IBM: Cyber Monday Spending Increases 33%

| MCM staff

The U.S. online retail sector delivered strong growth on Cyber Monday 2011 compared to the same period last year, according to cloud-based analytics findings by IBM, based on findings from IBM’s fourth annual Cyber Monday Benchmark.

IBM: Mobile Drove 14.3% of Black Friday Online Retail Traffic

| MCM staff

U.S. shoppers took advantage of early sales this holiday driving a 39.3% increase in online Thanksgiving Day spending while setting the stage for 24.3% online growth on Black Friday compared to the same period last year, according to cloud-based analytics findings by IBM.

Demystifying the Myths of SEO

| Stephan Spencer

Every day a new search engine optimization myth is born; unfortunately, not every day does an old myth die off. The net result is a growing population of myths. These are nearly impossible to squash because snake-oil salesmen keep perpetuating …

How to Use Email to Maximize Social Media Engagement

| Debra Ellis

The problem with most social media strategies is that they focus on attracting prospects instead of engaging customers. It is easier to create an acquisition strategy because all you have to do is open an account on the platforms of choice, add some branding images, and start posting content. The build it and they will come approach is intriguing, reminiscent of

How Business Intelligence Can Help You Understand Consumer Behavior

| MCM staff

Business intelligence makes the complex marketing campaign management process manageable. BI solutions aggregate information and provide retailers easy access to data for business reporting, analysis, planning and decision support. By transforming data into actionable information, BI helps retailers make faster fact-based decisions before, during, and after campaigns.

Retailers Plan to Up Digital Spend in 2012

| MCM staff

Retailers plan to spend marketing dollars on paid search, email and SEO in 2012, but will increase their investments in emerging channels such as mobile, social media and data analytics, according to a survey of 110 retailers conducted by the e-tailing group for email platform provider Bronto Software.