Featured Archives

Do Creative Email Subject Lines Work?

March 16, 2010
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Sometimes we think creative is better than tried-and-true. Or maybe we look at it the other way around. But which way is best? Is there a best way? This post looks at some case studies in an attempt to answer these questions. Read More »

$1,115 8 625 41 1 Those are the subject lines of the past 5 White House emails that have landed in my inbox. Above is what they actually looked like in Gmail. Just yesterday, I received an email from Urban Outfitters (ignore for a second that the email was one big image with little...

How to use social media and email marketing to reinforce brand loyalty

March 11, 2010
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What's important about the "Share with your network" buttons in email is what your subscribers do with their networks on your behalf. This post investigates how to engage readers enough to get them to use those buttons! Read More »

One of the least understood features of Blue Sky Factory’s Publicaster email marketing software is the Share With Your Network (SWYN) social media feature. On the surface, it basically appears to be a bunch of social network buttons that get inserted into outgoing email. Big deal,...

Developing Leads for Your Sales Pipeline

March 9, 2010
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Most of us looking to generate leads struggle with assuming that names and numbers equal leads or viable sales pipeline, but this is often not the case. This post looks at some ways to generate leads that ARE viable and actionable. Read More »

I came across one of the classic deadly myths of sales. It was in the form of a question on LinkedIn Answers. Let’s see if you can spot it: What do you find works the best for developing leads? I am currently researching other ways to develop leads and eventually fill up my sales...

Lead Scoring Made Easy

March 5, 2010
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Are you intimidated by lead scoring? Chances are if you're not implementing this practice it might be because you're making it more difficult than it has to be, according to this post. Read on to figure out how to de-mistify lead scoring! Read More »

I am at the Online Marketing Summit in San Diego, and I spoke on the Demand Generation & Sales 2.0 Panel yesterday. It was a great conversation, with great questions from the room — people are definitely engaged in how…

An ROI-boosting alternative to search marketing

February 26, 2010
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Search marketing and SEO are crucial parts of any online marketing campaign but this article points out there's a way to branch out from search and still engage ROI. Read More »

Paid search is a mainstay of online advertising, but there are other performance-based platforms that can outperform search. Take a look at the available options.

How to identify your site’s worst pages

February 19, 2010
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This post points out, the worst page on a website is the last page that a visitor looks at before they leave. This article helps marketers figure out how to test these pages and what to do about it. Read More »

The worst page on a website is the last page that a visitor looks at before they leave and unless that’s the final page in your checkout process you need to be looking at ways to improve it. An easy method to identify pages that are causing your visitors to leave is to order your...

What is the secret to a successful website?

February 18, 2010
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Are you passionate about your website? This post contends that the most successful sites have leaders at the helm who are truly enthused about the product. Is that enthusiasm shining through in your product? Read More »

Here’s the million-dollar question: “What is the secret to a successful website?” I’m not foolish enough to suggest a single answer. But in more than a decade of working on client websites, I’ve noticed a recurring pattern: the sites that su…

Shopping Cart Abandonment: How not being annoying can get you 67% more cart completions

February 15, 2010
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This post gives a GREAT example of how ridiculous online retailers sometimes make it for customers just to purchase a product. It's a good lesson in simplifying the process and something that could generate even more business. Read More »

If shopping at a bricks and mortar store were as difficult as some ecommerce sites, customers would run out screaming. Make the process easier and you could significantly boost sales…

Using Video in Email: The Good, The Bad and The Way to Make it Work.

February 9, 2010
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Integrating video across multiple platforms including email can be a great integration strategy. But what video do you choose, or, how do you create a video that will speak to your audience? This post addresses some of the specific video integration... Read More »

Have you been contemplating incorporating video into your email marketing program, but were confused by all of the technical aspects, or whether it even made sense for your company? I’ve personally experienced the struggles and challenges incorporating video into email introduces,...

7 Traits of Highly Effective Viral Videos

February 8, 2010
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While reading this post, I almost immediately got sucked into the litany of successful viral videos this blog references. As this post points out, while you may not be able to reverse-engineer a video to go viral, there are still elements you can... Read More »

In the past few years, video has come a long way. As someone who once didn’t like online video, it’s now part of my daily life. In the past few years, videos have gotten much better and widespread that I’d find it hard to be stubborn in my old ways by ignoring all incoming...