internet marketing

Digital marketing budgets are expected to increase steadily during the next few years, according to Datran Media’s Annual Marketing & Media Survey, which reaches out to more than 5,000 marketing executives from Fortune 500 brands, top publishers, and leading advertising and media agencies.

This is good news for those of you hoping to break into the digital marketing industry. Whether you’re passionate about search, affiliate, social media, or another area of marketing, there are a few things you can do to prove your worthiness to prospective employers.

We asked five industry insiders about their top tips for aspiring digital marketers. Find their suggestions below and add your own in the comments.

1. Get Hands-On Marketing Experience

A degree in marketing or communications can take you a distance, but most employers are looking for candidates with marketing experience, whether that’s from a previous job, internship or side project. If you already have work experience in the marketing world, congratulations. For the rest of you, internships or other projects will be key.

“Any hands-on involvement with campaign creation, analytics, or optimization can be extremely beneficial to aspiring digital marketers,” says Traci Kuiphoff, online marketing manager at BareNecessities.com. “If you’re in school or a recent grad, the best way to gain experience is to do an internship at a company or agency that has a department or focus in online or digital marketing. Not only do you get real world hands-on experience, but it’s also great to put on your resume when you’re ready for a full-time position.”

If you are in college, look for paid or for-school-credit marketing internships at your college’s job fairs, via job search sites, and on social media sites. You could even land your next gig through Twitter.

If you don’t land an internship or find a position of interest, create your own project or enter a marketing contest. While studying marketing and international business at NYU Stern’s Undergraduate School of Business, a classmate and I entered the John Caples Student Campaign of the Year contest and created a digital marketing campaign for Pentel. Our campaign included a mix of digital, social and direct marketing communications, along with thoroughly gathered success metrics. Not only did we win first place, which included summer internships and a cash prize, but we also met industry experts who have acted as mentors to us.

2. Know the Lingo

Being able to analyze marketing campaigns and understand what worked or didn’t is the key role of a digital marketer — in order to do that, you’ll need to know (and love) the industry jargon.

“Understanding metrics on the web is key,” says Naishi Zhang, assistant marketing manager at Barnes & Noble. “The Internet provides so many ways of analyzing user behavior, and knowing how to gather and interpret data is important for success. Read widely and learn the lingo, so when someone asks about the CTR of a banner ad or the number of page views a landing page received, you’ll be ready.”

Mastering marketing terminology and metrics, and knowing what they mean, will take time and practice, but you can get a basic knowledge by picking up a marketing 101 textbook or attending an introductory course. Check out local college or continuing education courses. If that isn’t an option, the Internet is at your disposal. About.com’s glossary of marketing terms and HubSpot’s glossary of social media marketing terms are both very useful for beginners, and you should also read some of the top marketing blogs to get your daily fill of information.

3. Nurture Your Personal Online Presence

Rick Bakas, director of social media marketing at St. Supéry Vineyards and Winery said he believes a person’s online presence can be a major deciding factor on whether an aspiring digital marketer makes the cut for a job. “If an employer is deciding between two candidates,” he notes, “they might go with the person with the strong following online. Build your personal brand online. You have to show you can build your personal brand if you’re going to build someone else’s.”

Your personal brand is value-added in the job market.

“Your online clout is sometimes referred to as ’social currency,’” he continues. “In other words, there’s a value associated with your online personal brand. Increased value carries as much weight as a great resume. A high Klout.com score for example, will help you stand out and validate what your resume says about you.”

Your Klout score is a number between 0 and 100 that measures the size of your engaged audience, the likelihood that they will amplify your messages, and your overall influence within your network. Bigger isn’t always better. Bakas explains, “Aspiring marketers would do well to grow an engaged online following, not necessarily a large online following. Again, Klout.com is a great tool to evaluate the strength of your online presence.”

4. Dabble in Everything, Specialize in Something

There isn’t just one career path in marketing. You can choose to work for an agency, with an in-house team, or start your own firm. There are multiple marketing disciplines, including affiliate, search, social media, e-mail, mobile, and display marketing, to name a few. Teams come in all sizes — some in which teammates specialize in certain areas, and others where a team can be composed of just one stellar know-it-all.

The best way to get a taste of all of the options is to dabble in a bit of everything. “Digital marketing agency experience can be extremely valuable — at an agency you can be exposed to all avenues of digital marketing from paid search, social media, mobile and everything in between,” Kuiphoff advises. ”Most likely, you’ll touch a number of different accounts which can help you choose a vertical focus or specialty.”

Once you have a base knowledge in each area of marketing, you’ll be better equipped to choose a more specific path of focus. Having a specialty enables you to hone your skills in that area and become an expert, which is a valuable asset to potential employees.

5. Attend Industry Meetups and Conferences

“Put the ’social’ in social media and spend time engaging with people in the real world,” Bakas says. “Go to lots of events to create or nurture quality interactions that can later continue online. Use plancast.com to see which upcoming events are worth going to. These experiences are ripe with opportunities to meet other digital marketers. The strongest relationships are the ones nurtured online and offline.”

Kuiphoff adds, “Digital marketing conferences not only provide a great networking opportunity, but most offer in-depth workshops that can enhance your skill set.”

Some worthwhile conferences to consider include SXSW, Search Marketing Expo, Web 2.0 Expo, Ad Age Digital Conference, ad:tech, Search Engine Strategies and Pivot.

If you’re not into the hustle and bustle of industry conferences, you can consider a more toned-down approach by attending or organizing your own Meetups. There are thousands of marketing Meetups around the world. The NY Entrepreneurs Business Network and San Francisco Entrepreneur Meetup are two of the largest.

6. Keep a Pulse on the News

Because of the nature of the Internet, digital marketing is ever-changing. If you don’t keep up with the latest trends and news, it shows in interviews and on the job. Sarah Hofstetter, SVP of emerging media and client strategy at digital marketing agency 360i, says it well:

“Remember that standing still is going backwards. Yes, it’s an adage that has been used for years to inspire ambition, but it is blatantly obvious in the digital landscape. Not only does that technology evolve at a lightening pace that transcends Moore’s law, but consumer behavior is shifting at a radical pace, and media consumption becomes more and more fragmented.

“Being on top of consumer behavior –- understanding what they’re doing online, what motivates them and their social and mobile behavior –- and staying ahead of that by learning what’s in the market and what’s on the come, will help ensure you don’t get stuck on the sidelines when interviewing for jobs in digital marketing.”

Kuiphoff recommends subscribing to industry blogs and newsletters to stay on top of the latest news. Some of my personal favorites include Ad Age, ClickZ, eMarketer, BrandWeek and AdWeek.

7. Get Technical

You won’t be coding programs or building full websites as a digital marketer, but you will need to work with developers and designers or other web specialists to communicate your marketing design needs. A basic knowledge of how the web works, HTML, and one or two programming languages, such as PHP, JavaScript, CSS and Ruby, will help you understand the current boundaries and opportunities that will affect your marketing campaigns.

“It’s important for anyone working in the digital world, whether it’s marketing or designing features for a product, to have a basic understanding of coding,” suggests Dharmishta Rood, a research assistant at Harvard Business School and fellow at the Center for Future Civic Media at MIT. “There are great experiential benefits from understanding the underlying technologies that shape what we do online — it’s easier to understand how users can interact with content, what is possible for design with things like CSS and JavaScript, and understand the nuances of basic technical terminology.”

