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We may already be a week into 2010, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to starting making resolutions. Resolve to give your online marketing efforts a boost this year by recognizing areas for improvement and putting in place a plan to make positive changes. To help you get started, TopRank Online Marketing has come up with New Year’s resolutions for 5 different online marketing channels: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Email Marketing, Pay-Per-Click and Mobile Marketing. 1. SEO: I resolve to focus more on maximizing visits and conversions from organic searches. With SEO efforts, it’s easy to get caught up in one goal: getting found via the search engines. But ranking in the search results is only half the story. If potential customers aren’t clicking through to your web page – or other piece of digital content – the ranking doesn’t mean much. Plus, due to variances in what each of us sees in the search results for the same query, rankings as metric are no longer as useful. Personalized search results according to location and web history means your site might rank high for one person, but not another. Maximize the success of your online marketing efforts by analyzing your metrics report to determine which pieces of digital content are highly visible but producing less than ideal traffic results. Then take some time to ask yourself these questions: What competitive search results are your potential customers seeing? Assess the title tags and meta descriptions of competitive search results. Are competitors offering customers a free case study or a complimentary product sample? Then consider ways to make your own title tags and meta descriptions out-entice the competition. Does your content live up to the promise put forth in your title tags and meta descriptions? Put yourself in your customers’ shoes: When you first visit your web page or other digital content from an organic search, is the content you find relevant? Potential customers don’t want surprises; they want a solution to the problem that caused them to search in the first place. And they want it as promised. Not only will searchers respond more favorably to customer optimized titles and meta descriptions, but the increase in clickthroughs will, no doubt, be noticed by search engines and may influence subsequent rankings. 2. Social Media: I resolve to set goals and track the results of my social media efforts. There’s no denying that social media is more difficult to justify in terms of ROI compared to other online marketing strategies.  But that’s not to say it’s impossible – or that tracking results should be placed on the back burner. And without goals, it’s pretty difficult to measure success. In 2010, put forth even more effort to set goals for social media participation and tie results back to specific tactics. There are a host of free or near-free tools available to gauge brand mentions and traffic from social media channels. In December, we highlighted 5 of these social media monitoring tools . Tracking results via social media monitoring tools is just a start. Those results must be tied back to business goals. Potential goals might be: Develop better customer relationships Reputation management Identify and energize brand evangelists Increase brand awareness Increase relevant visitor traffic Improve standard and social search engine visibility Build up a list for email marketing Increase leads or sales Without setting specific goals upfront, social media efforts can’t be definitively quantified so be sure to implement a Social Media Roadmap and all or social bases will be covered. 3. Email Marketing: I resolve to integrate my email marketing with other online marketing channels. Regardless of what the naysayers may say, email marketing isn’t going to disappear as a result of social media in 2010. In fact, email will continue to play a significant role in most online marketing mixes this year. A study from Silverpop found nearly half of marketers surveyed plan to increase email marketing budgets in 2010. That’s not to say email marketing efforts shouldn’t evolve with the times. Integrating email with social media is on par to be a popular resolution for 2010: A recent eMarketer report found 40% of executives surveyed will make integrating the two tactics their top marketing initiative this year. Another 25% of respondents have already implemented an integrated strategy. Pledge to take email marketing to the next level by encouraging email subscribers to not only forward content via email, but also to get social with email and share it via Facebook, Twitter, Digg and other sites. Conversely, conduct a poll on Twitter or your blog, and encourage followers and readers to subscribe to your e-newsletter for the results. 