The most effective email list-growth tactics for marketers are on-site registration and capturing information through inbound call centers, while the least effective tactics are outbound call-center attempts to solicit information and list rental, according to research conducted by Exact Target, Ball State University, and the Email Marketer Club

The study, which was conducted by analyzing the past performance and future plans of 351 email marketers in various countries, evaluated 18 different list-growth tactics to identify the best, worst and fastest-growing approaches to building email lists.

Overall, the study found that the best way to grow email subscriber lists is to collect customers' email addresses during times of high engagement and on occasions when the consumers perceive the marketer as adding value - at the point of sale, during online shopping and in-store via text messaging. These on-site list growth tactics rated as much as 60% higher than offline methods such as list rental and mass advertising.

Mobile Capture, SocNet Sharing Rising Quickly

Exact Target also reported that email subscription via text messaging is the fastest growing list-building tactic among marketers. The company predicts that mobile capture - enabling consumers to subscribe to emails via their mobile phones - will increase 500%, more than any other growth tactic in 2009.

Marketers also expect the practice of enabling subscribers to share email content with their social networks is expected to increase more than 348% in 2009.

Top Priorities for 2009

When asked about their top three email priorities for 2009, the largest number of marketers (51%) said that improving conversations was important to them. This was followed by a focus on improving the relevance of emails (41%) and growing email lists (38%).  The smallest number of respondents said that lowering costs was one of their top priorities (5%).

The above article was published in MarketingCharts.com

http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/best-worst-and-future-email-list-growth-tactics-9213/

WordPress.com is different.  That's where folks go and are hosted with set Themes and little customization.  Maybe none really.

So learning about plugins and code and all I want is to just be a writer on here.  Not so easy.  Since  we want the flexibility and the control so we're taking the high road.

I am going to start posting again because when you phase out like that it's not good.  Things slow down.

Next, we'll be changing our theme here.  We could do that in a minute - but you have to check on your every move.  Don't want to jam things up like we did before.

Anyway,  I love having a blog.  And I hope I am back at the keypad again!!

I received this PR email with this interesting claim -- what do you think?

Barack Obama became the first tech-savvy candidate, and now President, to effectively use SMS to woo millions when he sent the historic 3AM text message announcing his VP. Now, on Inauguration night this year, mass text messaging will be once again be a popular theme - but will all of the messages reach their intended recipients? Obama's camp plans to use mass text messaging technology to make the Inauguration Ball interactive by featuring webcasting and text messaging as part of the evening. Homeland Security will issue important messages via mass text, and the Congressional Inaugural Committee issued a warning to those attending and in the area to communicate via text during the crowded event.

But could Obama's technology tactics short circuit? CEO of EzTexting.com Shane Neman says yes, as he believes that there is a serious threat that millions of text messages will be delayed or dropped, as seen in years past with momentous occasions such as New Years Eve. Top mobile companies such as Sprint and T-Mobile are bolstering their services in anticipation, but these efforts might not be enough to overcome the astronomical amount of text messages anticipated on this evening, including those sent from President-Elect Barack Obama. On January 20th, Neman speculates that millions of text messages could result in a traffic jam and errant deliveries.

A write up write up in today's Online Media Insider about this article in The Financial Times delineates a new dilemma for those in advertising who do not adapt to change:

Social Nets Threaten Ad Agency Growth

Advertising agencies are not prepared for the changes that will come as a result of new forms of media such as social networks, a new study claims. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising's "Social Media Futures" report warns that ad agencies face growth of just 1.2% per year by 2016 if they fail to tackle the changes prompted by the emergence of social networking.

Recommendations from friends are obviously more influential than traditional forms of advertising. Because social networks enable consumers to pass on information about products and services, advertisers need to be able to take advantage of that trend. A good example of this is the Cadbury "Gorilla" spot, which has been viewed on YouTube more than 10 million times, or Dove's famous "Campaign for real beauty," which can also be seen on YouTube and other online video sites.

Even so, the report claims that two-thirds of agencies aren't properly adjusting to the online world. Should they fail to create new products and services catering to the social media world, the report warns that the industry could lose $23 million in revenues by 2016. "The current downturn will accelerate these trends in agencies as everyone is looking to innovate and stand out from the crowd," said Moray MacLennan, IPA president and chief executive of M&C Saatchi Worldwide, an agency. "I don't think (social media) is a replacement for paid-for media, it is just going to be a challenger for (consumers') time and attention."

for full story http://bit.ly/sVhk

Americans are doing their homework before hitting the stores. In a WSJ shopper survey, 78 percent of consumers said that TV ads do not provide enough information they need to convince them to buy a product.

Consumers are losing trust in the advice of salesclerks and placing more weight on their own findings, often derived from websites. According to WSJ's latest survey, 92 percent of respondents said they are more confident in the product information they find online than advice from a salesclerk or other source.

