Interested in learning more about HTML and CSS? You’ll want to pick up the latest edition of “HTML, XHTML and CSS for Dummies.”
The author, Jeff Noble, is a very smart, talented and reliable source.
Pre-order your copy now at Amazon.com.
For marketers, a persona represents a group of people that have certain pre-selected characteristics.
When developing a persona, a marketer will determine which habits, traits, demographic, psychographic (etc) characteristics their best clients possess. These qualities will help them target their messaging to them.
For example, say you own a boutique that sells high-end baby furniture, clothing, toys, etc. Who is going to be your best customer?
It seems like every other month, the United States Postal Service is raising rates on postage to keep up with inflation — if only the average American’s salary kept up with inflation at the same rate. (Okay, that’s a different story…)
For the first time since December 2006, the rates of standard mail will jump by 2.9% and the rates of periodicals will go up 2.7%. This will take effect on May 12th.
As direct mail marketing becomes less effective and as inflation forces postal rates to rise, we will see a greater need for e-marketing.
First class letter: $.41 to $.42
Postcard: $.26 to $.27
Certified Mail: $2.65 to $2.70
The British government has launched The Royal Channel on YouTube so that Queen Elizabeth II can reach England’s younger residents.
The result? 1.2 million views and 20,000 subscribers.
See it for yourself at YouTube.
The March 1st issue of Marketing News, published by the American Marketing Association, has an interesting little article about online shopping.
According to Nielsen Global, Internet shoppers jumped 40% over the last two years. Leading the world are South Korean consumers (99% of whom shop online). Following in their footsteps is the UK, Germany, and Japan. The USA came in 9th.
The top sites include: eBay, Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart. 60% say that they buy from the same site over and over again. This shows the importance of reaching millions of consumers before they make their first online purchase. Brand awareness and experience are key to online shopping success for retailers.
After gaining European Union approval, Google has closed its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick.
DoubleClick helps its customers place online ads in a strategic manner, increasing advertising effectiveness and providing detailed information for ROI.
What do you think about this acquisition? Will it hurt Yahoo! and MSN?
What do you know about Twitter? The folks at SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive) live by it.
See how they’re using it here.
I recently sat down with my manager for my two year review. She had a few suggestions for increasing my value as a marketing professional at my company. I thought they were really good so I figured I’d share them with everyone:
1. Do whatever you can to be visible to your co-workers.
Get out of your office, attend employee functions, and get yourself invited to executive level meetings.
2. Stay informed.
Set up your Google Alerts to get up-to-the-minute industry news about the space that your company is operating in. You can’t hold an intelligent conversation with your fellow employees if you’re not informed. This is especially true in the tech space.
3. Create an internal e-newsletter.
Let the rest of the company know what great things the marketing deparment is doing. Another option is to offer training to the rest of the company. Teach them what you know.
4. Keep Sales in the loop.
There is often a break in communication between Sales and Marketing. Keep Sales updated on all your latest campaigns and accomplishments with a weekly e-mail.
The rules of SEO change everyday. Stay on top of it with advice from the search engine expert, Scott Daughtry. You can find useful tips in his blog at http://austinsearchmarketer.blogspot.com.