4. PPC: I resolve to maximize conversion rates by testing different versions of my ads and landing pages. Most companies using self-serve pay per click programs fall victim to “set it and forget it” habits. They’re busy with numerous other marketing activities or don’t have the time to really get to know the native bid management platforms and test/refine campaigns. Even if PPC efforts are reaching set goals in terms of conversion rates, there’s always room for improvement. You’ll never know until you try. Consider these three ideas for testing different elements of your PPC campaigns: Test multiple ad versions that highlight different benefits of your product, service or company. For example, one could tout cost-savings benefits, while another emphasizes a convenience aspect. Use A/B testing to try out two different headlines on your landing page. Again, each could speak to a different benefit (i.e., cost savings vs. convenience). Google Optimizer is a great tool for this. If you’re targeting a competitive search term with many competing ads, consider launching two different campaigns simultaneously. Each could offer a distinct piece of fulfillment – a free case study and a product coupon, for example. A few tools for testing include: A/B Testing resources: ( Google Website Optimizer ,  7 Free Resources ) Multivariate Testing service: ( Omniture ) Heatmap & User Testing tools: ( CrazyEgg ,  Clickdensity ,  Clicktale ,  userfly and Eyetools ) 5. Mobile: I resolve to rethink my website design for mobile users. If your site isn’t already optimized for handheld devices such as cell phones, now is the perfect time to re-assess your site design and how users find your site through mobile search – particularly for B2C companies. In October, ABI Research forecast that mobile sales of physical goods in North America would reach $750 million by the end of 2009, a 117% annual growth rate. Consumers are doing a lot more than purchasing downloadable cell phone ringtones and games from their mobile devices. These days, clothing, electronics, books and a host of other items are being purchased through mobile commerce. Additionally, social network participation through services like foursquare, Facebook and Twitter are growing dramatically, creating additional opportunities for promotion and traffic to the mobile version of your company web site. When optimizing web pages for the mobile web, consider a few tips: Keep fonts in their most basic format Eliminate advertising to conserve screen space Take out images unless they are absolutely necessary Remove Flash, Java or any plug-in content unless absolutely necessary Online Marketing Efforts in 2010 As you make your own personal New Year’s resolutions to drop a few pounds, start a savings account or join a gym, don’t forget your online marketing efforts. Each year provides a fresh start and endless possibilities, so take advantage. What resolutions do you plan to make in 2010 to improve your online marketing efforts?

Being earnest, or sincere, in your efforts to provide content to you customers is perhaps your most important task. Until recent years, your “content” was advertisements, flyers, coupons and other promotional materials. Outstanding content today requires a new mindset and intent. You’re not selling your customers with your content, be it that from a blog, an email newsletter or a posting on a social network, but instead you are providing them with value. While having lunch with Jay Garmon , an email marketing whiz and fellow Social Media Club Louisville board member, earlier this week I asked if he happened to subscribe to Exploring Social Media – my email newsletter. (I was looking for some constructive criticism.) He said he subscribed to the RSS feed of my blog and assumed that my e-newsletter was a digest of the month’s Social Media Explorer posts. I assured him the newsletter content was exclusive and, in fact, different. The conversation reminded me that having a strong content strategy doesn’t just imply that you need and editorial calendar for your corporate website or blog. You also need to think about each content marketing mechanism you employ is different, how its audience is different and what additional value you can provide exclusively to that group. The content I provide on Social Media Explorer serves (I think) social media marketers at many levels, but mostly established professionals seeking ideas and insights to help them do their jobs better. The content I provide on Exploring Social Media (the newsletter) serves a more broad audience of folks interested in social media but not as established, but without dumbing it down too much and alienating the blog readers. My posts on the Social Media Explorer Facebook Page are intended for almost a 101 audience since many of my connections there are people who have no contact with social media other than they’re on Facebook. It’s sort of my beginners sandbox, if you will. The content for each is different because it serves a slightly different audience. To copy and paste your blog or website content into an e-newsletter may very well serve the same content to two different audiences, but are you sure? Are you perhaps missing an opportunity to move your website audience a little closer to your brand with a targeted email effort? Are your Twitter followers also your Facebook fans? If so, don’t you think the auto post to your status update is a bit redundant? Think about your content channels. How are you using them? I’m interested to know if it’s repositioned content or a rethought strategy. The comments are yours. Related articles by Zemanta Marketers as Content Instigators (othersidegroup.com) Writing Content for the Buyer’s Decision Journey (conversationagent.com) Brand publishing (platform.idiomag.com) 10 Most Popular Content Marketing Posts of 2009 (web2.sys-con.com) Content Marketing Today (web2.sys-con.com)

