Is your message blending in or standing out in an inbox filled with emails? Email marketing has become an essential part of engaging and targeting prospects and clients online. In fact, eMarketer reports that 97% of small businesses use email marketing to connect with customers. There are many aspects that make up an effective email marketing program, but today I'll focus on how marketers can increase their campaign open rates. Email content is essential,

Readers of Online Marketing Blo g know I have a bent for holistic SEO and the role of content marketing across the entire brand and customer relationship ) customer life cycle marketing (. A lot of commentary in the SEO world over the past few years has been about moving levers via site architecture/code/server/crawler/robot/markup/feeds/microformats as well as blocking and tackling with keywords and links.

I think I just might! It is no longer a question of IF companies should execute a social media strategy . The question for most companies is HOW to best execute a meaningful and engaging approach that generates results. With so many social media marketing options available, marketers must also decide best practices and what tactics to avoid.

When most people think of search engine optimization for a company, it's usually as a marketing function. That makes sense since SEO is such a low-cost, high impact and measurable method of attracting new customers and revenue. However, I think looking at SEO and optimizing social media solely as a marketing function is like looking only at the eyeball of your favorite portait. Take a step back and you'll see a bigger, more interesting picture.

[ Note: If you click on the "more" tab in the presentation above and select "autoplay" it will eliminate the need for clicking through the entire presentation ] As I'm sure you've noticed we're trying something a little different this week. Lee tasked me with creating a weekly news round up to share on the TopRank Blog. Who doesn't love news?

Is your internet marketing strategy putting customers to sleep? Compared to B2B companies, businesses focused on consumer audiences are typically focused on a much shorter sales cycle due to the cost and nature of the purchase. They are searching for a one stop sale. B2C companies typically target a single decision maker or customer segment instead of multiple decision makers and influencers. As a result,

A few weeks ago, @aknecht and @SocialMichelleR had me on their #socialchat and as I am prone to do, I ask for questions in advance and try to answer them so when the actual Twitter chat comes, I'm ready with robust content and links instead of thinking of everything on the fly. The result is a richer experience for all I think. It's also a source of content that one can use for a blog post. Like this one According to Hashtracking , that #socialchat was quite active,

Blogging is one of the top sources of online content creation for many companies. Blogs are a great vehicle for interacting and engaging with current and prospective clients. Blogs are also an effective way for prospects to associate stories, anecdotes, and personalities with a company or brand. Taking on a blog can be a large undertaking. There are many things that should be considered including cost, availability of resources, strategy creation, time commitment,

A recent study "State of Digital Marketing Report" indicated that for both B2B )57%( and B2C )41%(, search engine optimization was the most effective marketing tactic for lead generation over paid search advertising and social media marketing. Keep in mind, the study was sponsored by a provider of SEO services and had a conservative sample size. Despite that, the findings are consistent with what many successful SEO practitioners have known for years.

Blogs are often rated one of the top content marketing tactics for attracting and engaging customers and eMarketer has reported blogs reach over 50% of the internet audience. But most companies fail to combine two of the most important tools for boosting relevant traffic and reach: Optimization for search engines and for social media.

For many people who have grown up celebrating Thanksgiving, the holiday for giving thanks has a underlying theme: Winning the wishbone. Besides the mounds of wonderful food and extended family gathered at many US households, there might be plenty of turkey to go around, but there is only one wishbone. Believe it or not, competitive pursuit after a Thanksgiving turkey's wishbone is a perfect metaphor for understanding better customer centric content marketing.

With SES Chicago over, we're picking up our Wednesday guest posts again. This time with my friend David Meerman Scott , best-selling author of numerous books including The New Rules of Marketing & PR, Real-Time Marketing & PR and a new book called Newsjacking. David is someone who has always been a forward thinker and a few steps ahead of most marketers.

Press Release SEO has been one of the most popular topics to attract Google search traffic here on Online Marketing Blog . In fact, Lee told me he's been using PRWeb )a TopRank SEO Client( to promote content in a news format since 2001. We've seen the ups and downs in the Public Relations industry over the years and have helped inform many Public Relations professionals on the finer arts of SEO by speaking at events like PRSA,

This year was my 5th attending the SES conference in Chicago. While smaller than SES New York or SES San Francisco, the Chicago show serves a significant number of client side marketers, agencies and consultants in the Midwest and according to Incisive Media who run the event, attendance at this year's SES Chicago was the best ever. This was the first SES for our new Marketing Manger at TopRank, Ashley Zeckman, who stepped up to the plate and liveblogged the event for us.

As SES Chicago reaches its final sessions the audience is still alert and ready to learn at TopRank CEO Lee Odden 's afternoon presentation on "Content Marketing & Optimization." According to Google's Eric Schmidt, every 2 days we create as much information as we did from the dawn of time to the year 2003. With so much information being shared what can we do as marketers to make our content easy to spot and easy to consume? Can Customers Find Your Content?

Proper execution of a local and social media strategy is still a head scratcher for many internet marketers. The session on "Local + Social: the Future of Promotion" featuring Gregg Stewart and Benu Aggarwal at SES Chicago was a must see to answer several important questions. A Best Practices Approach with Gregg Stewart Did you know that roughly 20% of all Google searches have local intent? When you look at mobile data that number is even higher.

Wednesday morning's panel discussion on search, social, and content was flush with information that was easy to digest and provided helpful tips for implementation. The session was moderated by Anne Kennedy from the SES Advisory board and featured speakers: • Aaron Kahlow, Chairman & Founder, Online Marketing Summit & SES Advisory Board ) @omconnect ( • Arnie Kuenn, President, Vertical Measures ) @arniek ( • Lee Odden, SES Advisory Board & CEO,

Michael DeHaven's presentation at SES Chicago on "User Generated SEO" started with some actual user generated content from the audience. Before the session DeHaven gave 5 volunteers a bite sized Ghirardelli chocolate bar. In exchange for the treat he asked that each of the volunteers write a review of the chocolate and then share it with the rest of the audience. What Was the Response? The chocolate was called everything from waxy, to too sweet, messy,

Mikel Chertudi, Senior Director, Global Media & Demand Marketing at Adobe Systems, presented Tuesday morning's opening keynote at SES Chicago. The goal of his presentation was to take a deep dive into: How the value of what marketers do is often viewed incorrectly Mistakes that many marketers are guilty of What questions marketers should ask themselves in order to invest marketing dollars appropriately Changing the Marketing Conversation Often times,

I'm going to be visiting the windy city for SES Chicago this week and have been trying to figure out where to explore if I can find some time while I'm there. I always enjoy a great meal so turning to search engines and social media platforms was an obvious answer for me to find great restaurants. Understanding how end consumers use search and social to find and discuss your business online is key in creating an effective online marketing strategy.