Twitter has been around for quite some time, but as we move into the holiday season, we’ve been seeing Twitter used more in email campaigns, on Websites and via SMS. We thought we’d take a quick look at some statistics and trends around campaigns our clients have been sending, as well as some quick hit ideas you can use as we head in to the holidays.

What we know about Twitter and its audience:

We know that Twitter’s audience skews young. Experian Marketing Services has found that more 18-25 year olds are utilizing the social media giant than other sites like Facebook or Pinterest. We also know it’s a great source for real-time news information, customer service interaction and gathering instant feedback. Additionally, a previous study by Experian Marketing Services has found that using the word “Twitter” in subject lines can increase open rates by up to 14% and click through rates by up to 2.3%.

But what about other creative ways of using Twitter in your emails?

We noticed a growing trend with hastags recently being used in subject lines, specifically with retailers that cater to the teen market, so we took a deeper dive to see how they were performing across our client’s campaigns.

What we found:

We looked across campaigns with hashtags in their subject lines between June and September 2012 and compared results to the same client’s overall quarterly performance. Hashtag mailings appear to generate a modest lift of 4.8% in open rates, but we also noticed a drop in both click and transaction rates.

Conclusions and advice:

If you’re looking to grow your Twitter base and build your brand, a lack of transactions might be okay for this type of email. But if you’re also looking to get those transactions and clicks, think about what you are asking your subscribers to do, as even your subject line can contain a call to action. If the subject line is directing or encouraging recipients to take action to tweet the hashtag, it is possible that the drop in click and transaction rates is a reflection of the action the email is asking the recipient to take.

While hashtags in subject lines may look like a great opportunity to lift opens, it’s important to be careful with the rest of your message if your main goal is to also increase clicks and transactions.

Sample campaign 1:

Subject Line: Our #SoCalStylist just added a new video in Hollister Club Cali!

Above, they are asking customers to “tweet now” in the secondary part of the email, but the main call to action is to “join now.”

Sample campaign 2:

Subject Line: #Liveyourlife

Again, the main calls to action direct users to the sales occurring at the time, while separately calling out the hashtag campaign American Eagle is touting.

Other ways to incorporate Twitter in to your marketing mix:

After checkout, think about asking users to tweet about their purchase. I’m sure many of you have seen share functions on Websites like Amazon post purchase. Here, Gilt Groupe takes this concept one step further, giving their customers and incentive to share.

Also remember to include customer tweets in emails:

The above example shows a great way to include your community, and make your customers work for you. Experian CheetahMail has found that when including customer ratings and/or reviews in emails, we see a lift in transaction rates. You can use tweets about your programs or products as you would a review. People love hearing from other folks like them, so where appropriate include those customer tweets.

And take it one step further with live tweets:

Here, DirecTV is streaming live tweets from events in their email. This is another great way to keep your emails current and targeted.

If promoting your Twitter presence is right for your brand, now that you know its core demographics and uses, incorporating some of these tactics might also be right for you. As we always say, you’ll never know until you test, test, test.

And if you want to share results, tweet me @gouldliz

About Liz Gould:

Liz Gould brings over 13 years of knowledge, passion and experience in digital media to her colleagues and clients at Experian CheetahMail. In her current role as director of strategic accounts, Liz advises CheetahMail’s largest accounts on their email, mobile and social strategies. She began her career at agencies like Euro RSCG, advising clients such as Mastercard, Goldman Sachs, Genentech, and Electronic Arts.

Gadgets will reign across many ages

Tablets including LeapPads, Tabeos, iPads, Kindles and others will continue to be a popular gift this year, with more choices than ever. On the list of top product-related search terms driving traffic to the Retail 500 category of sites, Kindle Fire HD and Windows 8 top the list as new products. Additionally, Meep!, a child friendly tablet appeared in the top fifteen. Accessories for both phones and tablets will also be popular, especially as the variety grows for iPhone 5 and iPad Mini. A reoccurring favorite gift for the holidays is UGGs which shows a decrease year over year. However, another brand with a similar product is Bearpaw, which is in the top ten searches and has seen big growth year over year.

^{Source: Experian Hitwise}

Dolls, video games and Furbys, oh my!