8. Perfect Your Resume

Everyone needs a resume; what you do with it is up to you. To help you stand out, here are a few tips from our digital marketing experts:

• “Demonstrate that you can produce results and work in a fast-paced environment, whether you’ve had previous digital experience or not. Don’t be afraid to include things about yourself that may not be directly related to the job. Resumes get scanned quickly, so it always helps to inject something creative and clever.” — Naishi Zhang, assistant marketing manager, Barnes & Noble
• “One way you can make your resume stand out is to get certified. Google has a certification program for Adwords. If you have a paid search marketing focus this can help assure a client/employer that you’re proficient in the system.” — Traci Kuiphoff, online marketing manager, BareNecessities.com
• “I’m a big believer in making sure your resume is on LinkedIn, and to have recommendations on LinkedIn. Start asking for recommendations soon. LinkedIn is like your digital resume. Make sure the facts match up. Also, Google your name to see what comes up — your prospective employers will.” — Rick Bakas, director of social media marketing, St. Supéry Vineyards and Winery
• “Use keywords to describe your previous experience that make sense for the specific job you’re applying for — if the job description or department does ’social media outreach’ and your description of all those Twitter @replies, Facebook messages and moderated blog post comments is currently called ‘customer service,’ this does not play up your strengths as a digital marketer. Use common sense though. If their keywords don’t match your experience, don’t write anything untruthful, and consider doing things to get the types of experience for the jobs you want, such as volunteering to help with the social media of a non-profit whose cause you support.” — Dharmishta Rood, research assistant, Harvard Business School

To showcase your skills alongside multimedia and other online assets, check out some digital alternatives to the paper resume, including video resumes, VisualCVs, social resumes and LinkedIn profiles.

9. Let Curiosity and Passion Drive You

“Sure, it’s great to know about Facebook, iAds and whatever is coming next from Silicon Valley,” Hofstetter points out, “but when we’re looking for key talent at 360i, nothing matters to us more than intellectual curiosity and passion…In a business where answers and solutions aren’t always obvious, you need to be innately curious (about everything) and obsessed with the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’ ”

It may sound cheesy at first, but she has a point. Without inquisitiveness and zeal, we’re just work drones on a mission to take over the Internet. Plus, these traits have a positive effect on the way we work, Hofstetter says:

“People who have these qualities can innovate and identify trends from seemingly ordinary data — they’re the first to try new things (platforms, tools, technology) and think about how marketers can benefit from them. They don’t always have the answers, but when you’re being asked to do never-been-done-before things, there isn’t a rulebook. That’s why when we’re recruiting, we look for people who know how to ask the right questions.

10. Unplug for Your Sanity

Staring at a computer screen all day long can take a toll on your body, mind and social life. Get away from that monitor and breathe for crying out loud!

Bakas advocates getting out every once in a while to work on who you are as a person outside of work. “Because transparency is important, it’s important to be a good person in the real world,” he says. “It’ll translate into the digital world — you can’t fake being a good person if you’re a jerk in real life. Unplug for your own sanity, but also to continue growing as a person in life.”

I second that. Now, get out of here and get a job.

Digital Marketing Job Listings

Every week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the best digital marketing jobs from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

• Digital Strategist at Vladimir Jones in Colorado Springs, CO.
• Brand Manager at sweetgreen in Washington, DC.
• Director of Digital Strategy at DeVries Public Relations in New York, NY.
• Marketing Manager/Director at BreakoutBand in Brooklyn, NY.
• Sr. Marketing Manager at WOWIO in Los Angeles, CA.

More Job Search Resources from Mashable

- 5 Tips for Aspiring Social Media Marketers/> - 10 Tips For Aspiring Community Managers/> - 5 Tips for Aspiring Copywriters and Art Directors/> - HOW TO: Land a Career in Digital Public Relations/> - Top 5 Tips for Aspiring Music Bloggers

Image courtesy of RICEinteractive; iStockphoto, track5

For more Business coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Businessclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Business channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Conde Nast confirmed today what Keith Kelly had been hearing earlier this month -- that Conde Nast Digital is about to undergo a major re-organization. The digital sales team is being absorbed into Conde Nast Media Group and individual brands will now be responsible for their own digital sales and marketing efforts.

The restructuring is part of new president Bob Sauerberg's broader reorientation of Conde Nast's business model, which is moving away from a long standing reliance on print ad sales and becoming more focused on consumer revenue.

The news comes just one day after Conde Nast announced that its Style.com site was immediately being moved into the company's Fairchild Fashion Group, and that Adobe rather than Conde Nast Digital would develop all of its future tablet offerings.

Here's more about the re-org via press release:

New York, N.Y., October 26, 2010— Condé Nast will realign its sales and marketing organization across the company to focus on brand centricity and drive growth and innovation, it was announced today by Charles H. Townsend, C.E.O.  The Condé Nast Media Group continues its evolution as a leading provider of multi-platform, multi-brand comprehensive offerings as all sales and marketing at the corporate level come together under Lou Cona, Chief Marketing Officer.  Content for the vast majority of magazine web-sites is already managed at the brand level and now the brands will also become responsible for the digital sales and marketing. CN Digital will now focus on developing and implementing the corporate digital growth strategy as well as oversee content and operations for emerging digital businesses.  These structural changes represent a significant step towards realizing the strategic focus announced by the company in July. A transition schedule for the changes will begin immediately and continue throughout 2011.
 
“This is the next step towards capitalizing on what we see as unparalleled opportunity for Condé Nast to further extend its leadership position, create impactful media offerings for advertisers, and deliver cross platform products that will deepen consumer connectivity,” said Mr. Townsend.  
 
The organizational implications of this realignment are as follows:

In order to promote a more effective go-to-market approach and seamless access to brand assets, the Condé Nast Digital sales and marketing team will join CNMG to form one multi-platform, multi-brand unit.
 
“Condé Nast Digital brings tremendous power to the portfolio of assets we are able to offer the marketplace,” said Lou Cona, Chief Marketing Officer Condé Nast. “By integrating its sales and marketing expertise into the Media Group, we are positioned for maximum growth and are better aligned with the industry.”
 
Drew Schutte, currently SVP, Chief Revenue Officer of Condé Nast Digital, will become EVP, Chief Integration Officer for Condé Nast Media Group, serving as the primary liaison between the brand publishers and CNMG, reporting to Mr. Cona.  He will oversee all pricing, planning, and creative marketing in support of the integration of print and digital, single-site brands. Josh Stinchcomb, currently Publisher, Internet Sales Group, will become VP of Digital Sales for Condé Nast, reporting to Mr. Cona and working to integrate digital sales. 
 
Brands Become Responsible for Digital Sales & Marketing  
To optimize brand revenue growth, responsibility for single-site, digital sales and marketing-- currently handled by Condé Nast Digital—will migrate to the brand level.  Publishers will now fully leverage their offerings across all platforms.  

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I've learned a bit more about Fox News lead new anchor Shepard Smith's new multi-year deal with the cable channel. Despite reports that it runs through 2013, I hear that it actually kicks in next year when his current pact expires and ...

ABC <b>News</b> for iPad adds 2010 Election Results | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the ABC News for iPad adds 2010 Election Results. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

Digital marketing budgets are expected to increase steadily during the next few years, according to Datran Media’s Annual Marketing & Media Survey, which reaches out to more than 5,000 marketing executives from Fortune 500 brands, top publishers, and leading advertising and media agencies.

This is good news for those of you hoping to break into the digital marketing industry. Whether you’re passionate about search, affiliate, social media, or another area of marketing, there are a few things you can do to prove your worthiness to prospective employers.

We asked five industry insiders about their top tips for aspiring digital marketers. Find their suggestions below and add your own in the comments.

1. Get Hands-On Marketing Experience

A degree in marketing or communications can take you a distance, but most employers are looking for candidates with marketing experience, whether that’s from a previous job, internship or side project. If you already have work experience in the marketing world, congratulations. For the rest of you, internships or other projects will be key.

“Any hands-on involvement with campaign creation, analytics, or optimization can be extremely beneficial to aspiring digital marketers,” says Traci Kuiphoff, online marketing manager at BareNecessities.com. “If you’re in school or a recent grad, the best way to gain experience is to do an internship at a company or agency that has a department or focus in online or digital marketing. Not only do you get real world hands-on experience, but it’s also great to put on your resume when you’re ready for a full-time position.”

If you are in college, look for paid or for-school-credit marketing internships at your college’s job fairs, via job search sites, and on social media sites. You could even land your next gig through Twitter.

