One of the things I’m enjoying about my new role as head of analytics at Left Brain DGA is being closer to hands-on marketing than I was as a consultant. This leads to different questions than I used to get, including the ever-popular “what’s a reasonable response rate for our emails?” That one came up last week and led me to review my files on industry benchmarks. Without giving away any deep secrets, I thought I’d share the results. found five relevant studies dating back to 2009. But it does distinguish gross opens from unique opens, which are significantly different. Here is the U.S. MORE >>

People in the world of search are commonly beating the drum of link building. We tell you that your success with your website, and even your online marketing presence, depends on it. Yet so many companies pay no attention to link building, and their inbound link profile. This dismissal is often due to a lack [.]. Search Engine Marketing MORE >>

Google+ is probably not gaining enough ground to go mainstream as a social media platform and to do so, they need to “go Jay-Z.” ” This is what I mean … Has Google+ been successful in attracting a large and engaged audience? Certainly there is a lively, passionate, and involved group of users — and it’s hard to cut through the hype — but there is some indication that the social platform is languishing with key demographics. Now, I know there are many passionate advocates who will say “but I LOVE it!” About 25% had Google+ accounts. The Kids. MORE >>

It is no secret that earning a subscriber is exciting. Subscribers are often some of the most loyal customers to a company because they receive content right in their inboxes, making it easier to read and harder to ignore. An email message every day or ever week helps to increase visibility and get your brand recognized. Many companies allow for readers to subscribe to a blog, a special promotional newsletter, or other email marketing campaigns full of videos and advice. Unfortunately, not all subscribers will want to keep receiving emails. Have you put thought into your unsubscribe process? MORE >>

Some days it seems online marketing revolves around cookies, those small text files stored in your browser that may be automatically deleted by browsers or routinely deleted by individuals. Cookies are used (among other things) for measuring performance, targeting advertising and personalizing sites. But how reliable are cookies and more importantly, how does that impact our data and decisions? As a way to identify an individual, third party cookies are unreliable. However, most advertising applications for cookies assume they are used to identify a person consistently over time. times up to 6.5 MORE >>