To identify the popular toys for gifts this year, we researched product-related search terms driving traffic to ToysRUs.com compared to last year’s holiday season.  We uncovered trends in the doll category, Doc McStuffins as number one on the list, along with the classic Barbie, which saw a growth in searches year over year. The Furby is making a strong comeback at the number two spot with a reboot and new features. Another trend here is tablets, from branded searches like LeapPad and Kurio there is also the generic term ‘tablets for kids’. In the video game category, the new Wii U that is debuting just in time for Black Friday and should be a big gift this year, along with searches for PS3 games and the Nintendo 3ds xl are all in the top 20 searches.

^{Source: Experian Hitwise}

Keywords of the consumer to identify demand

Beyond product names, it is important to understand the actual way people search, using key phrases and questions. Last year, for example, there was a lot of activity around ‘in-stock’ products, such as the LeapPad explorer, which was hugely popular and quickly sold out in many stores. Retailers and marketers should monitor this throughout the season and make sure to optimize for in stock if there is a popular product that they have available.

^{Source: Experian Hitwise}

Consumers also focus on what is the ‘best’ – so we see search activity around ‘best place to buy’, particularly around electronics. Questions such as ‘where to buy a’ specific product are also common, such as ‘where to buy a kindle’. These phrases offer opportunities to boost search campaigns by considering how consumers phrase their questions to ensure to capture these searches.

^{Source: Experian Hitwise}

Quick tip: In the retail category there will tend to be a lot of retail branded store terms but to keep up with holiday search behavior and help make analysis quick, create portfolios of branded terms to easily exclude those from a certain category. When you strip out all the variations of that term you are able to gain insight into product searches that are most popular to a certain site or category.

For more insight on the hot product trends for this year from our Hitwise trend-spotters, watch our webcast.

Here’s some insight from Valentine’s Day 2012, to help you with your Valentine’s Day campaign planning:

Subject lines

• The NRF study also found that cards, candy, dining out, flowers and jewelry were the most given gifts on Valentine’s Day, and those items were common themes in email subject lines. Other, less typical products that were also promoted were video games, wine, phones and travel getaways.
• Key features of the highest performing subject lines were gift and card ‘ideas,’ personalized greetings, including a heart symbol and using the word ‘sweet.’

Timing

Valentine’s Day is a last minute shopping holiday. Half of all volume and revenue occurs in the week leading up to and including Valentine’s Day.

The National Retail Federation estimates that Americans making Valentine’s Day purchases spend an average of $128. The average order value for email was even higher at $140. While clearly willing to spend, Valentine’s Day buyers were also highly interested in getting something for ‘free.’

• Free shipping generated the highest transaction rates and revenue per mail (0.17% transaction rates and $0.19 revenue per mail)
• Free gifts, such as movies, lip gloss, dresses or lingerie also had higher transaction rates than the Valentine’s Day mailing average

Price conscious Valentine’s Day buyers were also motivated by percent (%) off deals.

• Percent (%) off mailings had both higher than average transaction rates and revenue per email (0.08% transaction rates and $0.10 revenue per mail)

Tips for marketers for Valentine’s Day 2013

• The immediacy of mobile SMS/MMS campaigns would work well for all of the last minute Valentine’s Day purchases. Establish and actively grow and promote your mobile SMS/MMS program to take advantage of the Valentine’s Day buying frenzy.
• Subscribers are searching for ‘ideas’ for Valentine’s Day gifts. Use remarketing campaigns based on abandoned cart and browse behaviors to suggest other products they might also find of interest.
• Promote your brand in ways beyond email by connecting email to your social media sites. Invite subscribers to ‘pin’ their most desired gifts, ‘tweet’ a review of their chosen restaurant or post pictures of the lovely flowers they received.
• Fresh creative for the holiday can help ensure subscriber engagement. Personalize the message, consider cinemagraphs or animation to add some fun, and most of all share your love of your brand with your subscribers to make this holiday a success for everyone.

Marketers often still try and fit the A/B testing mold into situations where it is not well suited. Here, we will demonstrate one of the more common misuses of A/B testing and introduce a better option when testing with multiple factors.

Sequential factor testing

A common mistake when implementing A/B testing is when sequential A/B tests are performed in an effort to arrive at optimal levels for multiple factors. These experiments often start with the standard or status quo settings of the key factors to be tested. The levels of the factor that is believed to be the most responsible for performance are tested first, while the other factor levels remain constant. After the responses have been gathered and the optimal level for the first factor is determined, the factor regarded as the second most influential is tested next, with the ‘optimal’ first level factor remaining fixed for the rest of the experiment. This process continues to repeat itself until each factor level has been individually tested.

