Coupons are one of the oldest tools in the marketer’s kit, but they’re changing at a blinding speed.  Over the past year – a year when the economy made more consumers than ever receptive to savings – digital coupons grew ten times faster than their printed counterparts.  Over 20% of all Americans now use coupons,…

Not so much, apparently.  Over 94% of tweets by real people (as opposed to businesses) are personal, and almost half of those are directed specifically at another Twitter user.  The number of companies having actual conversations with individual consumers is almost non-existent.  Instead, businesses are just putting their message out there the way they would…

Tough news for senior management.  A recent study shows that innovation – and the income it generates – is in inverse proportion to the involvement of top brass.  Businesses where senior people are less involved in developing new products generate 80% more revenue from those products than companies where upper management is more hands-on.  This…

If your primary path to increased profits is cutting costs, it has to distract you from the other path to growth – which is to do what you do in ways that are so extraordinary that customers will pay more for it.  Apple is certainly zealous about containing costs, but their primary profit driver is…

Let’s start with a definition.  Let’s assume that “news” is something that’s happened recently that affects your world in some way, AND something that you want or need to know about.  If that’s the definition, would it change how you thought about your own “e-newsletter?”  Maybe it’s better to scrap that term altogether, but keep…

The next time you read a brochure or visit a website, notice the way they refer to you.  As odd as it seems, most of the time, they don’t.  They might talk about customers, companies, students, etc., but many organizations seem ridiculously resistant to using the simple word,”you.”  Yet research shows that it’s one of…

The trick to social media is to use them in truly productive ways – which probably means more than getting a lot of people to “like” your organization.  Many times, we agree to “like” a business or cause because one of our “friends” suggested it to us.  But that’s hardly the basis for a lasting…

Here’s an interesting fact: 80% of moms with children 12 and under look forward to reading their e-mail and like to get offers from companies they trust.  In fact, most people are willing to entertain e-mail from companies they like.  So if you’re not engaged in a full-time e-mail program, there’s no better time to…

Multiple surveys lately are turning up the same notion: consumers are getting used to the idea of spending less — and many of them are actually enjoying it.  Interestingly, this doesn’t mean that people are spending (or planning to spend) less on everything they buy.  Many may still be willing to purchase their preferred premium-priced…

Black Friday is still months away, so Target decided to create its own summer version.  The retailer dubbed last Friday “Back in Black Friday,” offering average savings of 40% only at Target.com for 24 hours.  Whether you provide products or services, is there a way you can take an established concept or idea like Black…