Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and our inboxes are heating up with plenty of love-fueled messages touting everything from wine, to chocolate, massages and cards (yes please to all of the above!). Big Insight projects spending to rise nearly 9% over last year to reach $17.6 billion. With that much cash on the line, everyone is vying for a piece of your heart and your wallet.

I perused my own inbox for a few of my favorites based on using email best practices and thought I'd share the love.

Starting at the top with some standout subject lines:

• Hurry, Cupid's Counting Down! Send a Special Greeting Card
• Show your files some love
• For love or money?
• Valentine's Day gifts for your one and only.
• Free Shipping On Last Minute Valentine's Day Gifts
• You'll ❤ Key Pieces for the Season
• We've got a crush (or two). How about you?
• Make Valentine's Day Oh-So-Dreamy! Plus, Get $15 Off $100
• Ten Ways to Say "I Love You"
• The clock is ticking! Send Rebecca a Valentine's Day bouquet from just $29.99
• Cupid's Here with Wine, Chocolates & $0 Shipping
• Who's the object of our fashion affection this month?
• Here's 50% off for Valentine's Day. Go on, take it. Nobody's watching...
• Will You Be Our Valentine? Sweepstakes, News, & More To Show Our LUV
• The Perfect Couple: NOOK and a Free $25 Gift Card
• New ♥ PDF Pattern & Made with #%*!?
• Last Chance to Get the Look You Love Before V-Day

Of course, I am always a sucker for cute creative this time of year and these had me swooning:

Invino was totally brand aware with their cork heart!

Next up is Southwest Airlines who used the classic conversation hearts to start a Valentine's Day conversation with their subscribers:

Next is Uncommon Goods who delivered the good with their top ten gift list:

And, showing the B2B companies can get into the Valentine's spirit, this example from YouSendIt.com:

How will you share the love this Valentine's Day and get a piece of that $17.6 billion?

Posted by Kim Stiglitz.

Kim Stiglitz is the Director of Lifecycle Marketing at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @Stiggy1.

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These three amazing teen entrepreneurs are just a handful of more than two dozen entries we received for our Next Teen Tycoon video contest. Now it’s time for you to help choose the top 10 finalists!

Now through February 24, anyone can vote for their favorite teen entrepreneurs on our Next Teen Tycoon website. You must have a Facebook account to vote, and you can vote for a video once per day.

The 10 entries with the most votes will move on to become finalists, and from the finalist pool our panel of judges will select the three winners. The grand prize winner gets $4,000 in “seed money” to help launch or grow his/her business as well as a free trip to the TEDxTeen conference in the Big Apple, while two second-place winners each receive $2,000 in “seed money”!

So head on over to our Next Teen Tycoon website, click on "View Entries" and vote for your favorites daily!

Posted by Connie Sung Moyle

Connie Sung Moyle is the Public Relations Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @sungmoyle.

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At my first job out of business school, I was tasked with implementing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for the website of the company where I worked. First, as green as I was, I knew this was a big deal and was shocked at the fact that it hadn't been undertaken yet. I mean, in a day and age where people don't even bother typing in URLs anymore and just go straight to Google or Bing, what's the point of having the best product/service in the world if no one will be able to find it? Second, I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by the amount of information available and work that needed to be done on our website at the time.

I stepped back, took a deep breath, and proceeded to strip it down to a few basic action items that could help boost our rankings in relatively quick fashion. And guess what? It worked out pretty well. After a few months our natural search traffic increased 213% year over year! So I thought I'd share 12 tips and tricks that helped increase our organic rankings. This is the first of two posts that will each contain 6 SEO take-aways. Fret not, they're no Labors of Hercules, but they should be more than enough to give you a proper foundation to start optimizing your website.

1. SEM vs. PPC vs. SEO: WTH?

You've probably seen these acronyms floating around as you were doing your research (the first 3 at least). Here's a refresher on what they mean:

• SEM/PPC: Search Engine Marketing and Pay Per Click usually refer to a form of online advertising that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising and paid inclusion. In some instances, SEM is used as the umbrella term for both PPC and SEO. Paid results can be found at either the top or right hand-side of search result pages. 
• SEO: Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a website or web page in search engines via unpaid search results, otherwise known as "natural" or "organic" results. In general, the earlier or higher a page gets ranked on the search results page, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. Unpaid results constitute the main portion of these results. 