To better illustrate this flawed process, consider the following example with 2 factors, each with just 2 levels (the simplest case possible). Suppose an organization wants to determine the best image and ad copy to put in an email with the click-to-open ratio being the metric to maximize. We will denote the different images as I₁ and I₂ and the different ad copy as C₁ and C₂. In their first email blast to 20,000 customers, the company decides to send half of these customers an email with the combination (I₁, C₁) and the other half with the combination of (I₁, C₂). The results are as follows:

Click to Open %

(I₁, C₁) = 7.5%

(I₁, C₂) = 8.5%

Based on these results the company believes that Copy 2 is the preferred ad copy and fixes the next email blast to 10,000 more customers at this level so that the next test in the sequence will only vary the image level not already tested.

(I₂, C₂) = 9.5%

Seeing these results, the company decides that (I₂, C₂) is the optimal combination in terms of being able to generate the highest click to open ratio.

The problem is that the company may have missed out on finding the global optimum by not testing the fourth combination of (I₂, C₁) which may have yielded an even greater click to open ratio than 9.5%.

A/B tests assess one level of one factor versus the control group, but cannot measure the interaction effect across factors.

The reason why this method of sequentially testing one factor at a time fails to find the optimal factor levels is that an interaction effect exists between factors 1 and 2. Meaning, the factor effects are not additive, but rather the combinations among different factors and their levels produce an additional effect (interaction) when used simultaneously. By not being able to capture interaction effects, this sequential approach may miss the optimum altogether.

In situations such as these, it is more appropriate to perform a multivariate test (factorial test to be exact), where all factors are changed together and all combinations are accounted for. There is a wide array of different kinds of multivariate tests available, but when the number of factors and the number of factor levels to be tested are limited, the full factorial approach is the best option, as it retains the most amount of information about the factors.

The example here of 2 factors each with 2 levels is the simplest case, but the same reasoning applies when testing with more than 2 factors or more than 2 levels so think ahead and plan your testing strategies with the care they deserve. If you don’t, you may end up drawing the wrong conclusion about what approaches work best for your company’s marketing efforts.

For more information on testing, Experian CheetahMail’s strategic services team can assist you in choosing the best testing approach given your organization’s unique marketing challenges.

Last week Facebook formally launched “Custom Audience” ads. The company also announced that Experian’s Alchemy Social was named as a Facebook Strategic Preferred Marketing Developer, the highest distinction of excellence Facebook has ever offered to marketing developers.

These two announcements particularly hit home with Experian Marketing Services’ Rachel Bergman, CEO of Alchemy Social, who is hosting Experian CheetahMail’s webinar this week, titled Email + Facebook = Like.  Immediately following the Facebook announcements, we were able to grab Rachel for a quick Q&A to chat about how Experian CheetahMail clients, and email marketers in general, can leverage Facebook’s Custom Audiences.

Q1: Rachel, why are you so passionate about this topic?

A1: I’m in a pretty unique position, having overseen the Experian CheetahMail business for several years, having been in email marketing for 12 years and now running Experian’s Alchemy Social. When I started in this new role about 6 months ago, Facebook changed the game pretty significantly by introducing Sponsored Stories that allow marketers to turn their Facebook ads into relationship-driven marketing. Although this was really exciting for advertisers, I knew it wasn’t going to change the way email marketers ran their programs. The connection just wasn’t there. With Facebook’s new announcement on Custom Audiences, they’ve taken a huge leap forward. This has happened very quickly. Now, email marketing and Facebook ad targeting have a clear link and I can’t wait for clients to start exploring all the opportunities this brings.

Q2: Can you tell us, exactly what is Facebook Custom Audiences?

A2: Custom Audiences allows you to target Facebook ads to specific individuals, allowing you to reach the exact audience you want to target. Specifically, you can take any file of email addresses, phone numbers or Facebook user ID’s, and Experian CheetahMail will make that file available in Alchemy Social to target Facebook ads to the individuals that match that file. Your file is hashed at CheetahMail and sent to Facebook, so that no personal data about the individual is shared with a third party.

Q3: How do you think marketers will use Custom Audiences to enhance their email programs?

A3: The possibilities are endless for how you can use this new functionality, but here are some ideas that we think will be the most popular:

- Amplify the reach of each of your email campaigns by targeting your subscribers with Facebook ads. We all know that it oftentimes takes more than one impression to get a customer to engage – why not get that impression soon after your email is sent and drive traffic back to your current promotion?!

- Reach specific email addresses, via Facebook advertising, that you know have not received your message via email (e.g. non-openers/inactives or previous bounces).

