http://www.marketingprofs.com Marketing Resources for Marketing Professionals en-us Copyright 2000-2009 MarketingProfs, LLC http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1412/sorry-seems-to-be-the-hardest-word "AT&T customers have been complaining for months about dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and slow download speeds for the iPhone," says Jackie Huba in a post at the Church of the Customer Blog. In response, AT&T produced a three-minute YouTube video in which it appears that ... Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:30:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1412/sorry-seems-to-be-the-hardest-word http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1494/want-spam-with-that-spam A few years ago, Neil Schwartzman downloaded-but never used-the trial version of an anti-spam software program. "It turned out it was Windows-only," he explains at his blog, "so I never installed it, as I use a Mac. Have done since 1986." Following the download, he received the customary follow-up-one email to ... Fri, 6 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1494/want-spam-with-that-spam http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3145/asia-pacific-search-volume-hits-record-in-september Asia/Pacific Internet users conducted 38.6 billion search queries in September 2009, a 33% increase over the previous year, according to comScore data. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:30:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3145/asia-pacific-search-volume-hits-record-in-september http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3144/newspaper-sites-attract-38-of-internet-users Newspaper websites attracted more than 74 million unique visitors in the third quarter of 2009, accounting for 38% of all Internet users, according to a study conducted by Nielsen Online for the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3144/newspaper-sites-attract-38-of-internet-users http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1473/enjoy-some-good-holiday-cheese As the goblins and ghouls out there munch away on their Halloween bounty, fond memories arise of one apparition we saw a lot of this season-the Monster Mash JibJab "sendable." The e-card uses facial-recognition technology to seamlessly attach the faces of your friends or family to the body of a monster. ... Thu, 5 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1473/enjoy-some-good-holiday-cheese http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3142/shift-to-mobile-web-means-marketing-opportunities As mobile devices mature, consumers are shifting their online search habits away from the desktop toward mobile, and so changing the game for online advertisers and search marketers Thu, 5 Nov 2009 17:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3142/shift-to-mobile-web-means-marketing-opportunities http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1469/is-he-a-searcher-or-a-sleaze As B2B companies boost their search-marketing efforts, SEO experts are in greater demand. And why not? With search one of the few bright spots in advertising these days, it stands to reason that optimizers who know how to get the job done are a precious commodity. But in a recent ... Thu, 5 Nov 2009 16:30:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1469/is-he-a-searcher-or-a-sleaze http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1467/cut-the-loopholes Knowing that Hilton Hotels offers a best-rate guarantee, Hilton HHonors member Randall Gellens booked a room in Rome at the lowest available rate of €168. When he found a better price-€139-for what appeared to be an identical reservation through a third-party travel site, he expected to receive the compensation Hilton ... Thu, 5 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1467/cut-the-loopholes http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3143/politicians-deemed-worst-endorsers Almost two in five (37%) of US adults think politicians are the least credible and persuasive spokespeople for a product. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3143/politicians-deemed-worst-endorsers http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3141/smbs-to-boost-twitter-use-for-marketing Some 9% of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) use Twitter to market their business, and 32% of SMBs say they plan to include social media in their marketing mix over the next year. Wed, 4 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3141/smbs-to-boost-twitter-use-for-marketing http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1475/so-the-recession-is-a-good-thing While acknowledging the damage this recession has done to the personal and professional lives of so many people, Freddie Laker also argues that our dark economic cloud has brought with it a significant silver lining for marketers. "I think this might be the best thing that has happened to our industry ... Wed, 4 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1475/so-the-recession-is-a-good-thing http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1480/polish-your-brand-with-co-creation "A revolution in both marketing thought and practice is at hand," say three researchers in an interesting new report on brand marketing. In their research, these authors examined "consumer co-creation in an empirical context"-specifically, creative consumer behavior in nine brand communities across a wide array of products, including Apple Newton (a ... Wed, 4 Nov 2009 16:30:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1480/polish-your-brand-with-co-creation http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1493/d0nt-do-this If you visit political blogs, you may have noticed that some bloggers try to outsmart content filters that flag incendiary words by substituting numbers and symbols for letters (e.g., pr0p@ganda), or by inserting