Here's a visual that shows it in action: 

Above is what you typically get when typing "VerticalResponse" into a search engine. In the red rectangle are the paid search results, and in blue, the organic ones. 

2. Create Brief, Unique and Accurate Page Titles

Let's go back to our previous search results:

When your web page comes up in the listings, the title tag will appear in the first line and link to said page. You can also find it at the top of your browser window:

When writing a title tag, try to keep these best practices in mind:

• Make sure it accurately describes the page's content and effectively communicates its topic. For example, you can list the name of your website/company and a few bits of information about what the company does, using keywords that are likely to be typed in user search queries. In our case, "email marketing" or "social media" would be good options. 
• Make your title tag unique for each page so that "search spiders" (the programs that "crawl" websites on behalf of the search engines) will know that given page is distinct from the others on your site.
• Keep it brief and to the point as users want to be able to scan through results and click on what seems most relevant to their query in a hurry. Also, as with email subject lines, if your title is too long the search engine or browser header will only show part of it. 

3.  Paint the Picture with your Meta Tags

A page's description meta tag gives searchers and search engines a summary of what the page is about. It's usually the paragraph located below the title tag in your results:

Notice I said "usually." Sometimes the search engine might decide that another portion of your page is more relevant to the query and show it instead of the actual meta tag. To make sure that doesn't happen and your carefully crafted description gets the attention it deserves, here are a couple of tips:

• Accurately summarize the page's content. Write a description that both informs and interests users enough to draw their mouse pointer toward your link. 
• Use unique meta tags for each page. Just like for title tags, each page should get its own distinct description, especially in cases where multiple pages from your website show up in the same search query. 

4. Clean Up Your URLs

In addition to the title and meta tags, simple to understand URLs will be more click-friendly to users, while informing them of the exact content of your page. For example, if given a choice between http://www.verticalresponse.com/email-marketing and http://www.verticalresponse.com/0123456789/9876543210, which one would you click? My thoughts exactly. 

• Use relevant keywords in your URLs. Not only will this help visitors remember your links better and make them more willing to click on them as mentioned above, it will make the URLs easier for spiders to crawl as well. 
• Provide one version of a URL to reach a document. Use and refer to one unique URL for a given document to avoid splitting the reputation of that content between different URLs.
• Allow for the possibility of your URL being truncated. Consider what might happen if a user removes part of your URL, either voluntarily or accidentally. For example if a user were to shorten http://www.verticalresponse.com/email-marketing/social-sharing to http://www.verticalresponse.com/email-marketing/, you'll want to make sure it actually takes him/her to an existing page. This, however, is tied into your website's navigation structure. 

5. Throw Away the Ariadne Thread

The term "Ariadne Thread" harks back to the mazes and labyrinths made famous in Greek mythology. While making for great narrative, getting around your website should not be as complicated. A website's navigation is important in helping visitors find the content they want quickly, while at the same time helping search engines understand what the webmaster thinks is important. So to avoid either group getting lost, you can follow these few basic steps: 

• Create a simple, naturally flowing directory structure. Your site's directory structure should organize your content well, allowing users to go from general to more specifc content and letting them know where exactly they're at on your site. 
• Use mostly text for navigation. This will help spiders crawl and understand your site better, unlike Flash or JavaScript. 
• Put an HTML sitemap page on your site, and use an XML Sitemap file. The former will help your human visitors find what they're looking for, the latter will do the same thing, but for search engines. 
• Have a useful 404 page. If a visitor lands on a page that doesn't or no longer exists, instead of serving a generic "404 not found" page that will irritate him/her more than anything, why not create a custom one that provides links directing back to the more helpful content on your site?