If you don’t land an internship or find a position of interest, create your own project or enter a marketing contest. While studying marketing and international business at NYU Stern’s Undergraduate School of Business, a classmate and I entered the John Caples Student Campaign of the Year contest and created a digital marketing campaign for Pentel. Our campaign included a mix of digital, social and direct marketing communications, along with thoroughly gathered success metrics. Not only did we win first place, which included summer internships and a cash prize, but we also met industry experts who have acted as mentors to us.

2. Know the Lingo

Being able to analyze marketing campaigns and understand what worked or didn’t is the key role of a digital marketer — in order to do that, you’ll need to know (and love) the industry jargon.

“Understanding metrics on the web is key,” says Naishi Zhang, assistant marketing manager at Barnes & Noble. “The Internet provides so many ways of analyzing user behavior, and knowing how to gather and interpret data is important for success. Read widely and learn the lingo, so when someone asks about the CTR of a banner ad or the number of page views a landing page received, you’ll be ready.”

Mastering marketing terminology and metrics, and knowing what they mean, will take time and practice, but you can get a basic knowledge by picking up a marketing 101 textbook or attending an introductory course. Check out local college or continuing education courses. If that isn’t an option, the Internet is at your disposal. About.com’s glossary of marketing terms and HubSpot’s glossary of social media marketing terms are both very useful for beginners, and you should also read some of the top marketing blogs to get your daily fill of information.

3. Nurture Your Personal Online Presence

Rick Bakas, director of social media marketing at St. Supéry Vineyards and Winery said he believes a person’s online presence can be a major deciding factor on whether an aspiring digital marketer makes the cut for a job. “If an employer is deciding between two candidates,” he notes, “they might go with the person with the strong following online. Build your personal brand online. You have to show you can build your personal brand if you’re going to build someone else’s.”

Your personal brand is value-added in the job market.

“Your online clout is sometimes referred to as ’social currency,’” he continues. “In other words, there’s a value associated with your online personal brand. Increased value carries as much weight as a great resume. A high Klout.com score for example, will help you stand out and validate what your resume says about you.”

Your Klout score is a number between 0 and 100 that measures the size of your engaged audience, the likelihood that they will amplify your messages, and your overall influence within your network. Bigger isn’t always better. Bakas explains, “Aspiring marketers would do well to grow an engaged online following, not necessarily a large online following. Again, Klout.com is a great tool to evaluate the strength of your online presence.”

4. Dabble in Everything, Specialize in Something

There isn’t just one career path in marketing. You can choose to work for an agency, with an in-house team, or start your own firm. There are multiple marketing disciplines, including affiliate, search, social media, e-mail, mobile, and display marketing, to name a few. Teams come in all sizes — some in which teammates specialize in certain areas, and others where a team can be composed of just one stellar know-it-all.

The best way to get a taste of all of the options is to dabble in a bit of everything. “Digital marketing agency experience can be extremely valuable — at an agency you can be exposed to all avenues of digital marketing from paid search, social media, mobile and everything in between,” Kuiphoff advises. ”Most likely, you’ll touch a number of different accounts which can help you choose a vertical focus or specialty.”

Once you have a base knowledge in each area of marketing, you’ll be better equipped to choose a more specific path of focus. Having a specialty enables you to hone your skills in that area and become an expert, which is a valuable asset to potential employees.

5. Attend Industry Meetups and Conferences

“Put the ’social’ in social media and spend time engaging with people in the real world,” Bakas says. “Go to lots of events to create or nurture quality interactions that can later continue online. Use plancast.com to see which upcoming events are worth going to. These experiences are ripe with opportunities to meet other digital marketers. The strongest relationships are the ones nurtured online and offline.”

Kuiphoff adds, “Digital marketing conferences not only provide a great networking opportunity, but most offer in-depth workshops that can enhance your skill set.”

Some worthwhile conferences to consider include SXSW, Search Marketing Expo, Web 2.0 Expo, Ad Age Digital Conference, ad:tech, Search Engine Strategies and Pivot.

If you’re not into the hustle and bustle of industry conferences, you can consider a more toned-down approach by attending or organizing your own Meetups. There are thousands of marketing Meetups around the world. The NY Entrepreneurs Business Network and San Francisco Entrepreneur Meetup are two of the largest.

6. Keep a Pulse on the News

Because of the nature of the Internet, digital marketing is ever-changing. If you don’t keep up with the latest trends and news, it shows in interviews and on the job. Sarah Hofstetter, SVP of emerging media and client strategy at digital marketing agency 360i, says it well:

“Remember that standing still is going backwards. Yes, it’s an adage that has been used for years to inspire ambition, but it is blatantly obvious in the digital landscape. Not only does that technology evolve at a lightening pace that transcends Moore’s law, but consumer behavior is shifting at a radical pace, and media consumption becomes more and more fragmented.

“Being on top of consumer behavior –- understanding what they’re doing online, what motivates them and their social and mobile behavior –- and staying ahead of that by learning what’s in the market and what’s on the come, will help ensure you don’t get stuck on the sidelines when interviewing for jobs in digital marketing.”

Kuiphoff recommends subscribing to industry blogs and newsletters to stay on top of the latest news. Some of my personal favorites include Ad Age, ClickZ, eMarketer, BrandWeek and AdWeek.

7. Get Technical

You won’t be coding programs or building full websites as a digital marketer, but you will need to work with developers and designers or other web specialists to communicate your marketing design needs. A basic knowledge of how the web works, HTML, and one or two programming languages, such as PHP, JavaScript, CSS and Ruby, will help you understand the current boundaries and opportunities that will affect your marketing campaigns.

“It’s important for anyone working in the digital world, whether it’s marketing or designing features for a product, to have a basic understanding of coding,” suggests Dharmishta Rood, a research assistant at Harvard Business School and fellow at the Center for Future Civic Media at MIT. “There are great experiential benefits from understanding the underlying technologies that shape what we do online — it’s easier to understand how users can interact with content, what is possible for design with things like CSS and JavaScript, and understand the nuances of basic technical terminology.”

8. Perfect Your Resume

Everyone needs a resume; what you do with it is up to you. To help you stand out, here are a few tips from our digital marketing experts:

• “Demonstrate that you can produce results and work in a fast-paced environment, whether you’ve had previous digital experience or not. Don’t be afraid to include things about yourself that may not be directly related to the job. Resumes get scanned quickly, so it always helps to inject something creative and clever.” — Naishi Zhang, assistant marketing manager, Barnes & Noble
• “One way you can make your resume stand out is to get certified. Google has a certification program for Adwords. If you have a paid search marketing focus this can help assure a client/employer that you’re proficient in the system.” — Traci Kuiphoff, online marketing manager, BareNecessities.com
• “I’m a big believer in making sure your resume is on LinkedIn, and to have recommendations on LinkedIn. Start asking for recommendations soon. LinkedIn is like your digital resume. Make sure the facts match up. Also, Google your name to see what comes up — your prospective employers will.” — Rick Bakas, director of social media marketing, St. Supéry Vineyards and Winery
• “Use keywords to describe your previous experience that make sense for the specific job you’re applying for — if the job description or department does ’social media outreach’ and your description of all those Twitter @replies, Facebook messages and moderated blog post comments is currently called ‘customer service,’ this does not play up your strengths as a digital marketer. Use common sense though. If their keywords don’t match your experience, don’t write anything untruthful, and consider doing things to get the types of experience for the jobs you want, such as volunteering to help with the social media of a non-profit whose cause you support.” — Dharmishta Rood, research assistant, Harvard Business School

To showcase your skills alongside multimedia and other online assets, check out some digital alternatives to the paper resume, including video resumes, VisualCVs, social resumes and LinkedIn profiles.

9. Let Curiosity and Passion Drive You

“Sure, it’s great to know about Facebook, iAds and whatever is coming next from Silicon Valley,” Hofstetter points out, “but when we’re looking for key talent at 360i, nothing matters to us more than intellectual curiosity and passion…In a business where answers and solutions aren’t always obvious, you need to be innately curious (about everything) and obsessed with the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’ ”

It may sound cheesy at first, but she has a point. Without inquisitiveness and zeal, we’re just work drones on a mission to take over the Internet. Plus, these traits have a positive effect on the way we work, Hofstetter says:

“People who have these qualities can innovate and identify trends from seemingly ordinary data — they’re the first to try new things (platforms, tools, technology) and think about how marketers can benefit from them. They don’t always have the answers, but when you’re being asked to do never-been-done-before things, there isn’t a rulebook. That’s why when we’re recruiting, we look for people who know how to ask the right questions.

