webinar: promoting america state by state: email expert review of fifty state tourism agencies

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www.OTOinsights.com 1 August 26, 2010 Promoting America State by State: Email Expert Review of Fifty State Tourism Agencies

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“One to One’s deep experience serving travel-related brands provide us with unique insight into critiquing and designing engaging promotional email,” said webinar presenter Dr. Philip Rhodes, Managing Director for OTOinsights. “In this webinar we’ll be visiting the State Tourism Agency websites for all fifty states and then signing up for email; then offering expert analysis of the emails we receive over the following ten-day period.”

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Webinar: Promoting America State by State: Email Expert Review of Fifty State Tourism Agencies

www.OTOinsights.com 1

August 26, 2010

Promoting America State by State:

Email Expert Review of Fifty State Tourism Agencies

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Dr. Philip Rhodes, Ph.D.

Philip holds a Ph.D. in Information Design from the University of Portsmouth. He has extensive research and teaching experience in hypermedia design and information architecture. He speaks fluent Portuguese, having lived and worked in Brazil. Before joining OTOinsights, he worked with US solution providers Rare Medium and Sapient, as Director of Information Architecture. Specializing in offering user-centric online solutions within the banking, education, and telecommunications sectors. He also taught at several universities in Brazil and the UK, and has been widely published. Philip is both the Managing Director and the Director of Customer Experience Research & Design at OTOinsights, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Managing Director & Director of Research

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Agenda

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www.OTOinsights.com 4

OTOinsights Overview

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www.OTOinsights.com 5

Established in 1997, One to One Interactive is the first global enterprise to assemble a complete solution for brands, agencies, and publishers executing one-to-one marketing strategies. The company employs over 140 professionals in 7 offices located in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

One of the 20 “Hottest Independent Digital Firms” GloballyAdAge, 2007

One of the Fastest Growing Private CompaniesInc Magazine, 2008

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www.OTOinsights.com 6

OTOinsights Overview

Established in 2002, OTOinsights has conducted over 400

research project in over 30 countries.

Specialists in neuromarketing and customer experience strategy,

research and design.

Undertake discrete point-in-time projects and strategic

engagements.

Experience across all platforms including digital (e.g. web,

intranets, mobile devices, PDA’s, i-TV, etc.), call centers, retail

environments and physical products (e.g. laptops, printers, etc.)

OTOinsights Offerings:

Amplifying Engagement

fhios quantemo Customer Experience Research Neuromarketing Research

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OTOinsights | Amplifying Engagement

Brand Perception Research

Information DesignNeuromarketing Research

Customer Experience Research

• Eye-Tracking• Pre-Cognitive Neurological

Engagement• Cognitive Emotional Tagging

• Usability Testing• Focus Groups• In-Depth/Paired Interviews• Online Surveys• Expert Evaluations• Accessibility Audits• Ethnographics

• Research/Tracking • Socially Informed/ Multi-

Channel Personas• Engagement Mapping• Cultural Anthropology• Trend Spotting

• User Needs Analysis• Information Architecture• User Scenarios• Behavioral Use Cases• Feature Matrix• Wireframes• Site Maps• Prototype Development

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OTOinsights Clients: Travel

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PART 1 | Context: The US travel landscape

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Context: The US travel landscape

US travel landscape is significant revenue

generator, both in terms of domestic travellers and

international visitors

• Although 2009 saw reductions in number of

travellers (domestic and international), and

hence an overall reduction in revenues, 2010 and

the next 4-5 years is expected to see continued

growth

• The internet has an increasingly important role to

play in the travel landscape, yet how are official

state organisations capitalising on that potential

growth

Travel in the US:

• Travellers spent a total of $704.4 billion in 2009

• Predicted that travellers with spend $748.3 billion in 2010

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Context: The US travel landscape

• How many people are travelling to US states?

• US study (July 2010)

• 1,469 million domestic leisure travelers in 2009

• 54.9 million international visitors in 2009

• $610 billion spent by domestic travelers

• $94 billion spent by international visitorsHow will travel numbers change?

• Domestic travel predicted to increase 1.8% - 3.6% year on year for the next 4 years

• International travel to the US predicted to increase 3.1% - 5.1% year on year for the next 4 years

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• The Internet and travel?

• 90 million US residents used the Internet to

plan travel in the past year

• Sites visited include:

• Destination websites

• Travel Agency websites

• Travel company websites

Context: The US travel landscape

Increased use of the Internet has led to significant decrease in the number of calls to state and local tourism offices

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• Email and travel?

