If the recent StrongMail "2010 Marketing Trends" survey is correct, online marketing spending will be up in the coming year. According to the report, 89 percent of respondents said they will either maintain or increase the amount of their marketing spending in 2010, with 50 percent of businesses saying they would allocate additional dollars to their marketing efforts. What will they be spending their dollars on? Social media and e-mail marketing are the top two areas. More
Web 3.0 is Finally Here
from ClickZ
As we near the end of 2009 and people begin setting down specific strategies for 2010, it's time to review what's worked in e-mail for you, and where you want to focus change for the upcoming year.It doesn't matter what type of e-mail marketer you are -- from novice to expert, B2B or B2C -- 2010 is introducing a reading revolution. The Internet as we know it will give way to an entirely new way of reading and navigating information. The day of Web 3.0 is finally here. Apps are the new Internet. More
Five Ways to Actually Make Money on Twitter
from Inc. magazine
What, in 140 characters or fewer, is Twitter? Well, it's a money-losing website made up of very short messages where your kids (and C-list celebrities) waste time. It's also a popular new medium - tens of millions of users and counting - that businesses use to build brands (and sometimes destroy them). All this you know. Or you should. But Twitter isn't just about buzz: Some companies have figured out how to use it for old-fashioned things. Like, you know, making money. More
Rethinking Your Link Marketing Strategies
from Search Engine Watch
Whether you have a large or small link building budget, you must face challenges. All companies struggle to achieve the rankings they want because SEO is competitive and link building is difficult work. Explore several methods to improve your results, whether you're spending $1,000 or $10,000 a month on link marketing, by reading on in the linked article. More
Five Easy Ways to Improve Your Site's Search Engine Ranking
from Entrepreneur
What do the experts say about achieving search ranking dominance in specific market sectors via relevant keyword searches? A lot. And while there are scads of excellent books and online resources on search engine optimization, here's the skinny about the top five easy and cheap steps you can do right now, to improve your website search engine rankings and sales. More
12 Social Media New Year's Resolutions For 2010
from Search Engine Land
The author has chosen the 12 most important items to work on in social media in 2010. As you may know, there is no right answer in social media; each company is different, but each of these points can be adjusted for any company. Hopefully this will work as a guide on how to create a better social media presence in 2010. More
Five Steps to a Four Percent Conversion from Tweets
from Marketing Sherpa
Does Twitter have potential as a sales promotion channel? In short, yes. In the linked article, to see how an online t-shirt retailer used Twitter to tease a major sales event, launch the promotion, and encourage a viral effect. The campaign broke their record for single-day sales, and realized a four percent conversion rate from Twitter traffic. More
SEO Tips for Small Business: How to Get Good Links
from SmallBusinessComputing.com
According to a survey of top SEO experts, keyword-rich links from other Web sites, do more to bump your page rankings than any other element. Unfortunately, getting those links can be difficult and time consuming. But with persistence, patience and some old-fashioned networking, you can acquire quality links to your site — and greatly improve your chances of ranking highly in relevant search engine results. More
'Great Race' Between Traditional, Digital Shops
from AdWeek
Clients generally distrust their traditional agencies when it comes to digital, but they're still wary of handing over the keys to overall brand strategy to the Web specialists, according to a new survey of marketers. Forrester Research conducted a "state of interactive agencies" survey of about 100 global interactive marketers. It found just 23 percent believed their "traditional brand agency" is capable of planning and managing interactive marketing activities. About 46 percent did not believe them capable, with the rest neutral on the question. More
Where Your Customers Are: How Facebook, Twitter and Others Break Down by Age
from BNET
Facebook, the largest social media network, recently reached 300 million users worldwide — roughly the population of the United States. So do your homework before you approach your customers online. Here's how users on the top social media sites broke down by age in August 2009. More
