Crush Direct

02/03/2014

Hey online retailers - are you utilizing abandoned cart emails effectively? Wine.com sent this to me, with all the cart contents listed, 2 hours after I left. These get excellent rr%, and can vary considerably depending on the duration between the 'abandon' and the email timing. So 1) do these if you aren't already, and 2) make sure to test timing, all the way to 24 hours.

01/31/2014

How has your Adwords activity & results changed the past year? One of our B2B clients has seen a steep 27% rise in CPC and a 14% rise in CTR. And no surprise, Google is eating Bing's lunch in market share.

Paid search advertising had a good year in 2013, hitting an all-time high, according to research. And the paid search ecosystem is showing signs of increased efficiency as clicks increase while impressions drop. Ad spending on Bing/Yahoo! grew 43% year over year, while Google saw an increase of…

01/15/2014

Are your emails tablet-friendly? According to eMarketer, over 50% are opened on smart phones or tablets.

Consumers are focusing an ever-increasing amount of daily actions around mobile, and checking email is becoming one of the most popular activities conducted on such devices. Mobile email open rates dominated those on desktop and webmail in December 2013, and marketers are seeing great returns on mob...

12/02/2013

How many Cyber Monday emails have you rec'd so far today? I'm up to 32, most between 15-30% off. What's the best deal and/or promo you've received?

11/13/2013

What's your experience with Social log-in? Has it increased conversion rates? We have seen increases of 20-80%!

Social logins can help to streamline the online registration process for both users and website operators. Research shows that users favor particular identity login services depending on the type of site they are using.

11/01/2013

If you haven't started your holiday merchandising you're behind! The big guys - Target, etc. started weeks ago…so it's time to get your online, content, email & social media shaped up NOW!

The role the internet plays in holiday shopping practices is now a large one, with almost half of US shoppers planning to make purchases online this year. Shoppers also expect that significant portions of their holiday shopping budgets will be spent online.

10/12/2013

Our recent work w/ a B2B client, mobile click-to-call is generating the best on a cost-per-lead basis! Have you tried mobile CTC yet?

The global economy is still in recovery, and while total media ad spending will be up this year, the rate of increase won't be much to brag about. eMarketer’s latest Global Media Intelligence Report highlights how digital, and especially mobile, is a bright spot in the ad spend—and media usage...

09/13/2013

How are you generating leads? LinkedIn has not been productive for us, but we've had some good success w/ FBX, and guides as the best content. Good article here:

Generating leads and bringing in new business are top priorities for US agencies, and digital plays a major role in those efforts. According to research, content marketing and case studies lead as top tactics for generating leads, while LinkedIn is the No. 1 social network for getting new business.

08/07/2013

Good data on email open & ctr especially regarding mobile & tablets:

A new eMarketer report examines the latest email marketing performance benchmarks, finding that mobile and marketing automation have helped drive up email open rates in North America. However, conversion rates are still not as high on desktop as on mobile.

08/05/2013

Putting together an awesome partnership between an up-and-coming wine brand and a Forbes Top 25 Innovative Food Brand! More details when it's released

07/25/2013

Great news! Who likes to have an SMB database of ~%MM to sell into. VerticalResponse, that's who!

We've got great news here at VerticalResponse! We announced today that we've been acquired by a wonderful company ... Deluxe Corporation. Why did we do it? I've always told our employees, our loyal investors (12 years loyal!) and even our customers that one day we'll find the right match with ...

07/14/2013

Here's some good info on mobile paid search growth. How are you attributing your ad dollars?

Mobile search is now seen as an essential advertiser pathway, as smartphones and tablets take up an increasing share of US consumers’ time spent online. Dollars devoted to both smartphones and tablets doubled year over year in Q2 2013, according to research.