Ready or not, 2010 is here. And according to eMarketer , 2010 is going to be a good year for email marketing. A December survey revealed that 69% of respondents plan to increase spending on email marketing efforts – more than any other marketing strategy. To ring in the New Year, we’ve compiled 5 email marketing tactics that are likely to gain even more ground this year. 1. Integrating Email With Social Media. This email marketing tactic – which picked up steam throughout 2009 as a way to boost customer reach – is likely to spread like wildfire throughout 2010. Consider the results of an early 2009 study by Exact Target, Ball State University and the Email Marketer’s club: 46% of marketers planned to incorporate the two marketing strategies in ‘09, compared to 13% in ‘08—a whopping 253% increase. Both BtoB and Consumer Marketers are moving beyond simply including links to social profiles, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, in email messages.  Some additional tactical ideas for integrating the two strategies include: Using a blog to highlight content from an e-newsletter once or twice a month, and inviting readers to download the full content via a landing page Conducting a timely poll on Twitter, and creating a visual representation of the results, in an e-newsletter Leveraging social media channels to offer email subscribers customized options (i.e., receiving a combination of a monthly newsletter, a Twitter feed with promotions and an RSS feed with daily news instead of receiving a generic bi-weekly e-newsletter) 2. Focusing on Engaging Subscribers. In a December article from Direct magazine, writer Ken Magill reports that ISPs are now looking into using engagement as a factor to determine if emails get to inboxes. That would mean if subscribers aren’t interacting with email messages, the ISP may stop delivering the messages. Of course, it’s not yet determined what exactly will constitute an “engaged” email subscriber. But potential measures of engagement we would recommend focusing on improving include: Open Rates: Try increasing open rates by personalizing subject lines and including clear information in the “from” line indicating who is sending the email. Click Rates: To improve CTR, analyze if the design of the email is guiding subscribers to the CTA. Web heat maps, for example, can be used to distinguish areas of a Web page most frequently scanned by visitors. Also, give subscribers a reason to click, whether for additional content, a product coupon or a complimentary gift. Number of Forwards: To increase the number of subscribers forwarding an email, make it as easy as possible to do so. Include the ability to forward the message via email, as well as the option to share on social networks. 3. Re-engaging Inactive Subscribers. Building an email subscriber is one thing; building an active email subscriber base is another. Virtually every email marketing list contains a group of inactive subscribers, those who aren’t opening emails but haven’t yet unsubscribed. To re-engage these sleepy subscribers, consider these email marketing tactics: Offer the inactive group a complimentary white paper or free trial of a product Create a sense of urgency with notifications that their subscription will end soon Segment the inactive subscribers and cut back on the frequency of email communications Send a series of opt-in engagement messages to the inactive group reminding them of the value of the emails 4. Creating Viral Campaigns . Viral marketing isn’t a new concept. But today, with sites like Twitter, Digg, Flickr and Facebook, email messages have the potential to be shared like never before. Try out these email marketing tactics in 2010 to help extend your message to a maximum number of customers: Tailor forward links to specific campaigns: In lieu of the typical “forward to a friend” link, customize the link for the individual campaign, content and audience. For instance, if an email message provides tips to help small business owners build credit, create a forward link with the text: “Forward these tips for building credit to a colleague.” Don’t restrict access to content: In order for a message to spread to a maximum number of prospective customers, make content free and accessible to anyone. Plus, make all login processes as quick and painless as possible. Experiment with placement of forward links: Avoid subscribers developing a “blindness” to forward links because the links are placed in the same location for every campaign. Instead, try varying placement, size and color of links. 5. A/B Testing and Optimizing Landing Pages. Thanks to quickly advancing marketing automation technology, email marketers can more easily perfect landing pages to create a relevant experience and maximize conversions. Many email marketing tools now offer built-in A/B page-testing capabilities, enabling marketers to test multiple page variations and measure the performance of each. In a recent post on Email Marketing Strategy Blog from Silverpop, CEO Bill Nussey suggests that advanced A/B testing and optimization can easily yield a 5% to 10% lift in conversion rates. Plus, because email solutions are automating what used to be a manual process, marketers can spend more time interpreting numbers and focusing on the creative. There’s no better time than the New Year to set resolutions and make improvements. As we head into 2010, take some time to assess your email marketing tactics. Could any of these 5 ideas be incorporated into your marketing mix to improve results?