6. Content is King, Always

Creating compelling and useful content will likely influence your website more than any of the other optimization techniques discussed here. Organic or word-of-mouth buzz is what helps build your site's reputation the most with both users and search engines. Beyond creating quality and well-written content, anticipate differences in users' understanding of your topic. In other words, keep in mind the different variations of search keywords or keyword phrases that users could type in while performing a search. For example, a seasoned email marketer might look for "CTA" while a new one might use a more general query like "action button."

Whoops, looks like my time is up. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our primer on SEO in the coming days, where we'll tackle some more exciting topics such as promoting your site, reporting (yes, numbers *can* be fun!) or how to make sure the mobile version of your site gets found. In the meantime, feel free to try out some (or all) of the tips outlined above and let us know how they worked for you!

Posted by My Truong

My Truong is a Marketing Programs Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter @PtitMy.

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 Throwing a company event is a fantastic way to meet new people, spread the word about your business and have some good old-fashioned fun. But if you’re the organizer, it can be quite intimidating. How do you get the word out? Will anyone show up? Will people get bored? Here are a few ideas to combat some of the biggest event planning fears, so you and your guests can focus on having a great time. 

1) No one will come.
The key here is to promote the event like crazy in your store (if you have one), as well as on your website, blog and social media networks. Local media often have calendar or community events sections that you can submit your soiree to. Setting up an online event marketing page that you can direct people to is an easy and inexpensive way to gauge interest and manage RSVPs; there are plenty of online event marketing tools out there. Creating a Twitter #hashtag and encouraging people to tweet about it also helps drum up anticipation and excitement.

Don’t forget email marketing campaigns, which you can use to communicate event details, send out updates and offer special promotions or discounts. Consider adding a sense of urgency (“Only 150 seats left!”) as the event nears. With email campaigns, make sure you’re sending out plenty of reminders. It’s a good rule of thumb that only about 50 percent of people who RSVP to a free event will ultimately attend.

2) People aren’t mingling.
While name tags aren’t exactly fun (especially if you’re caught wearing one several hours after an event), they’re incredibly helpful in getting people to mingle with one another. Try including an unexpected bit of information on them to get people talking. Also place food, beverages and seating in different areas, which will encourage people to move about the room.

3) People take off early, or won’t leave.
Organization is key for any event. Everything should be set up and ready to go before the “early birds” arrive. If you’ve got scheduled things going on during the event, hand out printed programs so people know the timeline. In the same vein, create a “soft” end time for your event. As the hour approaches, gently and politely remind people that the event is winding down, but don’t be too strict on exactly what time they leave. Most people won’t linger.

4) Uninvited party crashers show up.
Inevitably you’re going to have a couple of unwanted guests. Disgruntled former employees, your competition, maybe even your ex. You’ve heard the saying: If you can’t beat them, join them. The same applies here. Surprise them by being the first to say hello. Hopefully any grievances they have will be discussed with you privately, and not with the rest of your guests.

5) Someone’s knocked back one too many cocktails.
It’s bound to happen. But how do you deal with it? Start with the bartender(s) and instruct them to limit the amount of drinks given out to any one person and to offer water, coffee or juice as a substitute. Should someone be over served, find him/her a cab or a ride home.

Try as you might to plan for everything, rarely does an event happen without a single hitch. If something unexpected happens, keep your cool. Get your employees to pitch in. Know that you did your best, and everyone else will, too!

Posted by Janine Popick.

Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at@janinepopick, and check out more of her Inc.com columns.

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As the director of lifecycle marketing at VerticalResponse, I'm often asked to speak at, or have members of my team speak at industry events. After presenting and attending many of these over the years, we've compiled a list of the most relevant and rewarding events for any small business and marketer.

February:

• Marketing Sherpa Email Summit - Las Vegas, NV 
• Email Evolution Conference - Hollywood, FL
• Technology For Marketing & Advertising - London, UK

March:

• 7th Annual Small Business Summit - New York City, NY
• SXSW
• Orange County's Largest Mixer - Los Angeles, CA

April:

• Ad:Tech - San Francisco, CA
• Nonprofit Technology Conference -  San Francisco, CA

May:

• Small Business Week - San Francisco, CA

June:

• Blog World & New Media Expo - New York City, NY

September:

• Content Marketing World - Columbus, OH
• Dreamforce - San Francisco, CA 

October:

• DMA 2012 - Las Vegas, NV

And, if travel isn't in your budget this year, you can also join us for our free webinars, which can be enjoyed from the comfort of your chair (no baggage fees or delayed flights necessary). Check out the lineup here. New webinars are announced each quarter and there are recorded versions here.