• The ‘open rate’ for travel related emails is

relatively high (approximately 13%, with click-

through date of 3%). More so than e-commerce,

insurance, technology and government emails.

• 10 million travellers a year respond to travel

emails leading to unplanned travel.

Context: The US travel landscape

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PART 2: Review of 53 States (sites/e-newsletters)

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Methodology

• Expert Approach

• 2 experienced customer experienced consultants

• Independently reviewed US state travel sites and e-

newsletters

• Focus

• Ease of finding link to sign-up

• Information required to sign-up

• Timeliness of email response

• Quality of e-newsletter

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Results | Summary

• The numbers

• 36/53 sites had a link to sign-up on the homepage

• 7/53 had links on deeper pages

• 10/53 had no e-newsletter

• 23 sent email confirmation

• Only 3 sent the current e-newsletter within 24 hours

• A further 6 made the archive of e-newsletters

available

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Sign-Up Process

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Results | Sign-up

• Key criteria used in the analysis:

• Is the sign-up available from the homepage

• Is it possible to enter ‘sign-up’ details on the homepage

• No additional information required to sign-up e.g. postal address, annual income, etc.

• Can the user customise the newsletter to their areas of interest

• Is there is a clear confirmation page

• Is the user informed what will happen next

• Is the user given access to the latest newsletter or an archive of newsletters

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Sign-up | The best and worst

Key

Excellent

Very poor

No email

newsletters

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Sign-up | The best and worst

• Best

1. Texas

1. Arkansas

3. Missouri

3. Maryland

3. Vermont

• Worst

41. Wisconsin

38. New York

38. North Dakota

38. Georgia

34. Virginia

Note that 12 states did not offer an e-newsletters

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Sign-Up Process: The Best

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The best | Texas

• Sign-up is clearly shown on the

side of the homepage

• Only an e-mail address is required

• No unnecessary information

is requested

• Users are able to create an

account which will provide them

with access to further features

• However it is clear that this

is optional

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The best | Texas

• Clear confirmation is sent via

email

• The user is provided with

more information regarding

the e-newsletters

• The look and feel of the

confirmation email is consistent

with the website, with a clear

Texas logo

• Users are given a link back to the

website

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The best | Arkansas

• Sign-up is clearly shown on the

side of the homepage

• Only name and email address

are required

• It is clear that the Zip Code

is not mandatory

• Users are able to select their interests

in order to customise the email

newsletter

• Option to select a ‘general

newsletter’ is also provided

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The best | Arkansas

• Confirmation page has a clear

indication that their subscription

was successful

• Users are informed that they

will receive an email

confirmation

• Confirmation email received

immediately

• Website links provided

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The best | Missouri

• The sign-up is clearly shown at

the top at the homepage

• Users are informed of the

benefits of subscribing

• Ability to enter email address

on the homepage

• The user is able to personalise

the e-newsletter by checking the

relevant boxes

• ‘?’ icons provided to assist users

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The best | Missouri

• Clear confirmation screen

• Users informed about the

content of the e-newsletters

• The option to unsubscribe is

provided

• Email confirmation sent

• List of interests selected

during sign-up

• Link back to the website is

provided

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The best | Maryland

• The sign up is clearly shown

within the ‘What’s Happening’

section which is suitable

• Clear heading on the sign up

page

• Clear indication of frequency of e-

newsletters

• Ability to view archived

newsletters before subscribing

• Only email address is requested

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The best | Maryland

• The user can choose which

categories they wish to receive

information on

• Clear indication that the user has

subscribed and preferences have

been saved

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The best | Vermont

• The sign up button is clearly

displayed on the homepage and

accompanied by an ‘envelope’ icon

• Clear heading on the sign up page

• Users are able to select specific

interests

• However these are limited to ‘up

to three’ and selection method

not intuitive

• Only email address is mandatory

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The best | Vermont

• Clear confirmation page

• Users provided with a link to

view the latest e-newsletter

• Immediate email confirmation

sent

• However, users are required to

confirm subscription by

clicking on a link in the email

• No indication of this was given

on the confirmation page

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Sign-Up: The Worst

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The worst | Wisconsin

• Link to the e-newsletter is on the

homepage

• However it is hidden through

use of poorly contrasting

colours

• Users are asked a lot of

unnecessary questions, including:

• Screen name, zip code and a

password

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The worst | Wisconsin

• The confirmation page “welcomes

back” the user

• The user is referred to by the

screen name rather than their

own name

• The ‘save changes' link has no

purpose for users that have just

subscribed

• Required to confirm via email link

• Users have been forced into

creating an account

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The worst | New York

• Link to newsletter at the top of

the homepage

• However link is hidden due

to small font and not

accompanied by an icon

• Account creation required

• ZIP code is mandatory

• User must go through many

pages in order to sign up (three

steps)

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The worst | New York

• Confirmation page states that an

email had been sent in order to

confirm subscription

• However no email was

received

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The worst | North Dakota

• Link to sign-up on the homepage

• However, lots of mandatory

information required in order to

subscribe

• e.g. address, password

required, ‘how did you hear

about us?’

