Search engine marketing (a.k.a. pay-per-click or PPC advertising) is an often-ignored element in small business Internet marketing. Despite the fact search engine marketing is easy to use, and simple in concept, the old poker expression “it takes only a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master” could just as easily be applied to SEM. Although many factors influence the success or failure of an AdWords campaign, keyword selection is often where the problem begins in many self-managed campaigns. Today’s guest post is written by Brent Carnduff. MORE >>

What in my opinion is one of the best campaigns of the year just ended: The Oreo “ Daily Twist ” campaign. To celebrate the centennial of the world’s most iconic biscuit, Oreo teamed up with agency 360i to create a social and digital campaign with 100 days of creative and whimsical visualisations of “America’s favourite cookie” from June 25th until October 2nd. Besides the “Daily Twist” site where users could suggest their “twist”, the campaign was driven on Facebook , but also on Twitter ,  Tumblr and  Pinterest. Why was the campaign so engaging? MORE >>

Though the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest levels since early 2009, the job market is still inundated with seasoned professionals. But one thing I’ve found that has helped me stand out in the industry was working on a political campaign. Waste deep into the internship, the 2008 presidential elections were well under way and one of my mentors came to me and asked if I’d be interested in working on the campaign trail. credit my campaign experience and the support of my mentors as being the main reasons why I have had such a fruitful career path thus far. MORE >>

In support of World AIDS Day, Durex created the #1Share1Condom Twitter hashtag campaign to help fight the spread of HIV. Kevin Harshaw, marketing director of personal care at Reckitt Benckiser, said “This year, we have decided to use our global market presence to create an initiative that will get the world talking and sharing.” Social Media Campaigns AIDS condoms Durex hashtag campaign HIV Twitter campaign World AIDS DayStop the misunderstanding – RT to spread the word about HIV & AIDS and we’ll donate a Durex condom. The 2.5 MORE >>

As the practice of marketing analytics is making a name for itself, businesses are starting to catch on that they’ve been capturing all this great customer information. If you have been using predictive analytics to target your marketing campaigns, you should be seeing improvement in response rate versus older campaigns where no predictive analytics were available. It is still common practice to send email campaigns or direct mail pieces to every contact in your list, hoping that mass distribution will lead to a higher volume of responses.  Wendy Boyce. MORE >>