Shoppers are increasing the amount of effort they put into finding information online before setting out to buy what they want, even if it's a simple bottle of shampoo, a product which 24 percent of respondents said they researched online before settling on a decision.

Overall, 70 percent of American shoppers said they refer to product reviews and consumer ratings before settling on what to buy, and 62 percent said that every week, they spend at least half an hour researching products online before buying the.

There are good insights and some short case studies cited in the article published on Jan 8th.

For full text of WSJ article:http://bit.ly/SPLel

Now, what about social networking?  I know, it's "all-the-rage," but in this area as well, we are starting to see opportunities to integrate social networks with email programs that may really enhance the already viral nature of our channel.

Can your recipients immediately post email offers to their Facebook pages?

Can they easily forward the same content to members of their Gmail and Yahoo address books?

------------------------

So I ask you just what are your experiences?

Luke Knowles, founder of the site that links consumers to online retailers that offer free shipping deals, says in his 2009 online retailing forecast that merchants that focus on online sales will have a much better year than bricks-and-mortar retailers.

Knowles sees a ray of light for online retailers in 2009 because of what his site, www.freeshipping.org, encountered in 2008, its first full year of business. In December 2007, Knowles and his wife, Maisie, launched the site, which is a one-stop destination for consumers to find online retailers that offer free shipping deals. FreeShipping.org includes more than 850 name-brand stores, allows visitors to search by brand or category.

Numbers show that there is a clear interest in consumers looking for online retailers that offer free shipping, which translates into a willingness to spend money if the price is right. Traffic has increased steadily since the site debuted, as has sales generated for retailers. FreeShipping.org attracted 205,000 visitors last October, 365,000 in November and over 500,000 in December. On Black Friday, the traditional shopping holiday one day after Thanksgiving, the site had over 30,000 visitors.

Free shipping and deep discounts are leading many consumers to shop online, Knowles says. Knowles spearheaded what will become an annual holiday shopping marketing event in Free Shipping Day (www.freeshippingday.com), which is a day late in December when merchants offer free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve day. More than 250 merchants participated, and FreeShippingDay.com attracted 100,000 visitors on the day itself, which was December 18.

Despite the grim news facing many bricks-and-mortar retailers, Knowles believes that online retailers, and bricks-and-mortar retailers that increase their presence on the Internet, will have a more favorable outcome on their bottom line.

### free e-book on this site that's worth checking out:

http://www.freeshipping.org/free-shipping-ebook.pdf

###

The presence of display advertising significantly affects click-through and search style across paid and organic searches and such ads can lift both types of search an average of 155%, according to a study by SpecificMedia.,

The study, which demonstrates a correlation between display advertising and search, finds that consumers exposed to display advertising are more likely than unexposed consumers to search for brand terms (such as “BMW” in the automotive category), and segment terms (such as “635 CSi”).

Results by segment:

• In the “travel and tourism category,” display advertising lifted paid and organic search 274%.
• A 260% lift was seen on searches in “health.”
• “Personal finance” saw a 206% increase.
• “Automotive” and “news and media” enjoyed a 144% search lift
• “Property and real estate” rose 125%.
• In “retail,” display advertising drew just a 69% lift in search.
• “Consumer packaged goods” saw the slightest increase - only 22%.

About the study: The study leverages 12 months of proprietary Specific Media Ad Effectiveness data backed by comScore, tracking more than 60+ Specific Media campaigns to draw averages demonstrating the direct correlation between display advertising and search.

According to a new 2009 outlook for the Internet industry released Monday by a top Wall Street researcher. JP Morgan's Imran Khan predicts that advertising models would fail for two of the Web's hottest emerging platforms - online video and social media - and that it would take longer than expected for a substantive mobile advertising marketplace to emerge.

Next two quarters look tough....

Khan predicted that the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 would prove to be the toughest financial quarters for the online industry, and that the Internet economy would begin to rebound in the second half of 2009.

CPM pricing will remain flat....

The economic pressures, he predicted, would also drive a greater share of online advertising investments toward "performance-based" advertising models and away from traditional "CPM-based" models, and that in turn would contribute to the downward pressure on online CPMs during 2009.

That shift, coupled with contracting display advertising budgets, and an expanding supply of "non-premium inventory pricing" from ad networks, social networks, and other sources, will contribute to flattening CPMs for online display advertising.

Full story available at this link: http://bit.ly/JsCe

"Twitter has a been a great tool for us to monitor buzz about products or campaigns for our clients. Simply searching a few key terms will expose you to a wealth of tweets that can quickly let you know what the public is thinking. Not scientific, but very helpful.

"It's an example of how, more broadly, social networking has taken conversations that previously happened around water coolers and put them online, making them searchable by marketers. What marketers do with that information is up to them."

Written by Lee Mikles  of  the The Archer Group, a Wilmington, Del.-based interactive shop

Read the full article at http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=133509Archer