Posted by: Kim Stiglitz

Kim Stiglitz is the Director of Lifecycle Marketing at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @Stiggy1.

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People are passionate about their mobile web navigation, and for a reason: They’re using their smartphones non-stop (guilty as charged). According to Morgan Stanley, by the year 2014, mobile Internet will surpass desktop Internet usage. That's a lot of on-the-go Internet browsing! With 1.08 billion smartphones in the world, maintaining a mobile site that satisfies is vital if you want to keep people coming back. Today, I’ll share the love and discuss three exceptional mobile sites you just can't hate. Let's learn from the pros:

1. Pitchfork Media
(m.pitchfork.com) 

As a music addict, wanting the latest and greatest music news at my fingertips quickly is of the utmost importance. Having the ability to actually read all of this information from an iPhone screen, in the words of David Bowie, “it ain’t easy.” Pitchfork, a music webzine, has incorporated the technology on its site to detect your pint-sized mobile device. After detecting your mobile, the site immediately directs you to the easy-to-read mobile version instead of dumping you onto a larger-than-life interface with microscopic font. The option to switch to a desktop version of the site is also available, if you so desire.
 
The site navigation is simple and clean, while still providing me with all of the music news, reviews, tracks, videos and features I’d normally find on the homepage of the desktop version. There's also a convenient menu tab at the very top that allows me to quickly navigate throughout the entire site.
 
Highlights: Mobile device detection, simple, easy and well thought out layout, yet still includes all aspects of original site.

 

2. ESPN
(m.espn.go.com)

I’ll admit, I don’t watch, follow, or play sports. However, I received such positive feedback regarding this particular mobile website, I had to check it out, and guess what? It’s pretty fun, even for someone as sports-challenged as myself. The site is not only optimized for nearly every mobile platform, it also provides fans with timely updates and immediate access to whichever team or sport your action-packed heart so desires. The most exciting aspect of the mobile site is “my ESPN” in which you can customize the site to your particular interests, speeding up your access to all things involving a ball, puck, or… see, I am bad at sports.
 
Highlights: Mobile optimization, timely updates, grouped sports pages, easy navigation, preference settings.

3. Airbnb
(m.airbnb.com)

This San Francisco start-up has seen dramatic growth since its inception in 2008. The site connects people worldwide who are looking for a temporary place to rent or rent out vs. taking your typical hotel or hostel route. Destination listings cover more than 19,000 cities, 192 countries and the site alone has made more than 100 million social connections.

This mobile site deserves major props for its aesthetically pleasing design. Rental listings are beautifully listed including pricing, map location, reviews and more including all necessary info that is easily organized and found under description, details and amenities tabs. A filter button on the homepage allows you to specify your searches depending on availability, and a fun pricing scale lets you slide your way into a preferred budget. You can also sign in via your Facebook account.

Highlights: Beautiful design, details, details, details (with little fuss), Facebook integration, slide and tap features for info-hungry hands.

 
Finding a fast mobile site that adheres to your device, is easy on the eyes, and doesn’t skimp on the details may seem like a dream (that you’d like to watch on your smartphone), but they're out there! So tell me, which mobile sites have you found that pleasantly surprise you, and which ones make you want to scream?

Posted by: Colleen Corkery

Colleen Corkery is the Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @youcollme.

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Regardless as to whether you’re cheering for the Giants or the Patriots in the upcoming Super Bowl on February 5, chances are you’ll tune in to watch not only the game, but the commercials too. Advertisers are bringing sexy back as H&M debuts a 30-second ad starring David Beckham wearing nothing more than his boxers, and Go Daddy has Danica Patrick and Jillian Michaels painting the body of a super model.

The Times reports that NBC is charging an average of $3.5 million for 30 seconds of airtime. Sponsors are already creating hype around the expensive ads to get the best return on their investment.

