The holidays are the perfect time to find new customers to visit your website and find your business. According to a report from comScore, eCommerce sales for 2009 were $27 billion, up 5% from 2008. This will likely increase as more people work to avoid the holiday crowds at brick and mortar stores and find the best deals possible. Take advantage of holiday sales this year with these 4 tips to help you optimize your eCommerce website for the holidays. Optimize Blog Posts For Holiday-Specific Keywords - Blog posts can help your SEO by creating new content to help you rank for ...

Last week, Delta Airlines launched a new feature on their Facebook page that allows fans to book flights without leaving the fan page. The new feature, which will also be coming to Delta's display ads on various news and publisher sites, has an arrow consumers can click and then it will expand a window on the website they are currently on. On the Facebook page, there is a "Book a Flight" tab that will asks users to allow the app to have access to their basic information, like most other Facebook apps. Then, the fan will see a ticket window directly on ...

Global Director of Digital and Social Media for PepsiCo Bonin Bough talked with BigThink.com about Pepsi's social media strategy. One idea that he discusses is how everyone's social media strategy needs to be unique to their company and resources. Being true to your company and its brand in the end will be what helps increase your social media presence. "Have Follow Fridays were you spend two hours talking to the community if that's all you have to work with. There really are no set rules." Watch the full interview below and let us know what you think about his ...

Incorporating social media channels as part of cross-promotional marketing is an easy way to increase the effectiveness of any marketing campaign. Essentially, social media channels provide businesses access to large numbers of their market base using popular platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. Strategic use of these channels gives businesses the opportunity to expand their reach and engage the public in an efficient and cost effective manner. Below are 10 marketing strategies to maximize the use of social media in your cross-promotional marketing mix: 1. Announce your new LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter accounts in your email newsletters to create followers from your ...

Including social media sharing options like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Digg in your email marketing messages can generate a 30% higher click-through rate than emails without a social sharing option. According to a study by GetResponse, only half of email marketers are including social media links in their emails, even though it can vastly improve the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns. The survey found that emails that had at least one social sharing option had a 30% higher click-through rate. If they had at least 3 social sharing options, then it had a 55% click-through rate. Twitter is the most popular ...

According to a survey by the e-tailing group, 59% of businesses surveyed are planning on investing more into e-commerce in 2010. This number is up from 36% in 2009. [caption id="attachment_1565" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Data from the e-tailing group's 9th Annual Merchant Survey"][/caption] The 9th Annual Merchant Survey also reported that 92% plan on an increase in Internet revenue, with most anticipating between 6% and 15%. With more businesses anticipating an increase with e-commerce, they must also work at using marketing that entices to both current customers and possible prospects in order to succeed. The majority of respondents reported, however, that the conversion rate ...

Many small businesses are still not using basic online marketing tools to help them grow their business. According to a survey from Citibank, 37% of small businesses had not used a website for marketing or expanding their business in the last year. Also, 84% had not used ecommerce to sell products, and 62% have not used email marketing. Of those businesses that do have a website, 74% say their website has been effective at generating business. The survey also found that while many small businesses placed an importance on word-of-mouth marketing to market themselves and find new customers, they did not view social ...

As a full service marketing agency, it’s kind of hard not to notice the marketing efforts utilized by the businesses around us. It’s great to see campaigns being launched and creativity being stretched. So we thought it would be interesting to make this a regular thing and see what companies are doing to help grow their business and increase their exposure. Today’s featured business: Express I received this ad from Express awhile back, and recently decided to check on their website to see how the promotion was going.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that Express.com had updated their website to be ...

As a full service marketing agency, it’s kind of hard not to notice the marketing efforts utilized by the businesses around us. It’s great to see campaigns being launched and creativity being stretched. So we thought it would be interesting to make this a regular thing and see what companies are doing to help grow their business and increase their exposure. Today’s featured business: Office Max I received a letter from Office Max today with a nice greeting that referred to me as a “valued customer.” It’s always nice to know you’re appreciated. Of course the letter, in just under 10 sentences, ...

With new social networking sites popping up and burning out every day it can be a challenge just to break through the piles of pop ups and product links.  Getting your message heard on the social networking scene is more difficult than ever but there are a few ways to make sure you get the most out of your advertising budget.   First and foremost, knowing your audience is key.  While there are some in the older demographics enjoying Facebook and twitter the audience mainly ranges the 10-25 age groups (unless you count parents checking up on their kids).  If you ...

According to a recent article published in DMNews by Dianna Dilworth, FedEx is getting ready to execute a multichannel marketing campaign in 2010 as part of the company’s new strategy to integrate its brand messaging and creative across channels. The marketing efforts include both online and offline channels with a unified message directing consumers to a microsite designed to engage them. Steve Pacheco, director of advertising at FedEx, stated that, it is the first truly integrated marketing campaign launched by the company. He firmly believes that it is crucial to integrate as many channels of communications as possible since consumers are ...