How A/B Testing Changed Digital Marketing in 2012
A year-in-review look at A/B testing in 2012, as Google folded Website Optimizer into Analytics and testing spread onto mobile.
The Archive
2012
Common Brand Storytelling Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
The mistakes that undermined brand storytelling efforts in 2012, from corporate polish that erased any real voice to treating one campaign as the strategy.
Mastering Lead Nurturing: A Marketer's Playbook
An operational playbook for running a lead nurturing program in 2012: defining personas, mapping content to funnel stage and setting a sales handoff cadence.
12 SEO Strategies After Penguin That Work
Twelve concrete SEO practices for recovering from or avoiding the April 2012 Penguin update, which specifically targeted manipulative link schemes.
Common Mobile Business App Mistakes to Avoid
Apple's App Store passed 700,000 apps and 25 billion downloads this year. Here's why most business apps built in that gold rush never got opened twice.
12 Social Proof Strategies That Work
Twelve concrete ways small businesses used testimonials, reviews and third-party validation to earn customer trust in 2012, from Yelp to Pinterest boards.
Building an Infographic Marketing Strategy From Scratch
A step-by-step build guide for launching an infographic marketing strategy in 2012, from choosing data worth visualizing to the Pinterest-driven distribution.
The Rise of Marketing Automation
How marketing automation went from a niche enterprise tool to a category worth acquiring, tracing Eloqua's 1999 founding through the deals that defined 2012.
Case Study: Winning With Pinterest Marketing
An illustrative 2012 scenario of a home goods retailer riding Pinterest's rapid growth among lifestyle and retail audiences, and what specifically worked.
The State of Responsive Web Design in 2012
Two years after Ethan Marcotte named it, responsive web design went from a technique in one article to a practice Google itself was recommending by 2012.
Content Marketing Trends Shaping 2012
The real forces reshaping content marketing in 2012: Google's Penguin update punishing manipulative links, Pinterest's rise and the pull of native advertising.
The Rise of Online Video
How online video grew from YouTube's 2005 founding into a mainstream channel by 2012, tracing the Google acquisition and Dollar Shave Club's viral launch.
7 Facebook Ads Strategies That Work
Seven Facebook advertising tactics built around 2012 launches: Custom Audiences, Facebook Exchange, Timeline for Pages and the post-IPO push into mobile.
Common Email Segmentation Mistakes Beyond Demographics
Five email segmentation mistakes quietly killing list performance in 2012, from demographic-only splits to lists that never sunset inactive subscribers.
The Rise of A/B Testing
Where A/B testing came from, from Claude Hopkins's mail-order coupons to the tools every marketer can run a test with in 2012.
Case Study: Winning With Brand Storytelling
What Dollar Shave Club's viral 2012 launch proved about brand storytelling, and how a smaller business without that budget can apply the same logic.
5 Lead Nurturing Strategies That Work
Five lead nurturing tactics B2B marketers put into practice in 2012 as platforms like Marketo, Eloqua and Pardot made scoring and drip sequences accessible.
The State of SEO After Penguin in 2012
Google's Penguin update hit roughly 3% of English-language searches in April and forced a real reckoning with paid links and keyword-stuffed anchor text.
Case Study: Winning With Mobile Apps for Business
An illustrative 2012 scenario of a small retailer weighing a native app against a mobile website, and what justified the investment.
The State of Social Proof in 2012
A snapshot of how businesses were building trust online in 2012, from Pinterest's retail boom to Yelp's IPO and the rise of star-rating widgets.
Common Infographic Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
The mistakes that kept 2012's infographic boom from paying off for many businesses, from uncredited data to formats that ignored how Pinterest worked.
Building a Marketing Automation Strategy From Scratch
A step-by-step guide to standing up a marketing automation program in 2012, from choosing a platform sized to your team to building your first nurture campaign.
Pinterest Marketing Trends Shaping 2012
Pinterest went from invite-only curiosity to a real ecommerce referral channel this year. What changed, and what brands did about it.
Why Responsive Web Design Matters for Your Bottom Line
Running a separate mobile site sounds cheaper than a redesign. Here's why the ongoing cost, and the SEO cost, usually runs the other way.
Mastering Content Marketing After Google's Panda Update
An operational playbook for content marketing at the start of 2012, for a landscape where Google's Panda update made thin content a liability, not a shortcut.