Facebook is testing a new service that allows local-business owners to offer free Wi-Fi to their customers in exchange for a check-in. Credit this find to developer Tom Waddington, who noticed a new code entry called “social_wifi” to its Page Insights tool. This led to Facebook confirming a service that offers free Wi-Fi to a […]

Litmus, an email testing and email marketing firm, has created this helpful infographic offering some insights into how to encourage email subscribers to forward campaign messages to others. While tracking forwarding and sharing behavior is pretty straightforward, Litmus takes a closer look at what it takes to encourage sharing. Here are some of the tidbits […]

By Tim Riesterer, chief strategy and marketing officer, Corporate Visions, Inc.

Mr. Clean. Aunt Jemima. The Pillsbury Doughboy.

Consumer brands seem to have a knack for creating a brand mascot and having it resonate almost instantly with their customers. The business-to-business (B2B) world, however, doesn’t seem to work that way.

Apple’s iMessage service and Game Center have had issues lately, denting its credibility as a service provider. This is emphasized when you look at Apple Maps, Siri and iCloud syncing, each of which has its own share of problems. The areas where Apple falters are exactly where Google excels. The truth is that Apple and […]

Pirq, an instant-deals and local-commerce company, announced that it closed a $1.2 million round in venture financing, bringing its total funding to date to $3.2 million. The company also introduced version 2.0 of its mobile real-time deals app, which includes four new verticals in which users can use their digital punch cards. Up until now, […]

Fab, which now has up to 9 million users, is introducing Holiday Shops to help users find gifts for the holidays. The Holiday Shops are organized into 12 categories covering gifts for best friends, parents, design or pet lovers, him or her, or gifts for specific amounts. These shops were introduced last year but were […]

Constant Contact, a multiplatform marketing company, put together a timely infographic offering an overview of what can go wrong for merchants when running a deal. The horror story is separated into: Deal Provider From the Black Provider The Chicago, Boston, New York, Etc., Deals Massacre A Nightmare on Brick and Mortar Street Fright Night (and […]

Waze, the social driving app that got a boost in attention after Apple Maps stumbled out of the gates, has introduced Waze 3.5, which boasts more social features. The maps app now allows its users to see friends that are driving to their destination, and share drives, pickups and meet-up spots. Waze users can also […]

LocBox has raised $5.1 million to help it in its quest to assist businesses running marketing campaigns to build long-term loyalty. The San Francisco-based startup positions itself as an alternative to Groupon and LivingSocial, one that is aimed at building loyalty and not running one-time promotions. LocBox aims to offer businesses a single dashboard to […]

Flurry recently posted a comparison of smartphone and tablet usage, using September data from Flurry Analytics. Among the key findings is that the gender split is more even for tablet users, tablet usage spikes during prime-time television and tablet users spend more minutes per session with apps than smartphone users. According to Flurry’s report, which […]