So, without a gazillion dollar budget and Hollywood celebs or super models, how can your small biz leverage the Super Bowl hype and score with your customers? Prepare to take the snap and execute a strong offense with these tips:

Just Do It: Super Bowl hype is building. Even if your business doesn’t cater to the “typical” football crowd, you can still capitalize on the theme. For instance, use a football themed subject line to capture attention in the inbox and leverage the theme in your email marketing template or in your messaging. Just because you don't sell TVs, food or beer doesn't mean you can't have some fun and be creative with your message.

Try subject lines like:

• Are you ready for some savings?
• Kick off the savings in time for the Big Game!
  
• Big Game Super Deals
• Score! Save 50% off + Free Shipping
• Down, Set, Savings!

Last year, fashion retailer Banana Republic pulled this off in a winning campaign cited in Sherry Chiger's article on the The Big Fat Marketing Blog. BR used a staid subject line for its email, sent Friday before the game: “Super Bowl savings: 25% off! + FREE Shipping Every Day.” The body of the message, however, played off a corny joke: “What was the cheapskate’s favorite football play? To get the quarterback.” Amid drawings meant to resemble a coach’s play diagrams, and a headline read, “This weekend only get a quarter back. 25% off all full-priced items.” Banana Republic managed to link a sporting event to women’s fashion in a simple yet effective way.

I was super impressed with the email I received from Kiva this past Friday with the subject line, Super Bowl Friday. It grabbed my attention because I thought what does Kiva have to do with the Super Bowl? Turns out that's exactly what they intended and it worked. They even wrote a blog about it here. Kiva does a brilliant job spinning the Super Bowl into an opportunity to get their users and prospects thinking about making a microloan.

Check out the top of the fold creative from their email:

Kiva set up two lending teams based on the Giants and the Patriots and does a great job with their messaging. Touchdown Kiva!

Go Small: Yep, I said go small. While the big guys will be paying out the wazoo for a 30-second ad, you can produce your own mini commercial and upload it to YouTube. Include a link to the video in your email and use a subject line like, "Check out VerticalResponse's Big Game Commercial!" All you need is a camera or phone with video recording capabilities, some creativity and you're good to go.

Use Your Special Teams: While email marketing is your quarterback for delivering your message to your receivers, make sure you call in your special teams: Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn, to reach a wider audience. You can send a link to your above-mentioned video to your social networks and cross your fingers it goes viral!

Party: That's right, I am telling you to have a party. Rent a big screen TV and show the game in your location. Offer food and beverages and special savings to anyone who shops during the game. You can offer discounts based on the score, the number of touchdowns, etc. You can even use our Event Marketing tool to plan a great event.

Target the Non-Ballers: Though 111 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl last year, that still leaves lots of folks who are tuned out and looking for something, anything to do that doesn't involve football, so cater to these people too. This is especially beneficial if your business is slightly less attuned to the whole football aesthetic. You can host a special event or sale for these folks too. Theme it around a football respite or, "Who Cares About the Super Bowl?" Your non-ballers will certainly appreciate it.

What will you do to promote your biz during the Super Bowl?

Posted by Kim Stiglitz.

Kim Stiglitz is the Director of Lifecycle Marketing at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @Stiggy1.

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Photo credit: Sebastian Bergmann

We're already a few weeks into 2012 and I don't know about you, but some of my New Year's resolutions have already started falling by the wayside (gym membership, what?). One thing I am happy to say I've stuck to, is testing a lot of different things in my email communications. This isn't just because testing is an integral part of my job, but also because I'm a huge data geek (nerd?) and am always looking to learn more about my intended readers' behavior. So I thought it might be fun to share some of these tests in a series of blog posts throughout the year. Maybe you can take advantage of some of these findings too!