periods or spaces where they don't belong within words (e.g., m.orons). Unfortunately, says Karl Foxley, he has begun to ... Wed, 4 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1493/d0nt-do-this http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3139/fall-tv-drives-record-online-video-viewing The fall TV season premieres attracted record online viewership in September, with nearly 26 billion videos delivered to 168 million US Internet users during the month. Tue, 3 Nov 2009 18:15:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3139/fall-tv-drives-record-online-video-viewing http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1489/oh-so-thats-how-it-works It's happening less often these days, but you probably still encounter executives or colleagues who have trouble wrapping their heads around newer technology-how something works, for instance, and what it can do for them. So if you find yourself trying to explain the ins and outs of Google Analytics to ... Tue, 3 Nov 2009 16:30:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1489/oh-so-thats-how-it-works http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1454/dont-leave-me-this-way It's the bane of every retailer with an online store-somewhere between adding products to shopping carts and finalizing their purchases, some customers vanish into thin air. According to Brendan Regan at the FutureNow blog, they abandon their carts for various reasons. Here are a few: They thought ... Tue, 3 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1454/dont-leave-me-this-way http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1372/i-prefer-a-smooth-blend To be free or not to be free? That is the question many content providers are asking these days. Says SEO Book author Aaron Wall in a Search Engine Land article: "Free content can spread far and get many links, but it won't produce any revenue directly. If it is paid, ... Mon, 2 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1372/i-prefer-a-smooth-blend http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1484/mind-the-big-three-bes Fun fact: Only 13% of the mobile market has an iPhone. That sounds like plenty when you consider how long the phone's been available, but it merits remembering that the vast majority of users-and possibly many in your demo-still don't have one. So how to wiggle into the pockets of non-iPhoners ... Mon, 2 Nov 2009 16:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1484/mind-the-big-three-bes http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2009/3133/four-case-studies-how-these-very-different-b2b-organizations-are-succeeding-with-social-media by Christina Kerley. Developed especially for B2B marketers, this article provides social-media case studies for large and small companies. Get great tips for developing your social media programs. Mon, 2 Nov 2009 16:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2009/3133/four-case-studies-how-these-very-different-b2b-organizations-are-succeeding-with-social-media http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1479/are-you-that-into-me "During the sales process [with potential email service providers] you will meet rainmakers, executives, subject-matter experts, high-level technical support, and creative directors and so on," says Bryan Stapp in a post at the Loud Amplifier Marketing blog. "The real question is: Who is going to be there after the contract ... Mon, 2 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1479/are-you-that-into-me http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1459/why-salespeople-fail "It's a battle of the plans, and the person with the stronger plan wins," says Steven Kraner at Hightechguru.com, and it's the main reason why high-tech salespeople fail. Technology buyers are often formally trained to manage salespeople, extract as much information as possible and maintain control over the sales process. ... Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1459/why-salespeople-fail http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1400/you-lie A recent viral video opens on a pretty blonde, who sits at her desk while cradling an infant son. "Hi, my name is Karen and I'm from Denmark," she says. "And this here is my baby boy. His name is August. I'm doing this video because I'm trying to find ... Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:30:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1400/you-lie http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3130/25-of-uk-ads-on-social-networks Social networking sites accounted for more than 25% of all UK display ad impressions in August. Although younger social networkers were delivered the highest percentage of ads, a sizable percentage of impressions reached every age group. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:15:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3130/25-of-uk-ads-on-social-networks http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1478/the-ho-ho-heat-is-on "The holiday season is the most important time of year for retailers, when aggressive goals are set for increased traffic and sales, both in-store and online," says eROI's Alex Williams in a MarketingProfs article on key takeaways from his podcast with Chad White of Smith-Harmon. As you experience this holiday season's campaigns ... Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1478/the-ho-ho-heat-is-on http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3129/kanye-jon-kate-tops-for-halloween Kanye West and Jon &Kate Gosselin topped the list in a survey of likely Halloween costume choices this year based on a celebrity mistake. Jon &Kate also swept the top spots in a question about which reality TV stars should have their own costumers. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:45:00 GMT http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2009/3129/kanye-jon-kate-tops-for-halloween