While it's not officially the end of the first year for the Lunch Pail (that first anniversary comes in May 2009), it is the end of a very eventful year in online marketing, and we're very thankful we were here to chronicle the ever-changing space for you, our loyal and growing readership. Thanks for continued growth each month, and tell your friends so we can continue to grow at the same steady pace throughout 2009. As a special New Year's Eve treat, I've gone back and collected what I believe to be the year's best, most controversial and most informative posts. Enjoy!
Best
Bryce, way back in May, posted this prescient 2-parter on Couponing in a Down Economy. This proved to be a highly trafficked, very informative post that folks connected with more in September and October than they did when it was initially posted. Way to be ahead of the pack, Bryce!
Another great, highly trafficked post comes to us from a new-old voice around here, Chris. He introduced a new series entitled “Buzz Words Demystified!” with the intention of clearing up some commonly used words and phrases in our online marketing vernacular. He recognizes that sometimes marketers and developers use different words, and wants to bridge the gap to understanding. Here’s Episode 1.
Most Controversial
This honor belongs solely to our CEO, Brian. In August, ClickZ published an article generally referring to the belief that if companies want to have good email marketing, they’ll need to pay for all of the functionality that requires. We, of course, disagree. Brian, rather pointedly, calls out the reasons why marketers should expect more, not pay more. Brian’s comments inspired the author to post a comment, which inspired another post from Brian. There was no follow up comment to Brian’s second post. Good times.
Most Informative
There are a couple of series that ought to be highlighted here. One comes to us from a new voice in the online marketing space, Lesley Matt. She started at Knotice as a relative online marketing novice, but has contributed her voice (and research) to others that are similarly new in the “101″ series, where she breaks down some terms, or some commonly confused functions. My personal favorite is her post on the difference in types of behavioral targeting.
I’ve contributed a series on Internet Governance, which takes many twists and turns. I had the honor to sit on a roundtable discussion at Shop.org’s Annual Summit in September. Some Washington insiders were seated at the table, and they spent some time breaking down the privacy issues that face the online marketing industry, and how they characterize the “war over data.” It’s a lengthy one, so, grab a cup of coffee.
Another popular series has been our “Meet the Developers” series. Special thanks for those folks that took time out of their busy schedules to contributed some very informative posts. Bill, our CTO, has a great one on how to build a great mobile marketing campaign, and Matti has a really cool one about how email testing can quickly turn in to email betting.
Last, but not by any stretch least, is the mobile posts from Dutch. It’s tough with Dutch, because he’s been around online marketing since the early ’90s. He has a ton of good, helpful information to contribute. His posts on mobile marketing have been popular and well-trafficked. My personal favorites are the Mobile Primer and his review of Barack Obama’s mobile marketing campaign.
Well, that’s some of the Lunch Pail’s 2008 Greatest Hits. Did you have a favorite that wasn’t mentioned? If so, let me know, or post a comment below.
We hope everyone has a safe, and happy new year!