The Tale of the Tape

In this post I'll be going over a test we ran on the positioning of a call-to-action button (you can call it CTA) for one of our promotional emails. Originally, our emails would look like this (version A):

Then we thought, why don't we make the CTA the first thing the recipient sees when he/she opens the email, well above the fold? So we drafted up the following (version B):

We made sure to tag the links for the CTA and banner images in both versions with referred-by codes (simply add "/?REFERREDBY=XXX" at the end of your URLs, with REFERREDBY and XXX being something relevant to you, for example in our case we used "/?image=CTA" and "/?image=banner") in order to differentiate them in VerticalResponse's reporting tool. We set up both versions with identical offers and messaging, with a separate mailing list each, and off the emails went.

And the Winner is...

Results were rather surprising: version B's CTA button garnered about the same amount of clicks as version A's, but its clickthrough rate (unique number of clicks divided by total number of opens) overall was superior by 12% while bringing in over 33% more revenue. Version B by decision victory!

Surprised by these results? What kind of tests would you be interested in reading about moving forward?

Posted by My Truong

My Truong is the Marketing Programs Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter @PtitMy.

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If there's anything I've learned from the Tim Tebow craze, it's that giving the right pitch to the right (or wrong) audience can get your name out there, for better or for worse. If your message is irrelevant, if it is controversial or if you're too aggressive in the delivery, you may end up polarizing your audience or losing followers. Being known for something, whether it's good or bad, may be beneficial in the media world, but in business communications being infamous can hit you right in the pocketbook. In order to keep your business in the best light, follow these five B2B email best practice tips.  

1. Connect with your receivers - We've all got a lot of interesting things to say about our business or industry, but bombarding your recipients with too much information will overwhelm them and most likely make them sack your message (otherwise known as delete or unsubscribe). Create your message with relevant and engaging headlines and digestible chunks of content so busy readers can easily scan for valuable information.

2. Get them into the end zone - Design your message with a clear purpose in mind. Whether you want recipients to sign up for a free trial, attend an event or visit your website, the next step should be evident. Each message should have a main call-to-action. Including the same call-to-action more than once can help reinforce the end goal by giving recipients multiple opportunities to take the next step.

3. Target your fans - It's tough to create one newsletter or promotional email that will successfully engage members of multiple industries, titles and interests. Make your message relevant by segmenting your lists to offer useful and pertinent information to distinct audiences.

4. Spread your coverage - Include social sharing and forward to a friend links in your emails. This allows you to leverage your current customer base and their social networks for referrals and new business. You can also track how popular your emails are by tracking link clicks and social shares.

5. Run the drills - The best way to create effective emails is to examine your analytics and reporting to see what's working and what's not. Continue to make your messaging more effective by refining subject lines, calls-to-action, image placement, headlines, send times, cadence and more!

Using these tactics can help you score big with your readers. Do you have a particular tip or practice you've found beneficial in your B2B communications?

Posted by Savannah Stewart

Savannah Stewart is a Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.

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See, I’ve been on Twitter for almost four years now. Not as long as some of the more pronounced early adopters, but long enough to see the changes in the social network for better or worse. Like I said earlier, this is not a post to bash on what Twitter is today, but just to bring to light what those changes are and get input from other users to see if they're observing some of the same things.

So, to set the stage, let me tell you a little about the Twitter environment I reside in. As of this publishing, I have tweeted 25,406 times, I have 5,652 followers and I follow 607 people. And the makeup of those 607 people equate to some of the most socially savvy people in the Twitterverse.

To obtain a sample for this post, I categorized 100 tweets in my stream starting at 1:12 pm on January 23, 2012. I broke them into fairly distinct categories, but you will see that a few could have been combined (i.e., Foursquare, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.). I chose to leave them as separate categories, though. The tweets broke out as follows:

Type of Tweet                                                             # Tweets

So what are my observations from the findings? Well at least in my world, conversation has taken a back seat to sharing other pieces of content in a big way. Not to say this is a bad thing. After all, I'd be the first to admit that I source a large percentage of my content consumption via Twitter. I do, however, miss those multi-person conversations that would be moving so fast it would be hard to keep up. They were entertaining and provided different points of view on a multitude of subject matter in one easy to digest package.

But enough about my Twitter experience circa 2012, I’d love to hear your observation of today’s foremost micro blogging network! Let me know your thoughts.

Posted by Derek Overbey

Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.