Knowing the psychological profile of women your brand targets with search optimization and paid-search ads will produce better insight into the technology that will capture her attention, and help identify the message that resonates most. Cautious Camille seems happy, balanced and fulfilled, and is easily motivated by having and sticking to a plan. So, how do you market to her when she's only partially comfortable with trying new things? A study from Insights in Marketing asks an important question: If brand spending on advertising rose 3.6% in 2013 to between $160 billion and $177 billion, why do less than one-third …

Revenue generated through online sales could reach $370 billion by 2017 -- up from $291 billion this year, per Forrester Research -- but many top brands don't have the skills or the technology to greet consumers with a personal digital marketing experience. The biggest problem involves a lack of tools to analyze data to personalize emails and their content, even during a time when it has become so easy to click on a link in an email from a mobile phone and make a purchase.

Are you loyal to any brands? Marketers look to demographic information such as age and income to predict brand loyalty -- but a recent survey shows that this may not be the best approach.

iCrossing's access to Hearst's audience data from 200 million unique monthly visitors across its network of sites and other third-party sources gives a newly formed partnership with Kenshoo an edge. The two companies are integrating technology they say will produce better keyword bid predictions, cost-per-click analysis, and reporting for search engine marketing, as well as other media channels like organic search and paid social media.

Google has made it possible for brands to extend their Shopping Campaigns beyond google.com and into the Google Search Network that includes retailers like Walmart.com as part of the tech company's AdSense for Shopping program. The retailers need to opt in to the program, allowing partner ads to serve up.

Brand marketers spend thousands of dollars developing content, but they don't know for certain whether it will drive conversions. Content marketing isn't new, but it's changing the face of marketing. One company believes it has found the formula to determine the success of content before it is produced or written based on its research that shows 80% of the content's performance gets identified at the idea stage before fingertips hit the keys.

Tracking and analyzing content marketing performance looks a lot like the trials and tribulations that marketers went through with earned media in Facebook and Twitter. Performance is tracked based on "eyeballs." Many executives look for the same impact they gain from lead generation, rather than some of the metrics known today in content marketing. Should the brand build original, licensed third-party content or curate the content? Here are some thoughts on how to build a strategy and track performance.

Mention the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization among friends and colleagues, and you won't have positive feedback. Some call it an obsolete dinosaur. Board members want to change that perception. Here's the plan.

Search engine marketers tying in social advertising campaigns on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube want to determine how intent signals in likes, shares and retweets influence a purchase online or in stores. After all, eMarketer estimates that social revenue will hit $6.6 billion in the U.S. this year. Investments need to support returns. Here's how.

BrightEdge believes organic search drives the most traffic. A recent study conducted by the company found that organic search drives 51% of all visitors to business-to-business and business-to-consumer Web sites, whereas paid-search drives 10% and social 5%. The study suggests all non-organic search channels combined -- paid search, social, display, email and referred -- fail to keep up with the impact from organic search.