E-mail testing bureau Litmus recently blogged about the Current State of E-Mail Compatibility”, publishing a very handy chart for web designers. Check it out. It gets into how HTML, images, preview text and other elements of an e-mail message render on Android, Blackberry, IOS, Symbian and Windows Phone 7.

Any specific advice I write here will be outdated shortly so I recommend you google “e-mail design for mobile” and you’ll get a lot of current information.

Campaign Monitor has been tracking the mobile uptick but this was an issue long before mobile between Windows Internet Explorer versions, Firefox and Safari on desktop computers.  I think the introduction of mobile made the issue so complicated it’s finally getting the professional attention it deserves.

“Over the weekend all clients postponed their advertising and have not started again,” said Kazu Sugimoto, general manager of ADEX Nihon Keizai Advertising/ICOM, a 400-person independent agency in Tokyo . “Companies here do not think they should be advertising when so many people have not been accounted for. Many have donated money, and the media are encouraging donations from the general public, too. We believe advertising will start up again in a month or so because companies know that advertising is good for business and to get the economy going again.”

We saw that here in the U.S. after September 11th, and our marketing calendar still recommends avoiding outbound campaigns on that date, especially or at least in New York.

At Prospects To Go, we recommend mapping out upcoming activities at least a quarter in advance. 

We recently released the 2011 Marketing Calendar to help.  

Until recently, and maybe it’s starting to change, people in New York did not want to receive a marketing message on 9-11.  

Try to get a parent’s attention on Halloween? Or, business networking breakfast in Boston the day after St. Patty’s Day?  I don’t think so.

November is particularly challenging:

Download your copy of the calendar here!

“There was a time when ‘let your fingers do the walking’ meant opening a phone book — not typing a search query.  Phone books, address books, and the Yellow Pages have been made obsolete, their information transferred from paper onto smartphones and the web.” 

Sayonara Yellow Pages: HuffPost

What is not clear to many businesses and institutions yet is that there is no clear successor to Ma Bell when it comes to listing their phone numbers and locations correctly.

There are three major search engines, three competing data aggregators, internet yellow- and white-page companies (each with their separate smartphone apps), and review sites to be notified if your business moves or adds locations.  And if you run a home-based business, or a cell phone is your main phone number, your company may not be listed at all unless you take steps to register it everywhere.

This has spurred an emerging new industry that doesn’t even have a consistent name yet.  I’ve seen it called “business identity management”, “business listing content management” and ”local search optimization”.

Two of the data aggregators in this new field, attempting to supply websites with business data, are Acxiom and infoGroup, old players in the traditional list industry trying to hold on.

I think I personally became captivated by local search because it’s really the list business in its new form.  I’m excited to be riding this wave into 2011.

Happy New Year!

Don’t expect 100% accuracy

Compiled from public sources, our databases are continuously updated to give you the freshest information available in the marketplace.  While 100% accuracy is our goal, it’s impossible due to the reality of ever-changing business and consumer dynamics.  For instance, at nearly any given time, 14% of the consumer population is moving.  Due to these realities, a very small percentage of inaccuracies in our databses is not uncommon, particularly in industries and geographic areas with high levels of business and consumer turnover.  The key to growing your business is focusing on the responses you receive from the use of our lists.  If it increases sales, it’s a good lsit!

We can’t qualify every business name.

We compile and telephone-verify our database in-house, however, we can’t guarantee that every name is valid under the categories in which they are classified.  For example, if a company is listed under “Computer Dealers,” we can’t guarantee that they actually sell computers (although most do).  We must rely on the business classifications as they appear in our sources.

Note from Lisa: This is a huge reason why you need to optimize your business locations for Local Search.  InfoUSA is one of the big three sources for local data across the web and they often miscategorize your main line of business.

Our lists are a starting point.

We suggest that you verify the list you get from us and build a more valuable prospecting database for yourself.

Bravo infoUSA and infoGroup!

Over the last 15 years, we’ve concentrated on what works in lead generation.  First it was primarily direct mail and telemarketing, then e-mail, then paid search (conventionally called Pay-Per-Click although this has become a misnomer because you can set your payment method as cost-per-thousand or even cost-per-acquisition these days).

When I attended Search Engine Strategies in San Francisco in August, I totally jumped on the bandwagon of local search marketing, otherwise known as local online advertising or local search optimization.  This essentially is the business of building a web presence where your customers are looking.  I call it Vertical Search Marketing for B-to-B companies in their focus industries, but the idea is the same.

