What’s Working in Marketing

Since the late 1990’s, research has shown that Internet users are “functionally blind” to ads on a web page. In 2005, Burke, Hornof, Nilsen, and Gorman concluded, Eye tracking data reveal people rarely look directly at banners. A post hoc memory test confirms low banner recall and, surprisingly, that animated banners are more difficult to [...]

This isn’t just an attention grabbing headline. Something’s going on with the way our brains work and it’s especially prevalent with the younger generation. Is Google making us stupid? it’s a great question first asked several years ago by tech author Nicholas Carr in The Atlantic. Now he’s got a whole series of books on [...]

I have lots of friends who work in traditional sales roles. The interesting issue is that fewer and fewer have traditional sales titles. The ones that do — inside sales, telemarketing, field sales, sales rep, etc — have to work extra hard to overcome the bad vibes of the stereotype. Daniel Pink, author of a [...]

How do you get a web site visitor to notice a particular piece of information on your web site, such as a new white paper or a limited time offer on a new device? Most of us assume, that if something is somehow emphasized on our web site it will get noticed. Well, maybe not. [...]

In a new research paper by WPI Professor Soussan Djamasbi, we have our first look into Gen Y’s likes and dislikes when it comes to web pages. Gen Y’s are particularly interesting because they’ve been exposed to technology since childhood. They’re tech savvy and they’re short on attention span. That makes them an interesting target [...]

Brian Solis shared some interesting statistics about the State of Social Media in 2011 and that it’s now a “new norm”.  In fact, its unlikely we’ll keep calling it “social media”, as everything will soon just have a social component to it.  I’ve noticed the hype around social media is dying down, which is a [...]

Your buyers’ time is extremely valuable. In a recent survey of automation end-users, we found that buying teams are getting bigger. In fact, 4-5 people are now influencing the short list and purchase decisions, on average. And your customers are keenly aware of the challenges this presents as they want to reduce the buying cycle [...]

Search is a cornerstone of the Internet economy and an essential part of the daily lives of many social and business users. According to a new study from McKinsey & Company, The Impact of Internet Technologies: Search, in 2010, the average US Internet user performed about 1,500 searches. That’s 4+ searches a day. Over the [...]

In a tight economy, most people love a good deal. Heck, I love a good deal even when the economy is purring. So it’s really no surprise that Groupon is taking off. According to their site: Groupon negotiates huge discounts—usually 50-90% off—with popular businesses. We send the deals to thousands of subscribers in our free [...]

A study issued this week by Exact Target and Cotweet called “The Social Break-Up”  investigated the reasons why people unsubscribe, unfollow, or unfriend our email and social activities.  I always love seeing the reasons behind why things happen. I know why I do it, and wondered if it mirrored what the survey indicated. The study [...]