• Required to create an account

in order to receive the e-

newsletter

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The worst | North Dakota

• ‘Thank you’ message on the

confirmation page gives the user

the impression that they are now

a member and have completed

the subscription process

• However a delayed email

was received 5 minutes later

requesting confirmation by

clicking on a link

• No indication of next steps

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The worst | Georgia

• No link to subscribe on the

homepage, had to conduct a

search to find it

• Once the user clicks on a search

result, the sign up link is still very

hidden at the bottom of a text

heavy page

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The worst | Georgia

• Appears as though the user is taken

to another site as the logo has

changed

• Broken link in the centre of the page

– it does not do anything

• Right column ‘email entry’ field

works correctly

• However there is no confirmation

page, just a message which

appears in the right column

• No confirmation email

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The worst | Virginia

• Link on homepage

• However link is below the fold of the

page

• Once the user clicks ‘subscribe’ they are

returned to the top of the page without

any indication that anything has changed

• Only if the user scrolls down will they

realise that they have completed the

subscription

• No confirmation email sent

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E-mail Newsletters

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Results | e-mail newsletter

• Key criteria used in the analysis:

• Are links to the site provided and are they clear

• Are links provided to social networking sites

• Is the e-mail personalised

• Is there a specific and catchy subject line

• Is there an option to unsubscribe

• Is a real address, phone number or other similar details about the sender

provided

• Is there consistency with the e-newsletter and the website

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E-mail newsletter | The best and worst

17 email

newsletters review

Key

Excellent

Very poor

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E-mail newsletter | The best and worst

• Best

1. Arizona

1. Tennessee

2. Oklahoma

4. Kentucky

4. Minnesota

• Worst

17. Florida

16. Vermont

12. New Mexico

12. North Carolina

12. North Dakota

Only 17 e-newsletters were reviewed

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E-mail Newsletters: The Best

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The best | Arizona

• The e-newsletter has consistent

look and feel and navigation with

the site

• The logo is a link to the

website

• The social media links are

prominently displayed at the top

of the page

• There is also a link to a photo

competition, which adds a

level of interest

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The best | Arizona

• Headings are clear and the links

provided are unambiguous

• The images are large and

excellent quality

• Contact information is clearly

provided at the bottom of the

page

• There is a clear link to

‘unsubscribe’

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The best | Tennessee

• The logo is obvious and takes the

user to the main site

• The aesthetic is visually appealing

and consistent with the main site

• The social media links are clearly

displayed at the top of the page

• Contact information is clearly

provided

• There is a clear link to unsubscribe

at the foot of the page

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The best | Oklahoma

• Simple and clear presentation

with key information provided

• The ‘play’ icon reaffirms that

the link will take the user to

a video

• Consistent look and feel to the

website

• Logo provides a link to the

site

• Includes multiple social media

tools to share the page

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The best | Oklahoma

• Clear contact information is

provided

• The unsubscribe option is located

at the bottom as would be

expected by users

• However it is slightly hidden

within a paragraph of text

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The best | Kentucky

• The heading and logo are clear

and provide a link back to the

main site

• Branding is consistent with the

site

• The sections are well divided and

the colour contrast aids page

scanability

• Each article also has a link to

further information on the

main site

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The best | Kentucky

• The separate ‘Upcoming Events’

section is useful and displays the

dates and key information

• There are social media links both

to share the newsletter and take

the user to the Kentucky Tourism

social networking pages

• Option to unsubscribe is ‘one-

click’ and takes the user to a

confirmation

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The best | Minnesota

• There is consistency with the website

in terms of branding and look and feel

• The logo is a link to the website

• The layout and visual style of the

newsletter is clean and it is simple to

scan through

• Each of the headings is a link to the

related article

• Short description of each article

and an accompanying image

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The best | Minnesota

• There are links to their Facebook

and Twitter as well as other useful

links on the left

• There is a clear link to

‘unsubscribe’

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E-mail Newsletters: The Worst

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The worst | Florida

• Unable to see images on the

email newsletter (even when

images are enabled)

• The link to ‘see online version’

leads to an error page

• Lack of a visible link to the

website

• No links to social networking sites

• Lack of consistency with the

website – unable to see if there is

any branding

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The worst | Vermont

• Poor contrast of grey text on a

green background on the title of

the ‘in this issue’ section

• There is no option to unsubscribe

from the newsletters

• There are no contact details

provided

• The August issue is not available

and the sample is the ‘July’ issue

(even though we are now almost

in September)

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The worst | Vermont

• The newsletter was poorly formatted

when viewed in Google Chrome

• The newsletter was not sent via email

upon completing the subscription

process

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The worst | New Mexico

• There is no option to unsubscribe

from the e-newsletter from this

page

• ‘In this issue’ links take the user

to what appears to be the full

version of the newsletter

• However, ‘hot deals’ leads to a

different page

• There are no social network links

on this cover page

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The worst | New Mexico

• The actual newsletter is very long

and requires the user to scroll a lot

• The newsletter is very text heavy,

especially on the second half of the

page

• The newsletter was not sent via

email upon completing the

subscription process

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The worst | North Carolina

• The logo is not a link to the

website

• There is a link to ‘subscribe’ at the

top of the page

• No links to social networking sites

are provided

• ‘Opt out’ is not visible and another

link to ‘subscribe’ is positioned at

the front of the footer

• No contact information is provided

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The worst | North Dakota

• Logo is not a link to the website

• The option provided to

unsubscribe is labeled ‘instant

removal’

• The text ‘instant removal’ does

not look like a link

• Many broken links e.g. ‘read more

news stories’ links to a 404 error

page

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The worst | North Dakota

• It is stated that the newsletter is

available both in text and HTML

format, however the option to

chose is not provided

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PART 3: Insights & Conclusions

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Best Practice Sign Up:

• Include Sign-up on the homepage

• Sign up should be located towards the top

of the page (at least above the fold)

• Should be accompanied by an image or

icon e.g. an envelope to draw attention

• Ensure sign-up requires minimal data entry e.g.

name and email address

• Include a short sentence stating the benefits of

signing up e.g. promotions, stay up to date with

news and events etc

Conclusions

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Best Practice Sign Up:

• Do not require any unnecessary information to

be entered (such as postal address or annual

income)

• Do not require users to ‘create an account’ or

‘become a member’ of the site

Conclusions

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Best Practice Sign Up:

• Consider including a short second step/page

allowing users to customise the newsletter by

selecting specific areas of interest

• Provide a ‘select all’ tick box or ‘general

newsletter’ opt in

• Provide a link to the latest newsletter or an

archive so that users know what to expect

before subscribing

• Do not require users to re-enter information

e.g. do not request name / email address a

second time

Conclusions

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Best Practice Sign Up:

• Include a clear indication on the website that

the subscription process is complete and has

been successful

• Ideally include a clear, separate

confirmation page with different content

• Include a clear thank you message on this

page

• Provide an indication of what the user can

expect next i.e. email confirmation

Conclusions

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Best Practice Sign Up:

• Send email confirmation immediately

• User should not need to ‘reconfirm’ the subscription

• Ensure consistency with site i.e. branding and logo, etc.

• Include information about newsletters e.g. frequency

and type of content

• Include a link back to the website

• Include a link to unsubscribe

• Include contact details

Conclusions

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Best Practice E-Newsletter:

• Include a clear and catchy subject line so that

the user immediately recognises the email

• Ensure consistency with the site in terms of

branding e.g. logo, layout, etc.

• Include links to the site and ensure that they

are clear e.g. logo and url address

• Do not include hidden links e.g. decorative

images or plain text

Conclusions

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Best Practice E-Newsletter:

• Include links to social networking sites

• To share the e-newsletter

• Links to the states social network site for

tourism e.g. Facebook page

• Ensure that the e-mail is personalised – use

of first name, etc.

• There must be a clear option to ‘unsubscribe’

• This must not be hidden within text

• Do not use terms such as ‘remove’ or ‘opt out’

Conclusions

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Best Practice E-Newsletter: (Notes)

• Provide a real address, phone number or other

similar contact details about the sender

• Do not include excessive amount of text

• Limit the length of the e-newsletter, do not

cause the user to vertically scroll excessively

Conclusions

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Questions?

Dr. Philip Rhodes: [email protected]

For copies of the presentation or further info on OTOinsights services please email:

[email protected]

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http://twitter.com/OTOinsights http://twitter.com/fhios

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Future Webinars from One To One Interactive

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“Search Best Practices: How to Dominate Search in 2011”

With Greg Slama, Search Marketing Specialist at OTOi

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