Attention digital marketers, we are no longer in control!

Attention digital marketers, we are no longer in control.

Whether they realize the true strength of their power or not, consumers now have the upper hand of the digital marketing experience.

This shift should not be a cause for alarm, but a motivator to evolve your digital marketing programs. Whether the consumer is struggling or thriving in the digital deluge, your marketing needs to respond to a variety of connected scenarios, whether mobile, traditional desktop or, increasingly, in-store.

Focusing marketing messages for specific devices or channels will not be enough to drive sales and engagement with your customer. Broad-stroke segmentation or a single list structure will not be enough to keep your customers interested in buying.

It's no longer about the mere contact ... it's about connection.

Download this e-book to explore each phase of the customer lifecycle and detail programs to reach your customers across channels, devices and levels of engagement. By downloading now, you'll gain instant access to Chapter 1, Acquiring and Welcoming New Subscribers. Then, keep an eye on your inbox for the remaining five chapters over the next few weeks.

Click this link to download your FREE Lifecycle Marketing Guidebook

The Oscar Winning Pizza. Ellen Tells Edgar the Pizza Guy’s Story!

Edgar Martirosyan, who might now be the world’s most famous pizza deliveryman, had no clue he’d be serving Hollywood’s biggest stars Sunday night.

He thought the pies were for a group of writers at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. When he got there, he was told to wait.

Then Ellen DeGeneres, who hosted the Academy Awards, came backstage and asked him to follow her.

“I didn’t know,” he told CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” on Monday. “I was just shocked. It was a really great moment.”

And there he was, in front of millions of TV viewers, delivering pizzas from his store’s red and yellow boxes to the likes of Brad Pitt and Jared Leto.

After the show, Ellen told her audience about the real-life pizza delivery guy she brought to the Oscars.

Web Exclusive! Ellen Tells Edgar the Pizza Guy’s Story!.

Gmail Unsubscribe Link: Email marketers forced to become relevant

In case you haven’t already seen it, news was announced late last week that Gmail will start adding an unsubscribe link to marketing communications – whether they are legitimate or not. Email marketers will have to make a concerted effort to deliver relevant communications.

Starting from this week, a new, clearly marked “unsubscribe” link will appear at the top of the header field in marketers’ emails. Previously only appearing for a small percentage of users, the feature will now be made available for most promotional messages with unsubscribe options, Google said on Thursday. Email recipients do not need to take action for the links to appear.

The change simply makes it easier to find the “unsubscribe” link. With the new setup, the link appears prominently at the top of the message, alongside the name and email address of the person or company sending it. So what used to be like searching for a needle in a haystack will, for some, become more like an open invitation to say good-bye. By clicking the link, users can opt out of a company’s emails without leaving Gmail.

Whilst this may be seen as great news for those of us on the receiving end of these types of e-missives, the announcement is just one of an ever-growing amount of pressures on email marketers who are already dealing with dwindling engagement rates and increased churn from the 425 million+ Gmail users (last count, June 2012).

Read the full article here>> Gmail Unsubscribe Link: Email marketers forced to become relevant - idio.