- Retarget email addresses that have or have not completed specific actions in an email (e.g. a click on a specific link, a purchase of a category or specific product) with highly dynamic and relevant Facebook advertising.

- Retarget to website visitors that have or have not completed specific actions on your website with highly dynamic and relevant Facebook advertising. Note that this is a cookie-based match and you may be able to reach more visitors this way than with traditional email remarketing messages.

- Target Facebook ads specifically to individuals in your customer database that you have a phone number for, but not email address. Try to get them to engage and drive them to a landing page where they can opt-in for email communications.

- Launch a compelling campaign to all of your email subscribers to get them to become fans of your brand. You are able to exclude current fans from your Custom Audience after your file is loaded. How great is this? You can now run a targeted campaign on Facebook to convert all of your loyal customers to be fans on Facebook without wasting any impressions on current fans or other Facebook users who do not already have such a strong affinity with your brand.

Q4: You weren’t kidding, there are a lot of options! Can you tell us about targeting inactives? Why do you think this is so important?

A4: I’m glad you asked since I’m really excited about this. It’s no secret that email marketers have a huge challenge with reengagement and reactivation. Email is such a profitable channel, and the minute an email address is lost, it can be lost for good. Many companies have been forced to segment out a percentage of their email lists that they can no longer mail to due to “inactivity.” This is a huge loss! Now, with Custom Audiences, email marketers have a new channel to reach these inactives online. We see this as a huge opportunity – with every email marketer testing this, and ultimately making it part of their overall program.

Q5: What do you think is unique about Experian Marketing Services’ Custom Audiences offering?

A5: We are the only company that brings together the largest email marketing services provider in the world and one of the largest social advertising platforms in a completely seamless way – that’s really powerful! We can manage the process end-to-end for our clients so that they can make reaching their email audience on Facebook part of their everyday program, with no additional heavy lifting. It also doesn’t hurt that we are obsessed with our clients and always do everything we can to make sure their marketing programs are successful.

Q6: Some clients may have heard of The Facebook Exchange. Can you explain how this is different from Custom Audiences?

A6: The Facebook Exchange, or FBX, is equally as exciting and allows clients to target Facebook ads to visitors of their website who or have not completed specific actions (e.g. a visitor who placed an item in a shopping cart, but did not convert). The results of these highly targeted and timely campaigns have been yielding excellent results over the past couple of months while the program has been in Beta. This is technically how we will help clients re-build remarketing programs they have in email on Facebook, but our clients will work with us in a similar way to how we work with them on Audiences – so the difference between the products is not as important. The major difference is that The Facebook Exchange relies on a cookie match from the client website to Facebook, not an email match. Thus, we will not be sending files back-and-forth with this product. The match will be made by Facebook when the user goes to Facebook after coming to the client’s site. I see this as a great opportunity to potentially reach a larger audience with remarketing messages.

Q7: How can email marketers get started, especially with the holidays coming on so fast?

A7: First, attend our webinar,  Email + Facebook = Like  If you are an Experian CheetahMail client, you can then contact your Account Manager or a member of your account team and we can talk you through, step-by-step, how to start leveraging this new functionality. We have this functionality ready today and it’s that easy. There is a huge opportunity with Custom Audiences and this year’s holiday campaigns to increase overall campaign ROI.

Rachel Bergman leads the Alchemy Social business globally for Experian. For the last decade, Rachel has overseen Experian CheetahMail’s explosive growth and built one of the most highly regarded client services organizations in the world. Driven by “customer obsession,” Rachel has been in digital marketing since the beginning of her career. Rachel lives in New York with her husband and two children and has a BA with Honors in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University.

You can reach Rachel directly at rachel.bergman@experian.com or follow her on twitter at @rachelbergman

Much has changed since last holiday season. You are probably already aware that ISPs have significantly modified their filtering processes, putting heavy weight on engagement to determine a sender’s reputation and whether or not an email should get delivered to the inbox. In past holiday seasons, many marketers have often taken advantage of this time of year as a reason to “blast” more messages and promotions to its entire subscription list. While this strategy, as you could imagine, often can generate more revenue, it can now negatively impact deliverability. The truth is that deliverability rates decline during the holiday season.

The truth is that deliverability rates decline during the holiday season.

Engage early
We always encourage our clients to try to win back and re-engage inactive subscribers year round.  While re-engagement may not always be first priority on a marketer’s “to-do list,” having a list of highly engaged subscribers come holiday time is imperative.