So when I came across this article by Jeff Beard in SearchEngineWatch last week I totally resonated:

“I grew up in the direct marketing world, professionally speaking. For nearly two decades, I developed and sold marketing solutions that helped businesses acquire customers; the last three of those years running a direct marketing services company.

Now, I find myself leading an Internet local search services company and it has occurred to me that local search is very similar to traditional direct marketing, except businesses and consumers play opposite roles in each.

Local Search and Direct Marketing: What’s the Difference?

In its simplest form, direct marketing (like most marketing) is intended to bring two parties together. One party takes on the proactive role of planning, strategizing, researching, analyzing, targeting, and executing a program. The other party’s role is to react.

Traditional direct marketing puts the burden of planning, research, analysis, and execution on the local business trying to reach the consumer. Once a campaign is executed, the business then waits and hopes the consumer reacts and makes a purchase.

The process is the same for local search, but the roles are exactly opposite. With local search now spanning search platforms, social media, and mobile apps, the consumer is the planner, the researcher, the analyzer, and the executer. And, it is the job of the local business to be there to react…”

He goes on to say that only 30% of U.S. businesses have focused on expanding their local-business listings (in online yellow pages, review sites and the Google maps section) and of that information, 25% is outdated.

We have a lot of work to do and I’m really enjoying it!

To make his case, Schmidt displayed the chart below from mobile agency iCrossing showing how businesspeople use search, and it’s completely intuitive.  They search on their desktop computers on weekday mornings and their smart phones as the day gets later, nights and weekends.

Search Activity by Time of Day Chart

Takeaway: Have your web team optimize your web-site for mobile viewing by creating a shadow site or pages on a mobile platform, make sure your business comes up at the top of local searches, and set up mobile pay-per-click campaigns in addition to your standard campaigns.

To establish a mobile PPC campaign in Google, open a new campaign and then under Networks and Devices, select only iPhones and other mobile devices.  When you set up the ad groups, create small display and text ads compliant with the specs of the Mobile Marketing Association.  For text ads, you get a headline and a line of text, each with only 18 characters.  At the bottom, you can also display your phone number for easy click to call.

We recommend tracking phone calls that come from search advertising for all campaigns.  For mobile campaigns, it’s even more essential since the viewer is more likely to convert by calling rather than filling out a web form!

Trend 1: Online search is the preferred method for information about local businesses, with 70% of consumers citing search engines, online Yellow Pages and social networks as their primary source.

Trend 2: Search engines are most popular, but they are not growing as fast as other media.

Trend 3: Local searchers are more apt to buy.

Trend 4: Businesses must develop a comprehensive search presence with essential information.

Trend 5: To develop a complete search presence, local businesses must consider every avenue.

Trend 6: Print is declining, but it still holds value for today’s consumers as a secondary source.

Trend 7: With emerging media on the rise, a diverse media mix must now include social and mobile marketing.

Of those participating in the survey, the magazine article said 81% believe it’s important for local businesses to respond to questions and complaints on social sites; 78% want specific offers, promotions and information about events, and 66% believe that company photos are important.

More details about the study can be found in a press release by interactive agency 15Miles, including that 32% percent of people with Internet-capable cellular phones search for local business information from the mobile Internet.

Some 47% of the searches came from Google, Yahoo and Bing local maps and another 27% from internet yellow pages.  So ladies and gentlemen, please claim and enhance your listings with those sources as soon as possible!

We’ll be tracking all call-in responses to your Google Adwords campaigns for free for two months so you can see how great it is too!

Depending on your business, as many as 30% of your responses may be coming in by phone, unbenownst to you.

Stay tuned for more details.

List owner and manager Worldata says this is the first file of tablet computer users on the market.  TechTarget has a website called TabletPCReview.com that accepts advertising and presumably sells e-newsletter sponsorships, but tablets aren’t listed as a dedicated select on their sales data card yet.

This new tablet file comes on the heels of disappointing news this week that publisher Reed Elsevier is closing 23 publications, revered b-to-b media brands that offered marketing lists as part of their revenue stream.

The carnage includes Building Design+Construction, Chain Leader, Construction Bulletin, Construction Equipment, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Control Engineering, Converting, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, Graphic Arts Blue Book, Graphic Arts Monthly, HOTELS, Logistics Management, Material Handling Product News, Modern Materials Handling, Plant Engineering, Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler, Purchasing, Restaurants & Institutions, Semiconductor International, Spec Check, Supply Chain Management Review and Tradeshow Week.

Readers of these publications haven’t disappeared.  We can presume they’ve moved online too.