This article was originally posted on NTEN’s blog. What if you found out that one-quarter of your subscribers were reading your emails on their mobile phones? There’s a good chance they already are. (And if they’re not, they will be soon!) As of November 2011, 89.6 million Americans now use their mobile phone to access their work or personal email. That’s an increase of 28% in the last year alone.1 So is the rapid rise in mobile email changing how subscribers engage with our email campaigns? In 2011, we worked with several national non-profits to answer that question. We...

What a fun year out there in the world. Ryan Gosling memes made millions swoon. Katy Perry tied Michael Jackson for having the most #1 songs from the same album. And clever marketers with their fingers on the pulse of society introduced a new, feline-centric approach to advertising. Looking back on the last 12 months here at M+R, we had a lot of fun, too. So without further ado… hey girl, here are the top 11 projects we had the most fun doing in 2011. 1. Name the Missing Cobra! (Wildlife Conservation Society) When the Bronx Zoo’s Egyptian cobra went missing, the snake became the talk of...

We’ve known for quite a while that mobile is on the rise, but several recent studies, including one presented at last week’s Web 2.0 Summit, are revealing some pretty impressive stats to back this up. Among the findings: Mobile internet has penetrated nearly 60% of the US market. Around 40% of users access social media from their phones. Up to 19% of email messages are now read on mobile, Internet-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. Mobile search has grown fourfold in the last few years. E-commerce, especially mobile commerce, is on the rise. What does this mean for you? A large...

Thanks to everyone who joined us for a great session at NTC today to talk about the findings from this year’s 2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study from M+R and NTEN! The release of M+R’s fifth annual eNonprofit Benchmarks Study analyzes data from a record number of groups – which means more numbers to crunch and more charts for you to geek out over. (If you’re into that kind of thing. Which we are.) With more than 40 nonprofits letting us analyze their data and online messaging, our findings are stronger than ever before. If you’re ready for it, you can skip straight to the full report. Or,...

Nearly every high-profile national organization uses new media to mobilize grassroots supporters and put pressure on lawmakers. But a new study showing that as many as half of congressional staffers believe online form messages to be fake has renewed the debate about the political efficacy of online advocacy. Do lawmakers really listen? There have been plenty of long, theoretical arguments on the subject (a few highlights are posted at the bottom of this post).  We thought it might be more useful to offer these five quick, concrete, actionable tips on how to maximize your online advocacy program’s...