There is no doubt by now that social media marketing is creeping into every SMEs mind in the coming year. According to many reports in the last quarter of 2009, social media and email marketing will.

Source: Shutterstock Forrester recently released a new report tracking the future of US interactive marketing through 2014. Authored by Shar VanBoskirk, with Christine Spivey Overby, Niki Scevak, and Angie Polanco, Forrester predicts that interactive marketing is poised to grow at a 16% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Even though interactive marketing will approach $55 billion by 2014, the report also observes that not all industries will keep pace with this growth. Retail and financial services are expected to dominate the greatest share of all interactive marketing. Brand advertisers in industries such as consumer goods however, represent the most notable potential for growth. Nevertheless, Forrester cautions readers of this report to analyze competitive and industry activity before committing to spend and programming But while it’s helpful to understand industry spending dynamics, we recommend benchmarking your own spend against companies that are like yours — even if they are outside of your industry group. To provide guidance to decision makers across a diverse set of industries, Forrester studied search marketing, display advertising, email marketing, social media, and mobile marketing by 11 business verticals. The overall theme is innovation and sophistication Highlights from the research include: 1 – Retails and financial services spend the most in each of the verticals examined, accounting for 33% of all interactive spend. 2 – Big offline advertisers are expected to demonstrate the greatest volume of growth including, media and entertainment, consumer goods, automotive, and healthcare firms. It is expected that these industries will grow at a 22% CAGR over the next five years. 3 – B2B interactive investments will remain consistent, representing 9% of the overall interactive landscape. Business services, accounting firms, consultancies, and agencies as well as business trade elements, will grow from $2.3 billion to $4.8 billion in 2014. 4 – As is any research, there is usually a category for “other.” In this report Forrester assembles education, local services, and government in one sliver with online universities, home improvement services, and local and national government to increase spending by more than 20% between now and 2014. This growth is attributed to 1) local advertising options continue to improve; 2) government agencies promote newly online processes; and 3) the competition for online students will increase. In one such example, the University of Phoenix developed its own online ad network to distribute online promotions and coupons as a means for increasing course registrations. In each of the 11 categories that Forrester explored, the average CAGR over the next five years was 16% with “other” representing the higher end of spending with 23% and lead generation on the other end of the spectrum with 9%. Other high growth industries for interactive marketing spending include: Consumer Goods – 22% Automotive – 19% Media & Entertainment – 19% Travel – 18% Health and Pharmaceuticals – 18% B2B – 15% Telecommunications – 15% Financial Services – 14% One of the more interesting aspects of the Forrester report was the allocation of spend across multiple channels with Social Media ranking either fourth or fifth (out of 5) within the mix.  In 2009 interactive spend was mostly concentrated on search marketing – rightfully so as with online customers and prospects, almost everything begins with search . Other top channels in 2009 for interactive marketing include: Display Advertising Email Mobile (which I can only believe will increase dramatically of the next five years) In a Forrester report published earlier this year, Social Media spend is expected to increase by 34% by 2014, placing it just behind mobile marketing, but ahead of search marketing. Regardless of industry, the top areas of marketing, whether it’s interactive or marketing in general, for any business, must focus on social, mobile, and also the real-time Web. Thus forming a Golden Triangle engagement. This post represents only a handful of the insights shared in Forrester’s new report. Please visit Forrester online for the full analysis . Connect with Brian Solis : Twitter , LinkedIn , Tumblr , Plaxo , or Facebook — Get the new iPhone app! — Click the image below to buy the book/poster : pr pr+2.0 pr2.0 public+relations marketing advertising interactive social+media socialmedia brian+solis social media media2.0 media+2.0 2.0 smo social+media+optimization marcom communication publicity advertising expert interactive spin brand branding guru social+architect

a, a:link, a:visited {color:#ff5f00;font-size:8pt;} Director of IT - E-commerce, Social Media , Email Marketing, SEO near Manhattan, NY This job is open as of 12/13/2009 ...

Businesses are gearing up to increase their marketing spend on email marketing and social media in 2010, making those the top two areas of marketing investment in 2010, according to ...