickZ blog post is titled “Is Your Brand Sending Emails Thursdays at Lunch Time? So Is Everyone Else”. Jessica Lee says, “Email is an important aspect of many brands’ marketing channels. TrackMaven wanted to explore what brands were up to with their email campaigns, so they examined more than 2,000 email lists and more than 93,000 emails to find out. In their study, TrackMaven looked at days and times sent, word count, headlines, imagery used, and more. Let’s have a look at the results published this week. Thursday was the most popular day to send email, while Tuesday and... [...]