10. Unplug for Your Sanity

Staring at a computer screen all day long can take a toll on your body, mind and social life. Get away from that monitor and breathe for crying out loud!

Bakas advocates getting out every once in a while to work on who you are as a person outside of work. “Because transparency is important, it’s important to be a good person in the real world,” he says. “It’ll translate into the digital world — you can’t fake being a good person if you’re a jerk in real life. Unplug for your own sanity, but also to continue growing as a person in life.”

I second that. Now, get out of here and get a job.

Digital Marketing Job Listings

Every week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the best digital marketing jobs from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

• Digital Strategist at Vladimir Jones in Colorado Springs, CO.
• Brand Manager at sweetgreen in Washington, DC.
• Director of Digital Strategy at DeVries Public Relations in New York, NY.
• Marketing Manager/Director at BreakoutBand in Brooklyn, NY.
• Sr. Marketing Manager at WOWIO in Los Angeles, CA.

More Job Search Resources from Mashable

- 5 Tips for Aspiring Social Media Marketers/> - 10 Tips For Aspiring Community Managers/> - 5 Tips for Aspiring Copywriters and Art Directors/> - HOW TO: Land a Career in Digital Public Relations/> - Top 5 Tips for Aspiring Music Bloggers

Image courtesy of RICEinteractive; iStockphoto, track5

For more Business coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Businessclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Business channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Conde Nast confirmed today what Keith Kelly had been hearing earlier this month -- that Conde Nast Digital is about to undergo a major re-organization. The digital sales team is being absorbed into Conde Nast Media Group and individual brands will now be responsible for their own digital sales and marketing efforts.

The restructuring is part of new president Bob Sauerberg's broader reorientation of Conde Nast's business model, which is moving away from a long standing reliance on print ad sales and becoming more focused on consumer revenue.

The news comes just one day after Conde Nast announced that its Style.com site was immediately being moved into the company's Fairchild Fashion Group, and that Adobe rather than Conde Nast Digital would develop all of its future tablet offerings.

Here's more about the re-org via press release:

New York, N.Y., October 26, 2010— Condé Nast will realign its sales and marketing organization across the company to focus on brand centricity and drive growth and innovation, it was announced today by Charles H. Townsend, C.E.O.  The Condé Nast Media Group continues its evolution as a leading provider of multi-platform, multi-brand comprehensive offerings as all sales and marketing at the corporate level come together under Lou Cona, Chief Marketing Officer.  Content for the vast majority of magazine web-sites is already managed at the brand level and now the brands will also become responsible for the digital sales and marketing. CN Digital will now focus on developing and implementing the corporate digital growth strategy as well as oversee content and operations for emerging digital businesses.  These structural changes represent a significant step towards realizing the strategic focus announced by the company in July. A transition schedule for the changes will begin immediately and continue throughout 2011.
 
“This is the next step towards capitalizing on what we see as unparalleled opportunity for Condé Nast to further extend its leadership position, create impactful media offerings for advertisers, and deliver cross platform products that will deepen consumer connectivity,” said Mr. Townsend.  
 
The organizational implications of this realignment are as follows:

In order to promote a more effective go-to-market approach and seamless access to brand assets, the Condé Nast Digital sales and marketing team will join CNMG to form one multi-platform, multi-brand unit.
 
“Condé Nast Digital brings tremendous power to the portfolio of assets we are able to offer the marketplace,” said Lou Cona, Chief Marketing Officer Condé Nast. “By integrating its sales and marketing expertise into the Media Group, we are positioned for maximum growth and are better aligned with the industry.”
 
Drew Schutte, currently SVP, Chief Revenue Officer of Condé Nast Digital, will become EVP, Chief Integration Officer for Condé Nast Media Group, serving as the primary liaison between the brand publishers and CNMG, reporting to Mr. Cona.  He will oversee all pricing, planning, and creative marketing in support of the integration of print and digital, single-site brands. Josh Stinchcomb, currently Publisher, Internet Sales Group, will become VP of Digital Sales for Condé Nast, reporting to Mr. Cona and working to integrate digital sales. 
 
Brands Become Responsible for Digital Sales & Marketing  
To optimize brand revenue growth, responsibility for single-site, digital sales and marketing-- currently handled by Condé Nast Digital—will migrate to the brand level.  Publishers will now fully leverage their offerings across all platforms.  

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UPDATE: Shepard Smith At Fox <b>News</b> Through 2014 – Deadline.com

I've learned a bit more about Fox News lead new anchor Shepard Smith's new multi-year deal with the cable channel. Despite reports that it runs through 2013, I hear that it actually kicks in next year when his current pact expires and ...

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iLounge news discussing the ABC News for iPad adds 2010 Election Results. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

foreclosure

I hope readers will forgive the overweight reporting on Florida, but it is serving as a test ground for how battles over foreclosures and mortgage fraud will play out around the US. Florida is not only one of the states with the highest level of foreclosures, but it also has the most cohesive group of anti-foreclosure lawyers, as well as more intensive reporting of developments within the state, thanks to sites like 4ClosureFraud.org and ForeclosureHamlet.org. So in many respects, this conflict is more advanced in Florida than in other states.

One development which has not gotten much attention is how the local foreclosure mills, which were targeted in an investigation by the state’s Republican attorney general Bill McCollum, seem to be escaping the inquiry. Given the opportunistic timing of the launch of McCollum’s probes, and the fact that the biggest foreclosure mill operator, David Stern, promptly hired the biggest Republican fixer in the state, this outcome should not be surprising. But the investigation is being sidestepped in a very obvious manner; one would think it would have been more seemly to have it peter out, post election, when media interest would have moved on. There appears to have been more than the usual winks and nods to get this matter out of the courts and safely in the hands of the Florida Bar Association:

Letter From the Florida Bar to 6th Circuit Chief Judge Mcgrady

From the Palm Beach Post (hat tip Lisa Epstein):

Florida’s attorney general has no authority to investigate or discipline one of the state’s large foreclosure law firms, a Palm Beach County judge ruled Monday.

The five-page ruling from Circuit Judge Jack S. Cox was in response to a request from the Shapiro & Fishman law firm to quash an attorney general’s subpoena for information. The attorney general’s office announced in August it was investigating Shapiro & Fishman, which has offices in Boca Raton and Tampa, as well as two other large firms that represent lenders in foreclosure hearings.

Cox said the Florida Bar, not the attorney general’s office, is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct, including complaints that foreclosure paperwork was doctored in order to rush cases through the courts.

After Monday’s ruling, the Plantation-based firm of David J. Stern, one of the so-called “foreclosure mills” targeted by the state, filed its own motion to quash the attorney general’s subpoena in Broward County.

“The attorney general’s case is over. This is a great victory for our client,” said Shapiro & Fishman attorney Gerald Richman of Richman Greer, P.A. “This was a totally unfair and inappropriate subpoena.” …

And while attorneys general in several states have announced investigations into lenders’ faulty foreclosure documents, Florida’s attorney general’s office does not have the power to investigate banks, spokesman [for the attorney general] Ryan Wiggins said.

“I can’t believe that the jurisdiction of the attorney general cannot include law firms and individuals working within law firms who may be engaged in improper conduct,” St. Petersburg attorney Matt Weidner said about Monday’s ruling. “I cannot believe that this will be allowed to stand, considering the extent of the allegations of serious wrongdoing.”

Gee, I wonder how AGs in 11 states, including Florida, managed to get a settlement from Countrywide? Or was McCullom along for the ride and the other ten AGs did all the heavy lifting?

