Yes, there’s still money in the deals industry: JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to acquire Bloomspot, a site connecting consumers to offers from local and national merchants, for a cool $35 million. The deal will give JPMorgan the ability to offer its credit card holders more discounts to local businesses. Most of Bloomspot’s 100-person […]

Earlier this week, we covered some of the basics of how marketers should create effective email marketing messages to generate leads and compel desired actions. To finish this two-part series, here are some more helpful pointers from experts regarding the crucial elements of all marketing emails. Clear call-to-action While marketers may want to stuff as […]

We’re continuing our series of profiles of local-commerce companies by featuring Clutch. The purpose of these Q&A interviews is to give merchants, marketers and others in the industry a look at what some companies out there are doing. These profiles are also meant to offer different takes on the future of the local-commerce industry. Clutch, […]

uberVU, a social media marketing automation platform, put together an infographic to offer a look at how brands’ use of social media compares with users’ use of social media. Here are some of the highlights: –

Facebook is moving its “Collections” feature into a second phase of testing. Collections allows retailers to share product photos on their pages, which users can “want,” “save,” “add,” “collect” or “wishlist.” The actions users can take will depend on the test group they end up in. Users can also hover their cursor over these Collections […]

Herb Greenberg at CNBC has yet another edition of his “Worst CEO List.” For 2012, he had a tough time choosing a “winner,” but after much deliberation and flip-flopping Greenberg landed on Groupon CEO Andrew Mason. The company’s mistake was keeping the software developer-turned-CEO on board after it went public. Mason’s ineptitude as Groupon’s chief […]

Oracle has announced its acquisition of Eloqua, a cloud-based marketing automation and revenue performance management software provider that was considered a competitor. The deal pegged Eloqua at $23.50 per share (a 31.1 percent premium over the stock’s close price Wednesday), which makes the deal worth approximately $871 million. Here’s what both companies’ press releases note: […]

Facebook is halting a test it began earlier in 2012 to place its ads on other developers’ mobile apps and websites. “We are pausing our mobile ads test off of Facebook,” a company spokesman told various news outlets. “While the results we have seen and the feedback from partners has been positive, our focus is […]

Shopkick, a location-based shopping app, recently partnered with Constellation Brands Inc. to feature alcoholic beverages. The app, which boasts more than 4 million iPhone and Android users, rewards shoppers for visiting and engaging with products at brick-and-mortar locations. The partnership with Constellation Brands means that shoppers can earn “kicks” (i.e., redeemable rewards points) when they […]

Gloomy numbers from IBM be damned: According to Kenshoo Social, Facebook is becoming a more prominent destination for holiday gift ideas and purchases. According to Kenshoo Social, Facebook ad interaction rates in the U.S. have risen 46 percent after Thanksgiving. The company defines interactions as “any interaction with a Facebook ad following a click such […]