8 Digital Marketing Posts Worth Reading This Week: E-commerce Link Digest

If it’s Friday, it must be time for another e-commerce link digest. So, without any convoluted setup, let’s just jump straight to these 8 great digital marketing posts for you to read this week. Enjoy:

1. Chris Brogan, writing at The Customer Edge, explains “The Rise of Warm Data,” which looks at how businesses can use data to really assist their customers. It’s an idea that Forrester Research’s Julie Ask calls, “big mother, not big brother.” It’s also an idea whose time has come.
2. While we’re on the topic of data, you might want to review what your mobile e-commerce data isn’t telling you.
3. Marketing Charts offers up this review of where North American digital marketers rank their key goals and challenges. They also show how large enterprises are allocating their digital dollars. Good data, well presented.
4. Search Engine Land shows why Google’s push for HTTPS is more about PR than search quality that also serves as a strong lesson in being too reactive to Google’s changes. Yes, you need to respond when Google makes algorithm changes. But, some times exist when you need to have some patience. And this sure looks like one of those times.
5. Think that companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft (the AGFAM group), eBay, Yahoo or others can’t be beat? Think again. Business Insider details why Alibaba is becoming a huge threat to Amazon and eBay. The simple fact is that any business can get disrupted. Time will tell how this plays out.
6. Amazon and eBay (and you) might benefit from this Entrepreneur.com list of the 6 things Mark Cuban says you need to be great in business. Excellent resource.
7. eMarketer talks about kids heading back to school with shiny new devices — and, of course, what that means for your business. With this shift to mobile (which I may have mentioned a time or two in the past), it’s time you take a close look at whether mobile search works for your business.
8. Finally, while the long holiday weekend is (sadly) behind us, you might still want to catch up on these 9 Prime Digital Marketing Reads for a Long Weekend Getaway and The Big Reading List for Labor Day 2014. Good stuff to get you through until next week.

Just as a quick reminder, you might want to check out a webinar called Digital Marketing Directions: Key Trends Driving Your Marketing Next Year that I’m presenting on Tuesday, September 16, 2014. You can read all the details here.

You may also enjoy this look at growing your email list and its importance as an e-commerce best practice as well as reviewing the slides from a talk I gave all about email marketing in an age of mobile:

And, if you’re interested in learning even more about how customers changing behavior shapes e-commerce and marketing, register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

Finally, you might also enjoy some of our past coverage of the mobile, local, social web and how to make it work for your business, including:

• What Your Customers Expect from Mobile and E-commerce in 2014
• The Secrets Behind “It’s All E-commerce” for 2014
• Should Marketers Really Trust Google in 2014?
• The Zen of Digital Marketing Strategy
• 7 Steps to E-Commerce Heaven
• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and The Changing Customer Journey
• Mobile Makes E-commerce Even More “Frictionless”
• Your 2014 Internet Marketing New Year’s Resolutions – Thinks Out Loud Episode 56