In case you had any doubts regarding how lucrative the foreclosure mills are, and hence their ability to buy their way out of trouble, the David Stern law operations (which include title abstract companies and other aligned businesses) earned $260 million in gross revenues in 2009.

Foreclosure Issues Pose Risks, Should Be Resolved With Time

Summary

Recently, some issues surrounding foreclosure sale proceedings have come to the forefront, leading several large banks to halt foreclosure sale proceedings in many states. The purpose of this note is twofold: to clear up some confusion on what exactly the issues at hand are and to bring some perspective to those issues. For instance, we note that the “foreclosure issue” that we are addressing here is separate from considerations surrounding potential bank loan repurchases. After the JPMorgan Chase earnings call, in which the company announced increased repurchase reserves, the two issues seem to have been muddied.

With respect to the issues surrounding foreclosure sales, while there are some outstanding risks, we think the issues that can be definitively addressed suggest a resolution could be possible over a matter of months. While that resolution should involve time, effort, and cost, we do not believe it will result in a major long–term disruption to the housing or mortgage markets.

Background

The issues surrounding foreclosure sale proceedings were initially brought to light on September 17, when GMAC/Ally halted evictions and REO sales in 23 judicial foreclosure states. Since that time, GMAC has extended their review to all 50 states, and four other large banks have halted foreclosure sales or launched internal reviews of their foreclosure processes: Bank of America has halted foreclosure sales in 50 states, JPMorgan Chase in 41 states, PNC in 23 states, and Litton is reviewing proceedings. Wells Fargo has stated that they are reviewing all pending foreclosures, but not halting the process and are confident their processes are robust. Attorneys General from all 50 states announced Wednesday that they have formed the Mortgage Foreclosure Multistate Group to review some of the practices around foreclosures proceedings.

The “foreclosure issues” being discussed at this point seem to encompass a few distinct problems, which we think it is useful to break down: robo-signers, MERS, and trust transfers.

The Robo-Signer Issue

While judicial foreclosure proceedings vary from state to state depending on different laws, many involve the presentation of an “affidavit of debt” before the court, which certifies that an employee of the mortgage servicer is familiar with the mortgage and borrower under question. Across several servicers burdened with an increasing number of foreclosures, there were employees who allegedly signed large numbers of affidavits without “personal knowledge” of the stated information. In addition, some affidavits were not notarized at the time of affidavit signing. These deficiencies created became a problem when brought before judges.

Importantly, however, although these deficiencies introduce risk, the issue does not seem to be insurmountable. We believe that the likelihood for widespread outright forgiveness of debt in cases where affidavits were signed or attested improperly is low. The details behind resolving cases such as these are not clear from a legal standpoint, but they seem likely to be, in part, a matter of rectifying the affidavit, issues of time, effort, and cost. Similar issues exist for fixing faulty foreclosure processes from the start; it may be possible to solve the robo-signer issue by staffing up teams or via other efforts. While more costly, and likely to delay foreclosure processes a few to several months, again, in our view, the issues do not seem to be insurmountable.

The MERS Issue

A second issue that has arisen questions the validity of MERS, an electronic registration system for mortgages meant to simplify the process of transferring mortgage ownership. In the past, there have been court rulings in support of the MERS model, e.g. that holding title for the benefit of another party was valid or that foreclosure initiation in the name of MERS was valid. There have also been cases in which the model was not supported (e.g. Landmark v. Kessler in Kansas), but in most instances it seems those efforts have failed or been overturned. In the event the matters challenging MERS succeed, resolution seems to be a practical issue; while the process is unclear at this point, it may simply be a matter of assigning the mortgage from MERS to the foreclosing party in cases where foreclosure in the name of MERS is ruled against or of simply foreclosing in the name of the bank instead of in the name of MERS. There has been at least one case (U.S. Bank v. Ibanez) in Massachusetts, which calls into question the separation of legal and beneficial title holding, similar to that used in the MERS model. That case is currently under appeal.

In addition, there also seems to be some misinformation about the MERS system itself and whether some banks are utilizing it or not. MERS put out a press release yesterday to address some of these concerns, citing the fact that Chase registers their correspondent loans in MERS, but does not register their retail loans.

The Trust Transfer Issue

A third issue that has arisen concerns the validity of the trust as the owner of the mortgage for loans that have been securitized. When the  note is transferred to a trust, it is endorsed “in blank”, meaning that the owner of the note is not assigned. The note is only endorsed to the trustee or servicer on behalf of the trust if they need to institute foreclosure proceedings. Our understanding is that this is a common practice when notes are transferred to a trust. With respect to physical documents, those are delivered and held by the designated custodian for the trust. Both the seller and the custodian should have verified the existence and validity of the notes upon transfer. If there were any deficiencies, the custodian should have notified the seller to remedy any deficiencies or if they could not be remedied, put the loan back to the seller. The transfer of the notes is governed by the loan purchase agreement which also provides for evidence of ownership of the loans by the trust. Also, when the notes are transferred, the servicer records the ownership of the loans with MERS.

The Risks

The primary risk in our view is not that the affidavits issue remains unresolved, but how much time and effort the resolution will take and how far the scope of investigations expands beyond this issue. As mentioned, the Attorneys General from each state have formed a task force to look into the affidavit matter to determine if they were processed correctly under state laws. However, given that AGs from non-judicial states have joined the task force, the scope of their investigation may expand beyond this issue and lengthen the timeframe for resolution. Complicating matters is that servicers have to abide by individual state regulations with respect to foreclosure processing.

In the end, we believe that the vast majority of foreclosures will stand assuming that the actions were taken against borrowers who were delinquent. However, the end result will likely be a further extension of foreclosure timelines. We believe that the incremental increase in loss severity should be minimal if these issues can be resolved in the next 3-6 months. For servicers this means additional staffing requirements as well as increased costs. With respect to investors, headline risk will remain the predominant near term concern. Additionally, the allocation of additional costs due to advancing and legal fees will have to worked out. We do believe that the tenets of securitization, MERS, extensive legal foundation that has been established over the last 30 years, and REMIC eligibility will stand.

In other words: all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.

 

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

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Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

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I hope readers will forgive the overweight reporting on Florida, but it is serving as a test ground for how battles over foreclosures and mortgage fraud will play out around the US. Florida is not only one of the states with the highest level of foreclosures, but it also has the most cohesive group of anti-foreclosure lawyers, as well as more intensive reporting of developments within the state, thanks to sites like 4ClosureFraud.org and ForeclosureHamlet.org. So in many respects, this conflict is more advanced in Florida than in other states.

One development which has not gotten much attention is how the local foreclosure mills, which were targeted in an investigation by the state’s Republican attorney general Bill McCollum, seem to be escaping the inquiry. Given the opportunistic timing of the launch of McCollum’s probes, and the fact that the biggest foreclosure mill operator, David Stern, promptly hired the biggest Republican fixer in the state, this outcome should not be surprising. But the investigation is being sidestepped in a very obvious manner; one would think it would have been more seemly to have it peter out, post election, when media interest would have moved on. There appears to have been more than the usual winks and nods to get this matter out of the courts and safely in the hands of the Florida Bar Association:

Letter From the Florida Bar to 6th Circuit Chief Judge Mcgrady

From the Palm Beach Post (hat tip Lisa Epstein):

Florida’s attorney general has no authority to investigate or discipline one of the state’s large foreclosure law firms, a Palm Beach County judge ruled Monday.

The five-page ruling from Circuit Judge Jack S. Cox was in response to a request from the Shapiro & Fishman law firm to quash an attorney general’s subpoena for information. The attorney general’s office announced in August it was investigating Shapiro & Fishman, which has offices in Boca Raton and Tampa, as well as two other large firms that represent lenders in foreclosure hearings.

Cox said the Florida Bar, not the attorney general’s office, is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct, including complaints that foreclosure paperwork was doctored in order to rush cases through the courts.

After Monday’s ruling, the Plantation-based firm of David J. Stern, one of the so-called “foreclosure mills” targeted by the state, filed its own motion to quash the attorney general’s subpoena in Broward County.

