According to a recent survey of 1,745 business-to-business (B2B) Internet marketers, even the most effective B2B marketing tactics – such as website design, SEO and email marketing – were up to 50 percent LESS effective in 2011 compared with last year.

According to Marketing Sherpa, which conducted the survey, the upshot is that online marketers need to radically improve their game in order to meet the demands of B2B customers in the current economic environment.

More people are ‘Liking’ or sharing shopping items or links with their social media followers than forwarding them to friends via email, recent research shows.

A Responsys study of top online retailers finds that their use of ‘email-to-a-friend’ or ‘forward-to-a-friend’ via email has declined 15 percent since 2009, while the use of buttons and links enabling consumers to share with their social media network has increased by 12 percent.

Where do U.S. hotels, bed and breakfasts (B & Bs) and innkeepers spend most of their marketing budgets these days? If you’re involved in the travel industry – or have recently researched or booked travel – you’ll know the answer: on the Internet!

Of the three biggest marketing expenses among accommodation businesses, the biggest expense is online advertising and the third is online travel agency commissions.

More than 4 out of 10 U.S. consumers (44 percent) use or search daily deal websites. At the same time, however, over half – 52 percent – are feeling overwhelmed by the number of daily deal emails they receive each day, according to research by PriceGrabber.

Based on surveying 2,088 U.S. online consumers in May 2011, PriceGrabber found that while 63 percent of consumers receive emails from two or more local deal websites a day, 60 percent of respondents also believe the daily deal industry is getting crowded with too many sites.

Who else wants a 61 percent email open rate… daily? Well, according to Yahoo! Mail and Ipsos OTX MediaCT, 61 percent of subscribers to daily deal emails open such emails on a daily basis.

In fact, the companies’ February 2011 survey of 1,351 U.S. adult Internet users finds that the average adult Internet user subscribes to almost three daily or weekly shopping emails or newsletters. Over half (56 percent) subscribe to at least two daily deal emails per day.

According to a MarketingSherpa survey of 1,100 email marketers, the most effective tactic for building an email list is to require people to opt-in to an email list when they buy a product or download a free gift.

Here, in order, are the top 10 list building tactics rated ‘somewhat effective’ or ‘very effective’ by MarketingSherpa’s respondents:

Email usage remains as strong as ever, despite research indicating that people are spending less time with web-based email.

comScore’s ’2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review’ report indicates that Internet users aged under 55 years spent less time with web-based email last year. In particular, teenagers’ (12 to 17 year olds) usage of web-based email usage was 59 percent less than in 2009. But other research shows that 87 percent of Internet users checked their email daily in 2010, about the same as the proportion in 2007.

A report from ForeSee Results shows that search engines and promotional emails are more effective in driving visitors to online retail websites than is social media.

While search engine results drive 13 percent of visitors and promotional emails drive 10 percent, social media is responsible for just 3 percent of visitors to online retail websites.

Ed Dale’s Melbourne Challenge Conference will take place on February 25, 26 and 27, 2011 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Melbourne, Australia. Aimed at beginning-to-advanced Internet marketers, conference organiser Ed Dale says the event will include presentations from top-notch speakers including SEO expert, Leslie Rohde, super-affiliate Lynn Terry, and copywriting expert and NLP master, Harlan Kilstein. The event is a must-attend for Australian based Internet marketers (normally starved of quality Internet marketing events) and highly recommended for overseas visitors. Just be sure to bring swimwear and sunscreen to get the most out of gorgeous Melbourne in summer! Go here for all the details including how to get tickets.

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Last week, both the McDonald’s fast food restaurant company and the Walgreens pharmacy chain reported that their email lists had been hacked.

McDonald’s said that an email service provider retained by its digital agency, Arc Worldwide, had its systems compromised by an unauthorized third party. The hack attack potentially exposed customers’ email information, names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and genders.