Online Gift card sales is expected grow at a rate of 29% annually to reach $5.8 billion* by 2014.  While many business to consumer Brands offer Gift Cards, there are specific, and potentially profitable considerations to think about regarding online marketing.It is important for retailers to have a gift card system that leverages the best practices for tracking, promotion and marketing functionality.When developing a gift card site, we suggest the following: Saving a Source ID with the order will enable you to analyze data at the order level.  For Example: Assigning a different Source ID to your Paid Search and Email campaigns will allow you to quantify the results of both programs separately.  This will enable... Read More

Twenty one percent of mobile sales come from tablets.1 As people are spending more time online due to devices such as iPads and tablets, especially online shoppers, it's time to consider optimizing your business's website to capture these consumers.The graph below shows the huge growth potential that lies within the tablet economy, including a projected 35.6% of internet users to be tablet users by 2014.Tablets are preferred over smartphones for web shopping.2 The reason for this includes the fact that web shoppers opt for larger screens offered by tablets as opposed to smartphones, making it easier to use and view items in a web browser.We're in an app world now. Tablets are used for much more than just web browsing... Read More

Today, email is used to support the businesses to small local schools, and just about every personal communication need imaginable.  In this post, we'll provide a general overview of the email environment and the factors that make it successful.  In addition, we'll talk briefly about how email may contribute to the successful treatment of patients with chronic diseases. The Email Environment Email has been called the "killer app" in the business community for many different reasons, yet all point to the same realization:  email has changed the way consumers and organizations communicate with one another.   Just ask the United ... Read More

Search engine optimization (SEO) continues to be an integral part of a business's marketing campaign, and now, Google Places is making it even easier. Plus it's free. Google Places now includes additional features on the search engine results page (SERP) when your local listing appears making you more visible and attractive to web surfers. Visually Enhancing your Business Listing on Google PlacesAs shown above, the Google Places listing displays not only a map of the business location, but also photos of your products and business, details including descriptor snippets, price, nearest subway, a link to make reservations (if applicable), links to available menus and reviews. According to Brian Pasch of PCG Digital Marketing, photos... Read More

In past blog posts about search engine optimization, we've referenced using tools such as Bing Webmaster Tools to deal with issues such as 404 errors and the importance of XML sitemaps. Recently, Bing added some new features to its Webmaster Tools to enhance its utility.DNS-based VertificationIn addition to verification of ownership of your website via a code on the home page or an XML file, DNS based verification has also been added.Crawl DetailsThis report has been enhanced to show ALL inbound links, not just ones that return a 400 header response code.adCenter Data Integration (US only)Reports showing traffic and keyword data will now include average cost-per-click and average bid data.URL NormalizationSuggestions for URL... Read More