“The attorney general’s case is over. This is a great victory for our client,” said Shapiro & Fishman attorney Gerald Richman of Richman Greer, P.A. “This was a totally unfair and inappropriate subpoena.” …

And while attorneys general in several states have announced investigations into lenders’ faulty foreclosure documents, Florida’s attorney general’s office does not have the power to investigate banks, spokesman [for the attorney general] Ryan Wiggins said.

“I can’t believe that the jurisdiction of the attorney general cannot include law firms and individuals working within law firms who may be engaged in improper conduct,” St. Petersburg attorney Matt Weidner said about Monday’s ruling. “I cannot believe that this will be allowed to stand, considering the extent of the allegations of serious wrongdoing.”

Gee, I wonder how AGs in 11 states, including Florida, managed to get a settlement from Countrywide? Or was McCullom along for the ride and the other ten AGs did all the heavy lifting?

In case you had any doubts regarding how lucrative the foreclosure mills are, and hence their ability to buy their way out of trouble, the David Stern law operations (which include title abstract companies and other aligned businesses) earned $260 million in gross revenues in 2009.

Foreclosure Issues Pose Risks, Should Be Resolved With Time

Summary

Recently, some issues surrounding foreclosure sale proceedings have come to the forefront, leading several large banks to halt foreclosure sale proceedings in many states. The purpose of this note is twofold: to clear up some confusion on what exactly the issues at hand are and to bring some perspective to those issues. For instance, we note that the “foreclosure issue” that we are addressing here is separate from considerations surrounding potential bank loan repurchases. After the JPMorgan Chase earnings call, in which the company announced increased repurchase reserves, the two issues seem to have been muddied.

With respect to the issues surrounding foreclosure sales, while there are some outstanding risks, we think the issues that can be definitively addressed suggest a resolution could be possible over a matter of months. While that resolution should involve time, effort, and cost, we do not believe it will result in a major long–term disruption to the housing or mortgage markets.

Background

The issues surrounding foreclosure sale proceedings were initially brought to light on September 17, when GMAC/Ally halted evictions and REO sales in 23 judicial foreclosure states. Since that time, GMAC has extended their review to all 50 states, and four other large banks have halted foreclosure sales or launched internal reviews of their foreclosure processes: Bank of America has halted foreclosure sales in 50 states, JPMorgan Chase in 41 states, PNC in 23 states, and Litton is reviewing proceedings. Wells Fargo has stated that they are reviewing all pending foreclosures, but not halting the process and are confident their processes are robust. Attorneys General from all 50 states announced Wednesday that they have formed the Mortgage Foreclosure Multistate Group to review some of the practices around foreclosures proceedings.

The “foreclosure issues” being discussed at this point seem to encompass a few distinct problems, which we think it is useful to break down: robo-signers, MERS, and trust transfers.

The Robo-Signer Issue

While judicial foreclosure proceedings vary from state to state depending on different laws, many involve the presentation of an “affidavit of debt” before the court, which certifies that an employee of the mortgage servicer is familiar with the mortgage and borrower under question. Across several servicers burdened with an increasing number of foreclosures, there were employees who allegedly signed large numbers of affidavits without “personal knowledge” of the stated information. In addition, some affidavits were not notarized at the time of affidavit signing. These deficiencies created became a problem when brought before judges.

Importantly, however, although these deficiencies introduce risk, the issue does not seem to be insurmountable. We believe that the likelihood for widespread outright forgiveness of debt in cases where affidavits were signed or attested improperly is low. The details behind resolving cases such as these are not clear from a legal standpoint, but they seem likely to be, in part, a matter of rectifying the affidavit, issues of time, effort, and cost. Similar issues exist for fixing faulty foreclosure processes from the start; it may be possible to solve the robo-signer issue by staffing up teams or via other efforts. While more costly, and likely to delay foreclosure processes a few to several months, again, in our view, the issues do not seem to be insurmountable.

The MERS Issue

A second issue that has arisen questions the validity of MERS, an electronic registration system for mortgages meant to simplify the process of transferring mortgage ownership. In the past, there have been court rulings in support of the MERS model, e.g. that holding title for the benefit of another party was valid or that foreclosure initiation in the name of MERS was valid. There have also been cases in which the model was not supported (e.g. Landmark v. Kessler in Kansas), but in most instances it seems those efforts have failed or been overturned. In the event the matters challenging MERS succeed, resolution seems to be a practical issue; while the process is unclear at this point, it may simply be a matter of assigning the mortgage from MERS to the foreclosing party in cases where foreclosure in the name of MERS is ruled against or of simply foreclosing in the name of the bank instead of in the name of MERS. There has been at least one case (U.S. Bank v. Ibanez) in Massachusetts, which calls into question the separation of legal and beneficial title holding, similar to that used in the MERS model. That case is currently under appeal.

In addition, there also seems to be some misinformation about the MERS system itself and whether some banks are utilizing it or not. MERS put out a press release yesterday to address some of these concerns, citing the fact that Chase registers their correspondent loans in MERS, but does not register their retail loans.

The Trust Transfer Issue

A third issue that has arisen concerns the validity of the trust as the owner of the mortgage for loans that have been securitized. When the  note is transferred to a trust, it is endorsed “in blank”, meaning that the owner of the note is not assigned. The note is only endorsed to the trustee or servicer on behalf of the trust if they need to institute foreclosure proceedings. Our understanding is that this is a common practice when notes are transferred to a trust. With respect to physical documents, those are delivered and held by the designated custodian for the trust. Both the seller and the custodian should have verified the existence and validity of the notes upon transfer. If there were any deficiencies, the custodian should have notified the seller to remedy any deficiencies or if they could not be remedied, put the loan back to the seller. The transfer of the notes is governed by the loan purchase agreement which also provides for evidence of ownership of the loans by the trust. Also, when the notes are transferred, the servicer records the ownership of the loans with MERS.

The Risks

The primary risk in our view is not that the affidavits issue remains unresolved, but how much time and effort the resolution will take and how far the scope of investigations expands beyond this issue. As mentioned, the Attorneys General from each state have formed a task force to look into the affidavit matter to determine if they were processed correctly under state laws. However, given that AGs from non-judicial states have joined the task force, the scope of their investigation may expand beyond this issue and lengthen the timeframe for resolution. Complicating matters is that servicers have to abide by individual state regulations with respect to foreclosure processing.

In the end, we believe that the vast majority of foreclosures will stand assuming that the actions were taken against borrowers who were delinquent. However, the end result will likely be a further extension of foreclosure timelines. We believe that the incremental increase in loss severity should be minimal if these issues can be resolved in the next 3-6 months. For servicers this means additional staffing requirements as well as increased costs. With respect to investors, headline risk will remain the predominant near term concern. Additionally, the allocation of additional costs due to advancing and legal fees will have to worked out. We do believe that the tenets of securitization, MERS, extensive legal foundation that has been established over the last 30 years, and REMIC eligibility will stand.

In other words: all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.

 

bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 27 <b>...</b>

Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Shares in automaker Hong Kong-listed BYD tanked by 9% after the company said profit fell by 99% in the third ...

AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: In Afghanistan, &#39;The insurgency seems to be <b>...</b>

News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.

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Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 27 <b>...</b>

Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Shares in automaker Hong Kong-listed BYD tanked by 9% after the company said profit fell by 99% in the third ...

AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: In Afghanistan, &#39;The insurgency seems to be <b>...</b>

News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 27 <b>...</b>

Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Shares in automaker Hong Kong-listed BYD tanked by 9% after the company said profit fell by 99% in the third ...

AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: In Afghanistan, &#39;The insurgency seems to be <b>...</b>

News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

web site promotion internet marketing

Luxury brands have added another elite product to their portfolio: social media marketing. Alongside perfectly stitched handbags and diamond watch bands comes a parade of innovative social media campaigns from the luxury sector – campaigns that offer up lessons to every brand about attracting customers in the online space. The Digital IQ Index ranked the social media campaigns of 72 luxury brands across a wide range of categories. We’ve gleaned five lessons of social media that every brand can learn from following the successes (and failures) of the luxury sector from this report. Want to know your Digital IQ?