During the holidays, think about the frequency in which you email your subscribers. Are your offers personalized? Are they relevant? As subscribers take more control over their inboxes, marketers must still be mindful to treat their subscribers as individuals and make their holiday messages resonate with their audience. Remember, the more relevant your messages are, the more likely a subscriber is to engage and interact.

Mailing to unengaged or disengaged subscribers can negatively impact your ability to deliver holiday messages to your best customers!

You know your customers, but ISPs don’t
From an ISP’s point of view, engagement is based solely upon how a subscriber interacts with your emails in that one email box. Unfortunately, ISP’s don’t have the data to go beyond this channel like you do. Regardless of how frequently a subscriber engages with your brand in other channels, you must ensure they are engaged in the email channel particularly.

You’ve got the data. Utilize what you know about your customers to ensure email engagement. Today’s shoppers expect high levels of personalization and relevancy. We also encourage our clients to leverage all touchpoints and channels to connect with customers and encourage them to engage via email.

Point of sale address collection
Point of sale is always the highest risk for collecting bad addresses – especially during the holiday season. Most cashiers are extremely busy and aren’t incentivized to enter accurate or even real email addresses. Thus, it is important that you utilize list hygiene services like Experian QAS, and avoid mailing to ‘fake’ addresses.

For more tips and strategies on collecting email addresses at point of sale, download Experian CheetahMail’s white paper, Point of sale email: Managing compliance, privacy and deliverability with in-store email acquisition.

Set expectations
Set expectations with subscribers about the types of communications they will receive and how often they will receive it from you. Welcome emails are a great opportunity to communicate subscription benefits, as well as set expectations – then don’t deviate from these promises. When you over-mail customers during the holidays, your messages have a higher chance of being marked as spam or customers unsubscribing – thus reducing your engagement rating with ISPs.  Just because companies like Groupon or Living Social may email their subscribers every day, does not mean that your customers are expecting the same from your brand. You must do what works best for your customers, your brand and your engagement strategy.

If you do have subscribers that may not want to engage with you as often as others, it’s a good practice to offer an opt-down subscription, rather than simply an opt-out.  This gives control to the subscriber and allows them to choose frequencies and types of communications that are most relevant to them.

New rules – so now what?
Our advice is still the same as it has always been: send engaging messages that are relevant to your own customers. Be strategic with your holiday campaigns and utilize email marketing technology to treat your subscribers as individuals. Leverage the holiday season to increase engagement levels, while understanding the risks associated with mailing to inactives.

If you follow these simple guidelines, happy holidays are sure to come!

For more information about deliverability and ISP engagement filtering, download Experian CheetahMail’s white paper: Three pillars of successful email deliverability.

Tampa: Chock full of free-wheeling boomers and retirees
Compared to the overall U.S. population, Tampa contains a high incidence of consumers over the age of 60. Headlining the over 60 crowd are a mix of newly retired, elderly couples, and widowed individuals leading busy social lifestyles. They’re physically fit for their age, politically active and earn solid incomes from pensions and investments. They’re Footloose and Family Free. Largely concentrated in Florida, nearly eight of every ten of these households contain a grandparent. But they’re more liberal than other senior segments, often voting democratic. The share of Footloose and Family Free households in Tampa is 8.8 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Call them Booming and Consuming, this is a financially fit collection of Baby Boomer couples and singles concentrated in the 50 to 60 year-old age range who are beginning to enjoy the early stages of an empty nest and retirement. These consumers have moderate incomes but sizeable nest eggs. Philanthropic by nature and interested in the arts, they donate money to a variety of causes. They are conservative in their thinking and active in the Republican Party. Think of them as the party backers who are inclined to take a date to the next GOP fundraiser. The share of Booming and Consuming households in Tampa is 5.7 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Golf Carts and Gourmets exemplify the prototypical upscale retirement lifestyle. These senior sophisticates are frequent travelers. They are twice as likely as average Americans to have taken a cruise in recent years. They also like to visit friends and relatives throughout the country. Golf Carts and Gourmets are more of a conservative bastion on political issues. Despite pockets of Liberals and Independents, a majority belong to the Republican Party. Many have a global awareness and give generously to political, educational and cultural groups. The share of Golf Carts and Gourmet households in Tampa is 2.3 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Charlotte: Home portal for the upwardly mobile professional
In contrast to Tampa, Charlotte sports an above average population of younger to middle-age, child-centered and career-driven couples and professionals. Leading the wave is a segment of upscale, family-centric households called Kids and Cabernet. These prosperous middle-aged couples with children are concentrated in the suburbs and live in homes valued at twice the national average. Their neighborhoods are havens for college-educated, white-collar professionals with well-paying jobs in the sciences, education, business and finance. Primarily harboring conservative viewpoints, Kids and Cabernet identify most closely with the Republican Party. The share of Kids and Cabernet households in Charlotte is 3.2 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Found predominantly in major metropolitan areas, Couples with Clout tend to live in downtown neighborhoods or close-in suburbs with immediate access to the central city. Largely free from childrearing costs, with fewer than ten percent having kids, these wealthy couples have high levels of discretionary income to satisfy their upscale tastes. They are well-educated, employed in white-collar and managerial professions, and are always on the lookout to upgrade their living situation. Somewhat progressive in their views, they describe themselves as political Independents. The share of Couples with Clout households in Charlotte is 2.4 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

