Online Marketing

SUMMARY: When customers talk to a sales rep, they want straight answers from a knowledgeable person. The more you can teach salespeople about your products, the better they’ll be able to sell them.

Read how a manufacturer created an online training program to educate retail sales staff about their products -- and how they got them to actually use the training. Sales are up 14% from dealers using the program. read the complete case study

SUMMARY: When used properly, multivariate testing can be one of the most valuable tools in your marketing skill set.

Read seven key lessons that Avis Budget car rentals learned through years of multivariate testing. See which tests had an impact, and how they used testing to defuse tricky office battles. read the complete article

SUMMARY: "Advertising on blogs or social networks" was rated the most accurately measured (32%), and was also rated the least effective (16%). More than 90% of companies believe that social media is the most effective in accomplishing brand building goal, followed closely by goals for attracting website visitors. view the complete research record

SUMMARY: The biggest hurdle in creating a strong company blog is the time and effort it takes to maintain a steady stream of high-quality posts. Outsourcing some blog writing remains an option for time-constrained marketers.

Before you hand over writing duties to a third party, read these tips for finding good writers, managing relationships and avoiding missteps. read the complete interview

SUMMARY: Do you wonder how your search conversion rates measure up when compared to other search marketers? Check out this week’s chart to see typical conversion rates for sponsored advertising (PPC), organic search (SEO) and online shopping engines, broken out by conversion type. read the complete article

By Natalie Myers, Reporter

I wasn’t looking for advice about online advertising when I scheduled time to talk to Jerry Shereshewsky, CEO, Grandparents.com, for a MarketingSherpa article I’m writing about marketing to grandparents.

But I should have expected getting some wisdom from someone with 39 years of experience in the industry who last year took the helm of an ad-supported resource site for grandparents.

Jerry’s previous title, ambassador plenipotentiary to Madison Avenue at Yahoo!, was another reason I... read the complete blog post