Digital IQ is a measurement of how effective these luxury brands are at creating a web presence. It is a dynamic measurement of their online growth, and examines their brand’s website, digital marketing such as email newsletters and blogs, social media presence, influence and content, and mobile efforts.

This is the second year of the Digital IQ test, and a lot has changed in the who’s who of luxury social media leaders. Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren remain tied for second place in the top 10, but the other 8 spots are newcomers: Coach, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani and Swarovski (tied), and Tiffany.

Facebook pages are a must

If your brand doesn’t have a Facebook page, create one now. Don’t read any more of these tips until you’ve done it. The luxury brands in the top 10 ranked for Digital IQ have found success largely through Facebook: with over half a million fans and a Facebook page growth rate of over 200% year-over-year, it’s clear that Facebook is a significant part of their online strategy.

73% of the luxury brands surveyed listed Facebook as one of their top eight sources of traffic. The social networking giant is a giant boon to brand visibility.

Diversify your social media presence

Brands like Chopard, Rolex and Cartier have all sunk in their Digital IQ year-over-year in large part due to decreasing or failing to increase the number of social networks they use. Their Facebook communities lack engagement, none have a Twitter presence, and only Chopard uses YouTube.

The Digital IQ report reminds these brands – and yours – that social media is a network, not a single or static page:

“An estimated 78 percent of affluent Internet users are active on social networking sites, and 66 percent conduct research online before making a major purchase, suggesting that a limited digital presence could have a negative impact on offline sales.”

E-Commerce drives traffic, improves Digital IQ

Those luxury brands that implemented an e-commerce element to their online presence registered average traffic growth of 263 percent. As the brand that benefited most from this Fabergé saw 947% increase in traffic when it implemented e-commerce.

This lesson makes sense: if your customers can purchase your products directly from you, they’re more likely to visit your site. And, an added benefit of starting an e-commerce service is a deeper understanding of how web branding works. For luxury brands, having an e-commerce service translated to 33% higher Digital IQs than the average.

Apps are a brand’s best friend

The luxury brands surveyed don’t have a unified mobile app strategy, but those that create e-commerce-enabled apps generally have higher Digital IQs than those who don’t. For instance, Gucci’s mobile commerce-enabled app – available for a variety of smartphones and the iPad – has reached 600,000 downloads. Consumers are hungry for shopping-on-the-go, and the first brands to jump on this market demand will surely reap the benefits.

Creativity with Foursquare can lead to brand awareness

Several luxury brands have produced innovative Foursquare campaigns, giving them top marks in Digital IQ. Marc Jacobs ran a promotion offering free tickets to a fashion show and a branded “Fashion Victim” badge; Jimmy Choo challenged Foursquare users to a scavenger hunt around London with the winners receiving free running shoes; Coach gave free cologne to those who checked in to its Men’s Store during the grand opening.

These campaigns are anecdotal evidence of the growing Foursquare trend: Louis Vuitton, the luxury brand Foursquare leader, has 25,000 Foursquare friends, almost 5,000 check-ins and nearly 3,000 unique visitors. Think about how these numbers could be leveraged to get more foot traffic in your brick-and-motor.

Luxury brands are turning to social media and their digital presence to retain and attract new customers. See how your Digital IQ stacks up against theirs by examining these five lessons and checking out the Digital IQ report.

Luxury brands have added another elite product to their portfolio: social media marketing. Alongside perfectly stitched handbags and diamond watch bands comes a parade of innovative social media campaigns from the luxury sector – campaigns that offer up lessons to every brand about attracting customers in the online space. The Digital IQ Index ranked the social media campaigns of 72 luxury brands across a wide range of categories. We’ve gleaned five lessons of social media that every brand can learn from following the successes (and failures) of the luxury sector from this report. Want to know your Digital IQ?



Digital IQ is a measurement of how effective these luxury brands are at creating a web presence. It is a dynamic measurement of their online growth, and examines their brand’s website, digital marketing such as email newsletters and blogs, social media presence, influence and content, and mobile efforts.

This is the second year of the Digital IQ test, and a lot has changed in the who’s who of luxury social media leaders. Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren remain tied for second place in the top 10, but the other 8 spots are newcomers: Coach, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani and Swarovski (tied), and Tiffany.

Facebook pages are a must

If your brand doesn’t have a Facebook page, create one now. Don’t read any more of these tips until you’ve done it. The luxury brands in the top 10 ranked for Digital IQ have found success largely through Facebook: with over half a million fans and a Facebook page growth rate of over 200% year-over-year, it’s clear that Facebook is a significant part of their online strategy.

73% of the luxury brands surveyed listed Facebook as one of their top eight sources of traffic. The social networking giant is a giant boon to brand visibility.

Diversify your social media presence

Brands like Chopard, Rolex and Cartier have all sunk in their Digital IQ year-over-year in large part due to decreasing or failing to increase the number of social networks they use. Their Facebook communities lack engagement, none have a Twitter presence, and only Chopard uses YouTube.

The Digital IQ report reminds these brands – and yours – that social media is a network, not a single or static page:

“An estimated 78 percent of affluent Internet users are active on social networking sites, and 66 percent conduct research online before making a major purchase, suggesting that a limited digital presence could have a negative impact on offline sales.”

E-Commerce drives traffic, improves Digital IQ

Those luxury brands that implemented an e-commerce element to their online presence registered average traffic growth of 263 percent. As the brand that benefited most from this Fabergé saw 947% increase in traffic when it implemented e-commerce.

This lesson makes sense: if your customers can purchase your products directly from you, they’re more likely to visit your site. And, an added benefit of starting an e-commerce service is a deeper understanding of how web branding works. For luxury brands, having an e-commerce service translated to 33% higher Digital IQs than the average.

Apps are a brand’s best friend

The luxury brands surveyed don’t have a unified mobile app strategy, but those that create e-commerce-enabled apps generally have higher Digital IQs than those who don’t. For instance, Gucci’s mobile commerce-enabled app – available for a variety of smartphones and the iPad – has reached 600,000 downloads. Consumers are hungry for shopping-on-the-go, and the first brands to jump on this market demand will surely reap the benefits.

Creativity with Foursquare can lead to brand awareness

Several luxury brands have produced innovative Foursquare campaigns, giving them top marks in Digital IQ. Marc Jacobs ran a promotion offering free tickets to a fashion show and a branded “Fashion Victim” badge; Jimmy Choo challenged Foursquare users to a scavenger hunt around London with the winners receiving free running shoes; Coach gave free cologne to those who checked in to its Men’s Store during the grand opening.

These campaigns are anecdotal evidence of the growing Foursquare trend: Louis Vuitton, the luxury brand Foursquare leader, has 25,000 Foursquare friends, almost 5,000 check-ins and nearly 3,000 unique visitors. Think about how these numbers could be leveraged to get more foot traffic in your brick-and-motor.

Luxury brands are turning to social media and their digital presence to retain and attract new customers. See how your Digital IQ stacks up against theirs by examining these five lessons and checking out the Digital IQ report.

Nevada Voters Complain Of Problems At Polls - Las Vegas <b>News</b> Story <b>...</b>

LAS VEGAS -- Some voters in Boulder City complained on Monday that their ballot had been cast before they went to the polls, raising questions about Clark County's electronic voting machines. Tuesday, October 26, 2010.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

bench craft company complaints
bench craft company complaints

Nevada Voters Complain Of Problems At Polls - Las Vegas <b>News</b> Story <b>...</b>

LAS VEGAS -- Some voters in Boulder City complained on Monday that their ballot had been cast before they went to the polls, raising questions about Clark County's electronic voting machines. Tuesday, October 26, 2010.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Luxury brands have added another elite product to their portfolio: social media marketing. Alongside perfectly stitched handbags and diamond watch bands comes a parade of innovative social media campaigns from the luxury sector – campaigns that offer up lessons to every brand about attracting customers in the online space. The Digital IQ Index ranked the social media campaigns of 72 luxury brands across a wide range of categories. We’ve gleaned five lessons of social media that every brand can learn from following the successes (and failures) of the luxury sector from this report. Want to know your Digital IQ?