The fast-growing, metro-fringe communities surrounding Charlotte are home to a flourishing population of digitally-savvy professionals. Let’s call them Fast Track Couples. With nine out of every ten householders under age 35, many are first-time home buyers who have settled into new residential developments filled with affordable homes. Most Fast Track Couples are either considering the idea of starting a family or already have pre-school kids at home. Pressed for time and career-focused, they’re not very active politically and have only average rates for being registered to vote. The share of Fast Track Couples households in Charlotte is 2.3 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Winning more votes
As marketers, we are always looking for imaginative ways to target and attract specific audiences. Political candidates know this all too well when on the campaign trail stumping for votes. Whether it’s the Baby Boomer and retiree market that is more prevalent in Tampa or the dynamic, youthful, white collar professional that has settled in Charlotte, each segment of the population has varied preferences, purchase behaviors and motivations to buy. In the world of marketing, consumers settle on a favored brand and then vote with their wallets. Consider taking a consumer “roll call” to determine which segments are most vital (loyal supporters) to ensuring your popularity and which segments lack allegiance (swing customers) to your message. The findings can then provide guidance for developing successful marketing campaign strategies.

The segments come from the PoliticalPersonas consumer segmentation system, which classifies U.S. adults into one of 10 unique segments based on the individual’s political outlook and party ID as well as their attitudes and opinions towards key topics.

The segments we will focus on in this post include the Super Democrats and Ultra Conservatives segments, which represent the most party loyal voters for Democrats and Republicans, respectively. We will also profile the TV preferences of three important swing voter segments during this election cycle, including: Mild Republicans, On the Fence Liberals and Green Traditionalists. For more information about the PoliticalPersonas segments, download the PoliticalPersonas Report.

The shows in each list include those cable and broadcast TV shows with the highest concentration of viewers from each segment. For example, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central has the highest concentration of Super Democrats of any non-news cable or broadcast show on TV. Likewise, Rules of Engagement on CBS has the highest concentration of Mild Republicans. Candidates, political organizations, and even traditional advertisers trying to connect with any of these voting segments would be wise to consider advertising on the programs listed below.

For more information on PoliticalPersonas, watch our Webcast.

Experian Marketing Services is hosting its annual Digital Summit (today through Friday) at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

This premier digital marketing event, with the theme, “Customer Obsession: Empowering Meaningful Relationships,” features highly engaging and inspiring learning sessions, providing marketers with key insights and best practices for keeping their customers at the heart and center of everything they do.

Attendees are learning from marketing experts about the latest trends in digital marketing across email, mobile, social, search and display. In addition, content from the event delves deep into understanding the new American consumer and the latest in cross-channel marketing.

And here are some of our favorite tweets:

Learn more about the 2012 Digital Summit and follow along on twitter #CMSummit
and view photos on our Pinterest board. View this blog tomorrow for updates.

Click for larger image

Key take-aways:

• Emails with an offer in the subject line had a 21% higher transaction rate than those without
• Online search traffic was up 10% over 2010 with search teams like “back-to-school clothes” and “back-to-school deals” driving the increase
• Searchers tend to be female and between the ages of 25 and 44

Questions marketers should ask themselves include:

• What are the characteristics of my target audience – who are they, how do they shop, what resonates with them?
• How can I make my marketing messages more targeted so that they stand out from the crowd?
• What offers and promotions should I employ?
• How should my marketing budget be allocated across multiple channels?

To learn the answers to these questions and more, visit our back-to-school homeroom to see the latest data, emerging trends and opportunities that exist for marketers this season.