Attending the IRCE in Chicago was an exhilarating exhibit of e-commerce expertise.

Walking away, we’re wielding the weapons on online, offline, social, mobile and integrated marketing efforts that fuel sales success.

The challenges of platform service providers, stream-lined analytics, cross-channel sales tactics, and the e-tail to retail consumer cycle begin to seem commonplace after hearing and speaking with some of these esteemed guests at IRCE.

Today’s highlights included GM of Gaming for SkullCandy, on recruiting real users of your brand to transform shoppers into buyers.  On the website management side, Benjamin Davis, Director of E-Commerce for the Chicago Bears Pro Shop, offered advice on preparing for heavy traffic to your e-commerce site and working to drive conversions and engagement for visitors and customers.

B2B firms are not to be excluded from the world of digital opportunities.  Search marketing, even social strategy is equally important for business brands as for consumer brands.  Marketing Manager of the Private Sector for Cisco, Kenneth Leung, and Senior Director of E-Marketing for WW Grainger, explained why social marketing is no longer just for B2C firms.  In the presentation, “Taking your B2B brand to the B2C world”, VP of U.S. Business Development for the high-end, Hermes Europe, Uwe Bald shared his marketing savvy.

Peter Taylor, Director of Business Development & E-Commerce at @SportChalet, gave us ten “worry-free, time-friendly, guaranteed to sizzle tactics for creating content that sells”.  Even big brand managers from Walgreens online e-commerce hub, Jasbir Patel, Senior Director and GMM, and Joe Rago, Senior Mobile Product Manager, were on site to offer their expertise on getting outside opinions to develop innovation for your website.

User experience, the sometimes-dreaded “UX” aspect is clearly more than an aesthetic analysis, but a fine-tuned science of how real people will be interacting with your website.  Conversions can radically change with just the slightest modifications to the web design, information structure, intuitive aspects of the layout, and the copywriting and call-to-action.  Darrell Benatar, CEO of UserTesting.com and Christine Young, UX Research Manager, of StubHub.com discussed the opportunities for quick design fixes that are often overlooked when trying to focus on core business practices.

Find more from some of the presenting companies in their Twitter feed:

@usertesting, @StubHub, @HermanMiller, @GorillaCommerce, @Coolibar, @etailinggroup, @ModCloth

In just one hour, the opening guest speakers take the stage at the 2013 Internet Retailer Conference, in Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center.

Delivering the keynote address will be Chairman & CEO of the Japanese ecommerce marketplace, Rakuten, offering marketing opportunities from a globalized perspective.

From a different angle, The American Red Cross’ VP of Digital Engagement, Craig Oldham, will give the featured address on retaining consumers that gravitate toward your brand.

The special guest speaker, will a laundry list of accolades is Al Gore, Drector at Apple, Senior Adviser at Google and former Vice President of the United States, whose eco-friendly expertise will factor in his presentation on “The Internet, business and the worldwide opportunity.”

The rest of today’s tracks focus on topics in strategies for e-commerce executives, retail chains, global e-tailing, small retailers, and integrated e-marketing.

Creating a content strategy for boosting commerce will be explored by Ryan Ostrom, CMO of Craftsman and Head of Digital for KCD Brands and Sears Holdings.

On the brick & mortar track, today holds sessions on transitioning into a web powerhouse, turning online info into store action, making the web the centerpiece of the organization, leveraging the store base for e-commerce fulfillment, driving online shoppers to the store with “m-offers”, addressing mobile price-shoppers, and training store staff on encouraging online avenues for consumers.

International marketing seems like a daunting task, but chances are, your brand has firm-specific advantages that can translate to foreign markets. Tapping into global distribution channels can activate economies of scale that put your brand onto the level of competing companies.

For small or local brands, bootstrap marketing yourself requires innovative solution based on creativity rather than dollars. Low & no-cost resources are being discussed by Christopher Swanson, Co-Founder & Co-Owner of Betty’s Pies DIstributing LLC. A key topic in today’s tech environment is whether to switch out e-commerce platforms, a sticky relationship once relied upon. GM of AvidMax Outfitters, Cory Anderson, and GM of Dj’s Boardshop, David Johnson are scheduled to discuss.

We’ll be soaking up the advice and insights on marketing to new customers, loyalists, and drive-bys, making sure affiliate programs pay off, fueling effective e-mail marketing campaigns, cross-channel marketing across devices and media, including offline and broadcast.

Imagine yourself at home. What are you holding?

Most likely, your phone is in your hand, your tablet is in your lap, or your computer is humming atop your desk.

Such is the case for so many millions in this day & age that it isn’t surprising that the amount of shopping done through our beloved WiFi gadgets accounts for some enterprises entire cashflow.

The fashion boutique, the cosmetics shop, the grocery store, and nearly every shopping choice imaginable is now in your palm and businesses are scrambling to capitalize on the emerging mobile commerce market.  An executive from clothing retailer, Charming Charlie, has already cited that 40% of traffic is coming from tablet devices alone.

Ecommerce models, pioneered by the likes of Amazon, are portable and customizable for whatever business you’re in, but implementing a strategic platform to drive value for your customers is not a task to undertake on your own.

Socializing with your target markets is an absolute must in today’s global environment where building an authentic following requires asking, listening, acting & reacting to what people truly want.

Our last blog post was all about the Super Bowl, and this time around we’re honing in on the best part: the commercials. There are basically two kinds of Super Bowl fans, the ones that watch for the football, and those who are all about the advertisements. If you happened to miss the Super Bowl this year, or were perhaps too busy socializing, you can watch all of the ads here.

This year for the 2012 Super Bowl, 30-second advertisement spots were sold for $3.5 million each. Yeah that’s right, $3.5 million EACH! Insane, right? Well, maybe not so insane. The Super Bowl this past Sunday was the most-watched program in U.S. television history, making it the third year in a row that it has set a record. It was estimated that at any given time, 111.3 million people were watching, and that it was seen in 47 percent of homes in the nation that have a television set. Overall, it was the 6^th best-rated Super Bowl in history, and the best in 26 years. Not to mention that Madonna’s half-time performance was seen by approximately 114 million people, which makes it the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show on record.

Basically, a LOT of people were watching. So those advertisement spots did not go to waste.

This year seemed to be all about the dogs– a definite trend in the commercials that were aired. The reason being—“People just like animals.” Volkswagen’s “Dog Strikes Back,” Bud Light’s “Rescue Dog” and Doritos’s “Man’s Best Friend” were among the favorites for this year’s advertisements.

If you want to cut right to the chase and see the best of the best, here are the 10 best commercials from the 2012 Super Bowl. The ad with the most overall buzz this year was Honda’s ‘Bueller’ ad, bringing back a beloved character to promote a Honda adventure. Here are some of the most-shared Super Bowl ads of all time.

If you’re one of those who can’t justify spending that kind of dough on one 30-second ad spot, there are 25 other things you could buy with $3.5 million.

What were your other favorite commercials from this year’s Super Bowl??

Super Bowl XLVI is THIS coming Sunday February 5, 2012 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. This year the New England Patriots and the New York Giants will battle it out to become the next National Football League (NFL) champions of the 2011 season. Who will you be rooting for?!

This is the 42^nd annual championship game of the “modern-era” NFL and the kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST (for you fellow mountain folk this will be 4:30 p.m.). If you look at the history of Super Bowls, you will see that these two teams played each other in the 2008 Super Bowl in a close game where the Giants beat the Patriots 17 to 14. But this is a new year, and the first time the Super Bowl has been played in Indianapolis. Who knows what will happen!

If you’re the betting type, you’ve probably looked into just that, maybe these odds will help you out! If you’re wanting to take a shot at betting but don’t know where to start, we personally recommend that you take the Giants +3.5 because their receiving corps will torch the Patriots’ secondary all day.

Both teams have had an interesting season, and though there may not have been one major turning point for either, it’s more about the whole season coming together and leading up to this exciting culminating event.

As much as we love the game itself, the Super Bowl isn’t just about football. In the United States it has come to be something of a holiday, and this year it’s expected to be the biggest spending holiday of them all! Between snacks, fan paraphernalia, and overall party apparel, consumers are expected to spend around $11 billion on the Super Bowl this year. Some party! Here are some excellent, mouth-watering snack ideas to serve at your Super Bowl party.

Now don’t think we forgot…one of the biggest aspects of the Super Bowl….the commercials! Every year the price to advertise has increased, and this year on average the network sold 30-second ad spots for a whopping $3.5 million each. No wonder the commercials have to be so good! If you really can’t wait to see what commercials will air (or you’re afraid that you’ll miss them), guess what?! You can catch a sneak peek of them here! One of our favorites is an Acura ad where the soup nazi from Seinfeld returns, check it out!

So whether you are a die-hard football fan, watching for the commercials, or just in it for the party, it doesn’t matter…join in on the Super Bowl frenzy!

Did you know that 8 years ago this week Facebook was born?! This monster of a site launched on Feb. 4, 2004 and has been dominating the Internet scene ever since. It’s really no secret…Facebook is the world’s largest social network. As of December 2011, it has more than 800 million active users around the world, including two-thirds of the population of the United States.

Facebook seems to be constantly changing, regardless of users wanting it to do so or not. If you’re one of the annoyed that wants old features back, here are some tricks at getting the old Facebook back and going retro.

Don’t worry though, if you’re on the psyched side and want to embrace everything that Facebook has to offer, we’ve got tricks for you too! Customize your timeline with these 5 tools for killer cover photos.

Along with its 8^th birthday, Facebook has some more exciting news! In the past, Zuckerberg and his crew have traditionally stayed on the more private side, but that is all about to change. Facebook is going public. This site that consumes plenty of people’s time is expected to file for its initial public offering as early as tomorrow, and it’s valued at a whopping potential of $100 billion. This doesn’t come as too much of a shock seeing as that after Google, Facebook is the number one most-visited site in the world.

So what kind of treasures will this filing reveal? Financials, strategy, advertising, talent, and risks are just some of the goodies that interested parties will be poring over.

Mark Zuckerberg has tried to keep Facebook private for as long as possible, but he can’t avoid it any longer. There are plenty of reasons why Facebook needs to go public, not to mention its already overwhelming power of the Internet will increase as a public company.

Will you invest in Facebook??

In this Winter X Games 16, more than 200 of the world’s best athletes in Skiing, Snowboarding, and Snowmobile will give it their all over four days of cut throat competition. As far as action sports go, this is the extreme of all extreme events. Plus, the event is completely FREE to the public! The events take place at Buttermilk Mountain, one of four resorts in the Aspen area. Now the trick is just finding a friend to bum a place to stay .

Check out this list of the weekend’s competition schedule. The entire weekend is jam-packed with awe-inspiring tricks, and as much as we’d like to, sometimes it’s just not possible to watch them all. So here are some tips for what not to miss this year!

The event features athletes from all over the world, and includes famous Olympians such as Shaun White, Gretchen Bleiler, Lindsey Jacobellis, and many other talented souls.

It’s not too late to book your weekend in Aspen, and as far as partying in Colorado goes, this is where the action’s at, no questions.

Besides the entertaining snow sports happening all around you, there will be plenty of other ways to occupy your time. On Saturday night Aspen/Snowmass is hosting a free Bud Light Hi-Fi concert featuring AWOLNATION. I think it goes without saying that you won’t be bored if you’re in Aspen this weekend. If you’re at all skeptical that you won’t be able to find where the party’s at, here’s a list of all of Aspen’s hottest spots for the weekend.

If you can’t make it to the real deal, watch the Winter X Games ’12 live here!

From last week’s post you learned all about the upcoming SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show that starts THIS Thursday, January 26^th and goes through the weekend. And yes, this trade event is going to be awesome. But we can’t forget about half the reason people go these shows….yep, the after parties.

This year things really start heating up (maybe even enough to melt the snow…) at the annual SNOWDOWN. This annual kickoff concert for the SIA Snow Show will be held at the Convention Center in Denver after the world’s largest snow expo takes place. This year is bound to be bigger and better than ever with special performances and everything. Check out the awesome lineup! Don’t risk the chance of the show selling out and get your tickets here and now.

If none of those artists catch your attention, there are plenty of other options to get rowdy with. There’s another SIA After Party featuring People Under the Stairs at the Summit Music Hall. Yet another amazing party will be the Brother Ali show after party held at The Ogden Theatre.

Live music may not be what you’re looking for. Don’t worry, SNOWDOWN is also connecting with art at the Puzzle Piece Project: Street Art photobooth & live screen printing. This event will be featuring artists Andrew Hoffman, The Signtologist, Captain Safety (So-Gnar), Dave Sheets, Steve Cummings, and Pat Milbery (So-Gnar). Together they will create a comprehensive puzzle design.

Along with all of the many SIA sponsored events, Denver nightlife won’t disappoint if you choose to venture out on your own. So Denver, get ready to party!

Description:

The Operations Management Intern will be in charge of basic administrative duties, social media marketing for Onit, and other business development opportunities. This is a fast paced environment, and being a perfectionist/detailed oriented is a must. Weekly activities include updating social media accounts, blogging, database management, communications with various vendors, and basic administrative duties.

The ideal Operations Management Intern is:
Detail Oriented
Organized
Has proven time management skills
Strong written and oral communication
Flexible
Knowledge of social media sites
Proficient in Microsoft Office Products, Gmail and Google Docs
Quickbooks
Basic Graphics Design skills; Adobe suite

Some HTML experience preferred
Tech Savvy

We would like to start training the Operations Management Intern as soon as possible. This job will require 15 hours a week. Potential for growth within the company.

How to apply:

Please send resume and cover letter to careers@onitmarketing.com

ONIT Marketing is seeking an inside sales associate to assist in selling social media packages. The associate will structure, organize and develop the sales division for a growing social media company. They will attend meetings, maintain client correspondence, and pre-qualify incoming sales leads. Works with our CEO and Operations team for the achievement of customer satisfaction, revenue generation, and long-term account goals in line with company vision and values.

Core Message: We are looking for an innovative, independent, go-getter who makes things happen! This person will co-create their future with our company.

Required skills:

-Respond to incoming leads

-Ability to communicate and interact with customers in a professional manner

-Schedule and attend follow-up meetings

-Obtain or create project proposals

-Excellent database and presentation skills

Required personal characteristics:

-Organized

-Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, Enthusiastic, Self-starter, can identify where assistance is needed without an explicit request

-Quality oriented, Attention to detail, thoroughly completes tasks, Ability to follow procedures, Eye for efficiency

This opportunity is an internship position, with potential for full-time if your capabilities meet our requirements + commission.

Previous sales experience preferred.  Basic understanding of social media capabilities a plus.

Our company is centrally located and is an innovative and flexible environment, sales associate is not expected to work on-site.

Please respond with a resume, list of references and cover letter for consideration.  We may consider internship if you are a fast learner with good communication skills.  If you fall into this category, please note this in your inquiry.

Careers@onitmarketing.com