Digital IQ is a measurement of how effective these luxury brands are at creating a web presence. It is a dynamic measurement of their online growth, and examines their brand’s website, digital marketing such as email newsletters and blogs, social media presence, influence and content, and mobile efforts.

This is the second year of the Digital IQ test, and a lot has changed in the who’s who of luxury social media leaders. Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren remain tied for second place in the top 10, but the other 8 spots are newcomers: Coach, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani and Swarovski (tied), and Tiffany.

Facebook pages are a must

If your brand doesn’t have a Facebook page, create one now. Don’t read any more of these tips until you’ve done it. The luxury brands in the top 10 ranked for Digital IQ have found success largely through Facebook: with over half a million fans and a Facebook page growth rate of over 200% year-over-year, it’s clear that Facebook is a significant part of their online strategy.

73% of the luxury brands surveyed listed Facebook as one of their top eight sources of traffic. The social networking giant is a giant boon to brand visibility.

Diversify your social media presence

Brands like Chopard, Rolex and Cartier have all sunk in their Digital IQ year-over-year in large part due to decreasing or failing to increase the number of social networks they use. Their Facebook communities lack engagement, none have a Twitter presence, and only Chopard uses YouTube.

The Digital IQ report reminds these brands – and yours – that social media is a network, not a single or static page:

“An estimated 78 percent of affluent Internet users are active on social networking sites, and 66 percent conduct research online before making a major purchase, suggesting that a limited digital presence could have a negative impact on offline sales.”

E-Commerce drives traffic, improves Digital IQ

Those luxury brands that implemented an e-commerce element to their online presence registered average traffic growth of 263 percent. As the brand that benefited most from this Fabergé saw 947% increase in traffic when it implemented e-commerce.

This lesson makes sense: if your customers can purchase your products directly from you, they’re more likely to visit your site. And, an added benefit of starting an e-commerce service is a deeper understanding of how web branding works. For luxury brands, having an e-commerce service translated to 33% higher Digital IQs than the average.

Apps are a brand’s best friend

The luxury brands surveyed don’t have a unified mobile app strategy, but those that create e-commerce-enabled apps generally have higher Digital IQs than those who don’t. For instance, Gucci’s mobile commerce-enabled app – available for a variety of smartphones and the iPad – has reached 600,000 downloads. Consumers are hungry for shopping-on-the-go, and the first brands to jump on this market demand will surely reap the benefits.

Creativity with Foursquare can lead to brand awareness

Several luxury brands have produced innovative Foursquare campaigns, giving them top marks in Digital IQ. Marc Jacobs ran a promotion offering free tickets to a fashion show and a branded “Fashion Victim” badge; Jimmy Choo challenged Foursquare users to a scavenger hunt around London with the winners receiving free running shoes; Coach gave free cologne to those who checked in to its Men’s Store during the grand opening.

These campaigns are anecdotal evidence of the growing Foursquare trend: Louis Vuitton, the luxury brand Foursquare leader, has 25,000 Foursquare friends, almost 5,000 check-ins and nearly 3,000 unique visitors. Think about how these numbers could be leveraged to get more foot traffic in your brick-and-motor.

Luxury brands are turning to social media and their digital presence to retain and attract new customers. See how your Digital IQ stacks up against theirs by examining these five lessons and checking out the Digital IQ report.

Luxury brands have added another elite product to their portfolio: social media marketing. Alongside perfectly stitched handbags and diamond watch bands comes a parade of innovative social media campaigns from the luxury sector – campaigns that offer up lessons to every brand about attracting customers in the online space. The Digital IQ Index ranked the social media campaigns of 72 luxury brands across a wide range of categories. We’ve gleaned five lessons of social media that every brand can learn from following the successes (and failures) of the luxury sector from this report. Want to know your Digital IQ?



Digital IQ is a measurement of how effective these luxury brands are at creating a web presence. It is a dynamic measurement of their online growth, and examines their brand’s website, digital marketing such as email newsletters and blogs, social media presence, influence and content, and mobile efforts.

This is the second year of the Digital IQ test, and a lot has changed in the who’s who of luxury social media leaders. Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren remain tied for second place in the top 10, but the other 8 spots are newcomers: Coach, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani and Swarovski (tied), and Tiffany.

Facebook pages are a must

If your brand doesn’t have a Facebook page, create one now. Don’t read any more of these tips until you’ve done it. The luxury brands in the top 10 ranked for Digital IQ have found success largely through Facebook: with over half a million fans and a Facebook page growth rate of over 200% year-over-year, it’s clear that Facebook is a significant part of their online strategy.

73% of the luxury brands surveyed listed Facebook as one of their top eight sources of traffic. The social networking giant is a giant boon to brand visibility.

Diversify your social media presence

Brands like Chopard, Rolex and Cartier have all sunk in their Digital IQ year-over-year in large part due to decreasing or failing to increase the number of social networks they use. Their Facebook communities lack engagement, none have a Twitter presence, and only Chopard uses YouTube.

The Digital IQ report reminds these brands – and yours – that social media is a network, not a single or static page:

“An estimated 78 percent of affluent Internet users are active on social networking sites, and 66 percent conduct research online before making a major purchase, suggesting that a limited digital presence could have a negative impact on offline sales.”

E-Commerce drives traffic, improves Digital IQ

Those luxury brands that implemented an e-commerce element to their online presence registered average traffic growth of 263 percent. As the brand that benefited most from this Fabergé saw 947% increase in traffic when it implemented e-commerce.

This lesson makes sense: if your customers can purchase your products directly from you, they’re more likely to visit your site. And, an added benefit of starting an e-commerce service is a deeper understanding of how web branding works. For luxury brands, having an e-commerce service translated to 33% higher Digital IQs than the average.

Apps are a brand’s best friend

The luxury brands surveyed don’t have a unified mobile app strategy, but those that create e-commerce-enabled apps generally have higher Digital IQs than those who don’t. For instance, Gucci’s mobile commerce-enabled app – available for a variety of smartphones and the iPad – has reached 600,000 downloads. Consumers are hungry for shopping-on-the-go, and the first brands to jump on this market demand will surely reap the benefits.

Creativity with Foursquare can lead to brand awareness

Several luxury brands have produced innovative Foursquare campaigns, giving them top marks in Digital IQ. Marc Jacobs ran a promotion offering free tickets to a fashion show and a branded “Fashion Victim” badge; Jimmy Choo challenged Foursquare users to a scavenger hunt around London with the winners receiving free running shoes; Coach gave free cologne to those who checked in to its Men’s Store during the grand opening.

These campaigns are anecdotal evidence of the growing Foursquare trend: Louis Vuitton, the luxury brand Foursquare leader, has 25,000 Foursquare friends, almost 5,000 check-ins and nearly 3,000 unique visitors. Think about how these numbers could be leveraged to get more foot traffic in your brick-and-motor.

Luxury brands are turning to social media and their digital presence to retain and attract new customers. See how your Digital IQ stacks up against theirs by examining these five lessons and checking out the Digital IQ report.

bench craft company complaints

Nevada Voters Complain Of Problems At Polls - Las Vegas <b>News</b> Story <b>...</b>

LAS VEGAS -- Some voters in Boulder City complained on Monday that their ballot had been cast before they went to the polls, raising questions about Clark County's electronic voting machines. Tuesday, October 26, 2010.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Nevada Voters Complain Of Problems At Polls - Las Vegas <b>News</b> Story <b>...</b>

LAS VEGAS -- Some voters in Boulder City complained on Monday that their ballot had been cast before they went to the polls, raising questions about Clark County's electronic voting machines. Tuesday, October 26, 2010.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Nevada Voters Complain Of Problems At Polls - Las Vegas <b>News</b> Story <b>...</b>

LAS VEGAS -- Some voters in Boulder City complained on Monday that their ballot had been cast before they went to the polls, raising questions about Clark County's electronic voting machines. Tuesday, October 26, 2010.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints