- List
- Articles
-
Articles
- 2008 State of the Marketer Survey Released
The Innovative Marketer | Jul 15, 2008
Last month, Eloqua released our 2008 "State of the Marketer" survey to uncover marketers' views of the industry today and take the temperature of our fellow marketers. We spoke to nearly 200 U.S. marketers at companies ranging in size from...
- Are your testimonials properly optimized?
Marketing Experiments Blog | Jul 15, 2008
Probably not. Our research indicates that most sites don't use credibility indicators to their full advantage. You've probably noticed the same thing when your marketing cap is off and you're visiting sites as a hunter or browser (or howser?) in your free time. When you're the customer, do you trust that long list of rosy, anonymous quotes over in the sidebar, or filling a whole page of its own? Does that type of testimonial influence you positively, or make you more skeptical? How do text quotes compare to video and audio clips or a customer rating system? What kind of lift can your conversion rate get from a review or award from a known brand, like PC Magazine? Those are among the questions we're working to answer in our optimization experiments. And we discussed recent research results and best practices in our July 9 clinic: Using Testimonials Effectively: How credibility indicators can help (or hurt) your conversions. As we noted in the clinic, the multivariate tests we examined also included changes to other page elements. However, our goal in sharing this research was to show that credibility indicators can indeed play a significant role in conversions -- both positive and negative -- based on how they are applied. While these tests didn't isolate the specific impact of testimonials, the results make a strong case for additional testing and support the best practices we've identified in previous experiments. So, science aside, what are some real-world keys to applying credibility indicators and making them more powerful? No matter what the format (text, video, audio), testimonials should be placed strategically on your pages to alleviate anxiety; focus on order forms and sign-up pages first and foremost.Standalone testimonial pages need to have clear, direct links and calls-to-action to transaction pages. Relying on the navbar tab = missed opportunities.Lead with the highest authority testimonials, but first ensure that the application fits your target audience. Example: If you're appealing to SOHO or small-biz buyers, recognize that using quotes and logos from corporate Goliaths like IBM, GE, or Bank of America may send the wrong signal.Less is more with content: Keep the blocks of praise compact and easy to scan, with bold highlights for relevant phrases or terms like quality. Same goes for video clips: shorter ones will load quicker and convey the message faster; use a timestamp that lets prospects know it's only a 30-second clip before they click.More is more with attribution: Quotes with a full name, title, company, and photo, are more believable than just initials and a city. Those are just a few takeaway ideas. To find out more about the underlying principles, case studies and examples, plus a live page critique, please check out the full clinic and post your thoughts or questions here in the comments section.
- What Sales Really Thinks About Marketing?
Buzz Marketing for Technology | Jul 14, 2008
Does Sales really care about leads? Maybe not.If you ask Bill Binch, VP of Sales from demand generation software provider Marketo, he prefers pipeline and bookings to leads. Ironically, as much as lead nurturing and lead scoring can help generate pipeline and revenue, by framing the discussion around leads too many marketers ignore the equally valid perspective of their sales counterparts. This can lead to diminished success for many marketing-led efforts around lead management.This is just one of the many disconnects between sales and marketing that we’ve been exploring in the series Sales is from Mars, Marketing is from Venus. This is my 3rd such podcast with Marketo in this area. First we started with a CEO’s perspective then we did a VP of Marketing perspective and now we have the VP of Sales perspective. Getting the Sales viewpoint is critical for marketers since lead management initiatives always require buy-in and support from Sales to be successful.Special thanks to my friends at Marketo for allowing me to interview their VP of sales for this podcast. They use what they sell to create opportunities for themselves, so there is no better place to look for ideas on how to optimize your own demand generation efforts than by talking with the guys who sell and deliver that for a living. I always learn something I can incorporate into my lead nurturing platform every time I talk with them! I hope you learn something too…Link to Original Audio SourceSignup for this Podcast SeriesAbout BillBill brings 16 years of best practice sales, leadership, and operations experience to his role leading all of Marketo's sales and customer success activities. Prior to joining Marketo, Binch was VP and General Manager, Distribution, at AVOLENT, where he managed the team focused on the distribution market, small & medium businesses, and install base customers. Prior to AVOLENT, Binch developed his sales and operational experience at Oracle, PeopleSoft, and BEA Systems, where he built and managed direct, inside, and channel organizations and ran business units ranging from mid-market business customers to strategic accounts. Bill graduated from Arizona State University with a BS in Marketing.
- Halftime at the Testimonials Web Clinic
Marketing Experiments Blog | Jul 09, 2008
Today's topic -- Using Testimonials Effectively -- has inspired a lot of great questions from our audience. I can already tell we won't be able to get to them all, so we'll try to pick some of the best and get our analysts to provide answers here on the blog over the next few days. Be sure to check back if your question wasn't answered live by our team ... Also, interesting note from our poll on which types of testimonials our audience of marketers is currently using: 72% -- text23% -- none14% -- customer ratings13% -- video6% -- audio More to come. Thanks to all of our attendees for joining us today!
- Execution is the key to go-to-market success
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Jul 08, 2008
The biggest obstacle to go-to-market success (and lead generation ROI for that matter) is the lack of good execution. The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council's latest study, “Driving the Bottom Line from the Front Line,” assessed the go-to-market processes and...
- Execution is the key to go-to-market success
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Jul 08, 2008
The biggest obstacle to go-to-market success (and lead generation ROI for that matter) is the lack of good execution. The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council's latest study, “Driving the Bottom Line from the Front Line,” assessed the go-to-market processes and...
- The Big Switch – a podcast with Nicholas Carr
Buzz Marketing for Technology | Jul 08, 2008
Rather than storing data and software applications down the hall in your office or in a big data center – there is a shift towards storing them on the web. And that’s the shift that Nick Carr has built his book upon.We (America) need to jump on this paradigm shift to reduce costs in this post Sarbanes Oxley and difficult economic environment if we want to gain competitive advantage for ourselves and for our country. No longer is running enterprise CRM or ERP a competitive advantage - its table stakes.What does this mean for IT departments? What does this mean for your data security? And most importantly - what does the impact of distributed computing have on marketers? Check out what Nick has to say about all this ...Link to Original Audio SourceSignup for this Podcast SeriesAbout NickA former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review, Nicholas Carr writes and speaks on technology, business, and culture. His 2004 book Does IT Matter?. published by Harvard Business School Press, set off a worldwide debate about the role of computers in business. His widely acclaimed new book, The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google, examines the rise of "cloud computing" and its implications for business, media and society.Carr writes regularly for the Financial Times, Strategy & Business and The Guardian. His articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Wired, Business 2.0, The Banker, and Advertising Age as well as on his blog Rough Type. He is a member of the Encyclopedia Britannica's editorial board of advisors.In 2005, Optimize magazine named Carr one of the leading thinkers on information technology, and in 2007 eWeek named him one of the 100 most influential people in IT. Earlier in his career, he was a principal at Mercer Management Consulting.Carr has been a speaker at MIT, Harvard, Wharton, the Kennedy School of Government, NASA, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas as well as at many industry, corporate, and professional events throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.A., in English literature, from Harvard University.
- Spend More in an Economic Downturn
Marketing Automation Best Practices | Jul 07, 2008
Some 60% of American Marketing Association member marketers say halting or reducing spending on key marketing programs is the biggest mistake marketers can make in an economic downturn, according to (pdf) a recent AMA survey.The AMA offered four strategies to enhance marketing plans in a downturn - shape the message, don’t slash the price; focus on whom not to target; stand apart from the crowd and invest in innovation; and sustain the brand:- Shape the message, don’t slash the priceOnly 3% of American Marketing Association marketers say it is important for marketing functions to adjust pricing strategy to help sustain and grow business during an economic downturn.Implications for marketers: Conduct research to understand your competitor’s positioning and your target audiences’ perception of the economic environment; hone and refine your messages; highlight the value of your product or service, rather than slashing the price.Focus on whom not to targetSome 67% of AMA marketers say it is important to mitigate the impact of an economic downturn by refining target audiences.Implications for marketers: Assess which segments of potential customers you do not want to target; don’t market to inappropriate market segments (simply stated, some customers are more costly to serve than to lose); focus marketing strategies on customer segments that will produce the greatest ROI.Stand apart from the crowd and invest in innovationMost AMA marketers, 66%, report that they would take the same amount or less risk with a new product and/or service innovation during a time of economic uncertainty.Implications for marketers: Differentiate through innovation with a product or service that performs in a faltering economy; invest in R&D now to ensure that your company is in a position to compete when the economy rebounds.Sustain the brand63% of marketers say they can lessen the impact of a downturn by investing in brand building as part of their marketing plan.Implications for marketers: Establish access to executive officers to understand ongoing shifts in business strategy; realign marketing strategies to match business objectives quickly to demonstrate a commitment to the bottom line; qualify and quantify results quarterly to establish an ongoing dialogue with executive officers.
- Reputation Management for New Media Survey - How ready are you?
Buzz Marketing for Technology | Jul 01, 2008
One of my goals this year was to do a study on reputation management. As we all factor in the effects of new media on our brands, I felt this was a topic with long-lasting appeal to every marketer.My hypothesis going into the creation of these questions was that B2B marketers (including yours truly) just aren’t adequately prepared for an online reputation crisis. Dell wasn’t, Wal-Mart wasn’t. If those big B2C brands weren’t ready, I was betting we weren’t ready either. And I was right!To be totally transparent with you, I wasn’t surprised by many of the responses to my survey. The bulk of you are monitoring your reputation in some way, shape or form. But are you poised to respond in the case of an online reputation crisis? 55% admitted you weren’t.Perhaps you need stronger guidelines in place, like a blogging policy. Two-thirds of respondents don’t have one!Many of you are do-it-yourselfers when it comes to monitoring your reputation. Is that perhaps because your company hasn’t made this a strategic priority? 53% admitted it wasn’t a strategic priority for you – yet!My goal here is to give you the state of the union when it comes to monitoring reputations online. This data is bound to change, so I hope I get you thinking of ways to close the gap with your organization’s reputation!Click here to download the free research reportSpecial thanks to my sponsors – Trackur.com, run by the renowned Andy Beal of the blog MarketingPilgrim.com, and Marketing Profs’ equally renowned Ann Handley for their support on this survey.
- Clarity trumps persuasion -- and lifts conversions
Marketing Experiments Blog | Jun 30, 2008
Our most recent free webinar included case studies and live optimization focused on subscription-path pages. But the underlying principle we covered is just as important to ecommerce, demand and lead generation, email -- across all marketing communications, really. The principle: Clarity trumps persuasion. Sounds simple, right? Maybe even too elementary? Perhaps you're thinking, "My CEO and six-figure marketing budget don't need catchy maxims. Give me something I can use." Don't be fooled. There's a powerful idea hiding in those three little words. But it's easy to miss because we've been trained to persuade. To sell the sizzle, not the steak. We try to entice prospects into our sales funnels with peppy copy, splashy offers and incentives that don't cost too much. Meanwhile, behind the curtain of our clever creative, we're not concerned about connecting with people. We're chasing sales numbers and revenue goals. So we ignore the fact that our prospects hate being pitched and sold to -- just like us, when we're in their shoes. Problem is, that leads to web pages that make prospects wary and distrustful. Sites that make users jump through hoops. Transaction pages loaded with elements that create friction and anxiety in users' minds. Want to slash through all that on your site, and improve conversions? There are many ways to do that, but the foundation starts with building simple, straightforward pages and processes that match your visitors' intentions. In other words, clarity trumps persuasion. Click here to learn how to apply this principle and see how three sites used it to lift their conversion rates by 200%, 76% and 38%.
- Optimizing webforms to generate more leads through your website
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Jun 26, 2008
After a talk on lead management, I spoke with several marketers from a company where one said, “We don’t need to qualify our leads because our web forms do the qualifying for us... then we send them to our sales...
- Optimizing webforms to generate more leads through your website
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Jun 26, 2008
After a talk on lead management, I spoke with several marketers from a company where one said, “We don’t need to qualify our leads because our web forms do the qualifying for us... then we send them to our sales...
- Use Social Media for Consideration in B2B Marketing
Buzz Marketing for Technology | Jun 25, 2008
B2B marketers with highly complex products and services have been given a gift in the last few years in the form of Social Media.In my opinion, Social Media doesn’t easily equate to Lead Generation for the complex sale. For example a prospect reading a blog entry doesn’t mean they want to buy anything, but it does mean they have engaged with your brand. In fact the stats show that certain forms of Social Media even out perform more traditional ones when it comes to awareness and recall. For example, unaided awareness from podcasts were 68%, compared with 21% for streaming video and 10% for television. Now that’s great recall!B2B marketers need to set aside collecting metrics like page views, clicks, conversion rates and start nurturing individual leads by using the gift of social media they were given. Social Media is great for consideration so why not use it that way? Don’t measure your teams on page views generated from a campaign. Measure them on how engaged they can get your leads with your content and turn them into sales.Sales generated from your lead nurturing program are the only real measure of engagement with your campaigns!
- Best new software I've seen in a long time
The Innovative Marketer | Jun 21, 2008
I give a lot of presentations -- webinars, trade shows, customer visits. And lately I've been trying to find a way to make Microsoft PowerPoint (which I use) look and act more like Apple's Keynote (which I love). This past...
- Practical marketing advice for a flagging economy
Marketing Experiments Blog | Jun 20, 2008
Watching how companies react to shifting market forces can tell you a lot about their leadership. In a downturn, marketing more aggressively makes sense: As some companies inevitably slash marketing budgets and curb their efforts, new opportunities arise -- better deals on ad space, fewer competing messages, stronger brand-building potential. Wait a minute ... branding? With online marketing, and for many with direct-marketing roots, increasing brand awareness is an afterthought at best. CEOs want to see revenue and profits from their Web marketing team -- good luck tying those numbers into branding initiatives. But that bottom-line attitude has a downside. I was reminded of this thanks to a recent Wall Street Journal interview with Stefan Tornquist, research director of MarketingSherpa (our sister company). Asked about what strategies small businesses should be pursuing now, Stefan replied: "I'm of the opinion that it's a good time to increase a brand imprint [by buying print or radio ads, or banner ads online, for instance]. A lot of small companies see branding activities as a waste of money.... What we lose sight of is that brand activity makes us trust a company and buy when we see their ad later on. One of the greatest challenges for small companies is to make a name for themselves, and a downturn actually provides an opportunity to do that because it tends to suppress the branding activity." The interview covers a lot more than branding, but this idea stood out because it goes against the grain. That's what companies should be looking for right now: untapped or overlooked ways to connect with potential customers. And, while competitors are playing it safe, these efforts will likely make an even bigger impact than usual. Nobody is suggesting companies abandon their direct-marketing initiatives. But trust, credibility, and reputation are vital to generating leads, sales, and repeat sales. So it might be time to revisit your branding efforts and see how they're faring in comparison to your PPC, SEO, email, and direct-mail campaigns. Some questions to consider: How is your brand perceived by prospects? By customers? Is your value proposition clear and is it being expressed most effectively? What is the market saying about you -- good things, bad things or nothing? How often do you talk with your customers? Do you measure customer loyalty? How? The answers may not have dollar signs and decimals, but you can bet they'll get your CEO's attention. And that just might get you the buy-in you need to get aggressive, take a few chances, and test some new and unusual tactics.
- Unlock your PDF’s and set them free! – a podcast with Peter Nieforth
Buzz Marketing for Technology | Jun 19, 2008
Classically marketers have always been protective of their content locking them up in PDFs and then putting a registration page in front of them. This behavior is known to have a 1 in 10 (10%) download rate which isn’t bad by marketing standards but on the flip side that means there is a 90% leakage rate!Studies have shown that a NON protected PDF will get as high as a 20X greater download rate. But then how can you capture registration information?Peter Nieforth's company, Vitrium Systems, has created a web-based tool called docmetrics. Their solution moves away from external registrations forms to forms that are embedded directly inside the PDF - this allows marketers to collect reader data while they are engaged in the content and share the content with their colleagues. In addition to the data on who is reading the content, docmetrics provides data on when the document was opened, how many pages were read, and how much time was spent on each page.To hear more about this exciting new technology with my interview of Peter right on the show floor at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum! WARNING: this was recorded on the show floor so it is a little loud (sorry) because there was quite a crowd in his booth!Link to Original Audio SourceSignup for this Podcast SeriesAbout PeterPeter Nieforth is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder at Vitrium Systems Inc. Nieforth founded Vitrium Systems together with Narayan Sainaney, Blair Adamson and Alfred Dorey bringing together a core group to crystallize and commercialize the ideas and research of Sainaney. Nieforth specializes in financing, organizing and commercializing promising start-ups, most recently acting as Director of Investment for The Loreto Bay Company (LBC), where he worked on raising a total of 18 million US dollars for the world’s largest sustainable resort community, which is currently being built by LBC in the Mexican Baja. Nieforth has also served as an investment specialist for BMO Bank of Montreal, as Financial Advisor for Yorkton Securities Inc. and as Financial Consultant with Merrill Lynch Canada Inc.Nieforth studied Political Science at Acadia University, and graduated from Mount Saint Agnes Academy in Hamilton, Bermuda.
- Filling the pipeline ... our lead-gen presentation arrives
Marketing Experiments Blog | Jun 18, 2008
As Brian Carroll would say, it starts with a lead. Carroll was a featured guest in our recent web clinic, Filling the Pipeline: How a LeadGen Test Strategy Achieved an 86% Increase. If you couldn't catch it live, we hope you'll find the presentation valuable. Flint McGlaughlin broke down three recent tests we conducted that yielded major increases, and discussed ways to use friction and incentive to improve lead generation efforts. One of the more surprising ideas is a model for increasing friction intentionally and using it to improve lead quality as opposed to volume. If your sales team is always pushing for more leads and better leads, you'll want to start testing this idea immediately. Our thanks also go out to TruckSchool.com -- the website that our experts and attendees critiqued in a quick-fire live optimization session. Questions or comments on the presentation? Does the info square up with your own lead-gen results? Post a comment and let us know.
- Social Games: Useful for B2B Marketers?
Buzz Marketing for Technology | Jun 16, 2008
It should come as no surprise that the online gaming market is exploding. In fact, last year online gaming attracted 28 percent of the total worldwide online population -- almost 217 million people!For a long time gamers were thought of as young guys with glasses and zits playing for 14 hours a day but all that has changed. The market has been embraced much more by women and the age range has expanded from 7 to 107.Opportunities for product placement as well as experiential branded games are close at hand for us as marketers. Now that games are becoming so prevalent, we’re beginning to see specialized ad networks focused on in-game advertising as an untapped channel. Microsoft and Google have already made acquisitions in the space and start-ups are chomping at the bit.So to get a better understanding of the gaming space, I had the opportunity to interview Roman Nouzareth the President and CEO of Café.com. Roman is no stranger to online gaming, having successfully founded Boonty, Inc., a leading digital distributor of casual and hardcore games, and ushered in the try-before-you-buy downloadable business model. This time around, his business is focused on entirely new revenue streams – advertising and micro-transactions, or virtual items you buy and use in and around the games. He has a unique perspective on where the online gaming trend is heading.Link to Original Audio SourceSignup for this Podcast SeriesAbout RomanRoman is one of the founders of Boonty.com, the worldwide leader in the digital distribution of video games. Boonty offers Internet portals, ISPs, mobile phone operators, advertisers and PC manufacturers a complete solution that combines all areas of expertise needed for a generic video game digital distribution offering, the negotiation and selection of content from publishers, the design and management of a complete e-commerce and downloading platform, online marketing know-how, and a leading role in managing websites' Games component. Casual and hardcore gamers can thus access a catalogue of over 1500 PC and mobile games for an optimal gaming and purchasing experience.After successfully being in charge of sales strategy, marketing, and publisher relations in Europe and Asia, Roman is now responsible for the North American market. From Manhattan, Roman also took the Product Management lead for the company in order to design and release the new social gaming site cafe.com. Roman was also a Jury member at the famous advertising Cannes Lion Festival in 2000 and a speaker in various events like CES in Las Vegas. He holds a Law Degree from the University of Paris II Assas and is an investor in several start-ups.
- Marketing Automation versus CRM
Marketing Automation Best Practices | Jun 16, 2008
I have often found that many CRM (Customer Relationship Management) companies say they do marketing automation. While this may be true on some features, most come up short when you look at their out of the box capability. For example, Salesforce.com limits the amount of email sent to 500 per day per user. Just to set the record straight, here is a good definition of what is a CRM.To me there is a symbiotic relationship between CRM and Marketing Automation. There are different types of marketing automation software that can be added to most CRM solutions. Most of these tools are designed to increase revenues and implement a more consistent marketing campaign for the business to promote its product or service. Here is SearchCRM's definition of marketing automation.Some things to consider when choosing a marketing automation tool is database design, campaign management, integration of analytics and reporting, email campaigns, and multi-channel support. Another key is the ability to perform batch (versus broadcast) sends and the deployment of real time view notifications.A good marketing automation solution will integrate key analytics and reporting back into a CRM for a full picuture of the sales cycle.
- Lead-gen clinic wrap-up notes
Marketing Experiments Blog | Jun 12, 2008
For those who attended our free webinar on lead generation yesterday, we'd like to thank you for your time and trust. Despite some initial tech glitches, the session got rolling quickly and we covered a lot of ground, including: three lead-gen case studies, with some surprising results the impact of friction and incentive on the leads process a guest appearance by our good friend and partner, lead-generation expert Brian Carroll, and a live site review and optimization session. Regular blog readers already know that we'll be posting a link to the clinic content here in a few days. In the meantime, here are some of the takeaway points: Never use an incentive that requires you to sell it before the main offer is clear. Even good incentives can fail due to presentation errors. Friction is typically a negative factor, but not in every case. There are ways to use it to your advantage. Friction occurs at the page level as well as throughout the lead-gen process. Look for ways to reduce it in both areas. We also looked at three key questions you need to ask (and answer) when optimizing your lead-gen strategy:- Have you looked at your site pages the way a customer does vs. the way your company does?
How does your process demonstrate to your ideal customer that you understand him/her?
Have you analyzed your competition's lead-gen process from start to finish and compared it against your own?
- Last call: Lead-gen Web Clinic in one hour
Marketing Experiments Blog | Jun 11, 2008
We're gearing up for another lively session with today's free Web Clinic: Filling the Pipeline: Lead generation strategies that got an 86% increase We'll examine three tests we conducted with our research partner to demonstrate how you can use Incentives and Friction to generate more leads. We'll also discuss the aspects of the lead-gen process you find most challenging -- and help attendees optimize their own landing pages with a live, rapid-fire critique session. Please note that our recent Clinics have maxed out, so if you sign up, dial in promptly at 4:00 p.m. EDT to secure your spot. (Our free Web Clinics are limited to the first 1,000 attendees.) Even if you can't attend, registrants will be able to access the Clinic content later, via links provided in the MarketingExperiments Journal. Registration includes a free subscription to the Journal. We hope you'll join us and we look forward to your participation. Reserve your spot for today's Webinar here.
- Unleash your Community on the Election!
Buzz Marketing for Technology | Jun 09, 2008
One of my most trusted friends and mentors recently joined a very intriguing company called – SuccessFactors (stock symbol SFSF). They specialize in HR software with a SaaS product that is second to none in the market.From a marketing and social media perspective several things about this company got my attention and my envy as a marketer.First was the clear communications from the top down. The CEO Lars Dalgaard uses email to the entire company much like an internal blog at all hours of the day reporting back on things like successful client meetings and other interesting findings. Best of all it creates an open dialog with the entire company and builds an internal sense of community and esprit d’ corp.Next was the sheer amount of new client wins that are coming out of this company. I monitor their RSS feed and every time I turn around they are pumping out press releases with another new client name in it. Kudos to the communications department and the sales team for making that happen!But what really got my attention was how they unleashed their own internal community on rating and ranking each of the Presidential Candidates by 10 different competencies and published it on their public website. This is a fabulous example of demonstrating your product and its possibilities by connecting it to something that everyone is interested in.So when last I checked here was the tally…1) Budgets/Cost Controls – Vote McCain2) Communication – Vote Obama3) Decision Making/Judgement – Vote Obama4) Dependability – Vote Obama5) Global Perspective – Vote McCain6) Integrity/Ethics – Vote Obama7) Listening Skills – Vote Obama8) Leadership – Vote Obama9) Managing Conflict – Vote Obama10) Planning – Vote ObamaOverall Winner - ObamaSorry Hillary but I guess you already knew that!
- How can marketing truly impact sales?
The Innovative Marketer | Jun 05, 2008
Jill Konrath, blogger, author, and organizer of the fantastic She-Bang conference wrote a great eBook on how marketing can impact sales. It's a must-read for companies who have problems like this (and who doesn't?): Getting new sales reps up to...
- Brand as a Dialog
Buzz Marketing for Technology | Jun 04, 2008
An interesting study from the University of Texas recently showed that the typical information posted on social networking sites – favorite books, movies, music, and quotes; major; hometown; and similar personal items – doesn’t always give others an accurate impression of you.When the researchers tested so called “friends” of a user on basic questions like those found on social networking sites, the information did not help users figure out what others were "really" like. Instead, the researchers found that users’ personalities were much better understood if they posted things on their profile like their most embarrassing or proudest moment, or their spirituality.What can marketers learn from this study?To me, I think it says a lot about a brand! If a brand posts very light information on a Facebook company page, has few conversations in the blogosphere, and isn’t really engaging, I expect the researchers would say the same about the brand – people don’t know what it’s “really” like.But if the brand is creating interesting content, commenting in the blogosphere, reacting to postings with senior leaders, and maybe even having a misstep or two online, in my eyes it makes the brand real. Now I’m not saying to let it all hang out and anything goes online. But if you can tend toward letting go of your defenses and creating some controversy, perhaps you will be much better understood.
- BtoB 2008 Lead Generation Guide
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 28, 2008
B2B Marketers are increasingly emphasizing lead generation and as a result, BtoB Magazine just published their inaugural BtoB 2008 Lead Generation Guide today. I highly recommend you check it out. It has a lot of studies, expert columns, market statistics...
- BtoB 2008 Lead Generation Guide
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 28, 2008
B2B Marketers are increasingly emphasizing lead generation and as a result, BtoB Magazine just published their inaugural BtoB 2008 Lead Generation Guide today. I highly recommend you check it out. It has a lot of studies, expert columns, market statistics...
- The Human Touch of Lead Nurturing/Marketing Automation
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 27, 2008
I participated in a webcast and podcast combo on the adding the human touch to marketing automation as part of the Marketing Mastery Series sponsored by Eloqua, MarketingExperiments and ON24. You can watch the webinar recording here. Because the webinar...
- The Human Touch of Lead Nurturing/Marketing Automation
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 27, 2008
I participated in a webcast and podcast combo on the adding the human touch to marketing automation as part of the Marketing Mastery Series sponsored by Eloqua, MarketingExperiments and ON24. You can watch the webinar recording here. Because the webinar...
- Podcast #22 - What is lead nurturing and why should you care?
The Innovative Marketer | May 23, 2008
Brian Carroll, author of the essential business book Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, blogger, CEO and one of the nicest guys you'll talk to in business presented a webinar with me recently as part of our Marketing Mastery series....
- What is microblogging?
The Innovative Marketer | May 19, 2008
Live at the SiriusDecisions Summit in stark, dry, Henderson, Nevada this past week, where the big brains in B2B demand generation gathered to discuss current trends in the industry. Great presentation this morning by Jonathan Block of Sirius (welcome to...
- When does your marketing automation program need a human touch?
The Innovative Marketer | May 13, 2008
Brian Carroll is one of the smartest thinkers in the demand generation space today. He's also a great humanist, one who makes sure that we don't forget that every complex sale needs to incorporate some human touch. On Thursday, Brian...
- Should lead generation ignore current customers?
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 12, 2008
”We know more about our prospects (leads) than we know about our current customers” was a shocking statement I heard from a client and it stuck with me. In fact, it's the impetus for this post. When you have a...
- Should lead generation ignore current customers?
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 12, 2008
”We know more about our prospects (leads) than we know about our current customers” was a shocking statement I heard from a client and it stuck with me. In fact, it's the impetus for this post. When you have a...
- Podcast #21 - Secret Techniques for Creating Compelling Demos
The Innovative Marketer | May 12, 2008
So your prospect is interested in what your company provides. You've qualified them as a great potential customer. They've requested a demo. Now what? In this episode of The Innovative Marketer, I speak to Peter Cohan, founder of the Second...
- Generate over 60,0000 inquiries by educating people?
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 05, 2008
Last year, I wrote a post on giving away ideas to proactively educate and attract future customers. I was surprised that it generated such a lively discussion. Michael Stelzner wrote the following comment on my post back then, “I have...
- Generate over 60,0000 inquiries by educating people?
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 05, 2008
Last year, I wrote a post on giving away ideas to proactively educate and attract future customers. I was surprised that it generated such a lively discussion. Michael Stelzner wrote the following comment on my post back then, “I have...
- How to Select and Optimize Outsourced Teleprospecting Redux
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 02, 2008
If you're too busy to listen to my podcast or simply prefer to reading over listening, Sridhar Ramanathan, whom I interviewed on how to select and optimize outsourced teleprospecting partnerships, posted his the talking points on his blog. Pacifica Group:...
- Web Analytics for B2B Lead Generation
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 02, 2008
In the complex sale, the length of the buying cycle makes the connection between on-the-web activity and the off-line decision to purchase much more difficult to trace. So the challenge is connecting our website data (analytics), with marketing data (inquiries...
- How to Select and Optimize Outsourced Teleprospecting Redux
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 02, 2008
If you're too busy to listen to my podcast or simply prefer to reading over listening, Sridhar Ramanathan, whom I interviewed on how to select and optimize outsourced teleprospecting partnerships, posted his the talking points on his blog. Pacifica Group:...
- Web Analytics for B2B Lead Generation
B2B Lead Generation Blog | May 02, 2008
In the complex sale, the length of the buying cycle makes the connection between on-the-web activity and the off-line decision to purchase much more difficult to trace. So the challenge is connecting our website data (analytics), with marketing data (inquiries...
- ITSMA: Elevating Demand in a Crowded World
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Apr 30, 2008
Generating demand has become a top priority for most companies in today’s slower environment. The most successful programs are much more targeted than in past years and favor quality over quantity. You're invited to join me at ITSMA's (IT Services...
- ITSMA: Elevating Demand in a Crowded World
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Apr 30, 2008
Generating demand has become a top priority for most companies in today’s slower environment. The most successful programs are much more targeted than in past years and favor quality over quantity. You're invited to join me at ITSMA's (IT Services...
- Let's stop doing random acts of lead generation
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Apr 29, 2008
I don’t know about you but I seldom meet a B2B marketer who has time to think. And it seems that the pressure keeps building as more of us seek to do more with less. That said, it’s vital for...
- Let's stop doing random acts of lead generation
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Apr 29, 2008
I don’t know about you but I seldom meet a B2B marketer who has time to think. And it seems that the pressure keeps building as more of us seek to do more with less. That said, it’s vital for...
- Podcast: How to Optimize Teleprospecting Vendors
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Apr 16, 2008
More companies than ever are using third party providers for teleprospecting and lead management operations, however there is little information on how to select, engage, and measure these vendors who will add that essential human touch. I just interviewed Sridhar...
- Podcast: How to Optimize Teleprospecting Vendors
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Apr 16, 2008
More companies than ever are using third party providers for teleprospecting and lead management operations, however there is little information on how to select, engage, and measure these vendors who will add that essential human touch. I just interviewed Sridhar...
- Top Lead Generation Tips for New Sellers
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Apr 11, 2008
The faster we can get new sales reps producing revenue the better. So what works? Jill Konrath shares 5 great tips for new sellers on her Selling to BIG Companies Blog and it’s definitely worth a read. I particularity liked...
- Top Lead Generation Tips for New Sellers
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Apr 11, 2008
The faster we can get new sales reps producing revenue the better. So what works? Jill Konrath shares 5 great tips for new sellers on her Selling to BIG Companies Blog and it’s definitely worth a read. I particularity liked...
- LeadsCon Conference: Lead Management System Panel
Marketing Automation Best Practices | Apr 08, 2008
LeadsCon Conference, Las Vegas (April 2nd through April 4th) - Friday Morning Panel: Lead Management System – Lead Gen’s Killer AppThe members of the panel included Raj Parekh of LeadROI, Jeff Solomon of Leads360, Rick Doyle of Lead Mailbox and Bill Rice of Kaliedico with Michael Ferree of of ZipSearch moderating.It was a very interesting session and no doubt the best of the conference (probably because they were asked to shake it up a little bit by the conference director). Each LMS provider wanted to tout their unique features and take subtle shots at the others. It was all friendly though. FYI, I have a very high regard for each of these panelists (they all have great companies).The most contentious issue addressed: sharing data with lead aggregators and being able to provide “analytics” with quality data. Most panel members admitted that their data might not be perfect, and that they didn’t really know how to answer or address the question of how to provide bi-directional data with the lead aggregators. As they attempted to address this issue I believe they were missing the larger need (at least in terms of what “C” level execs want): a more comprehensive view into their world, including data-supported ROI information on their campaigns and initiatives and clear analytics that will lead them down more profitable paths.What I find interesting from their responses is their lack of looking at the big picture as well as other pertinent data elements. From my understanding, not many of the LMSs contain the most important data of all, closed-loan data. This is because once the LMS does their job it is primarily tracked in the LOS, and today very few lenders pass the closed loan data back to the LMS. Other missing elements include: phone data, pricing data, web analytics and lead generation data (like what banner ad this lead clicked to fill out the app). The LMS is not the killer app today because it’s missing these other (really) important data elements. Once a company builds a solution that delivers all of these data elements (and complete “analytics”) it will be the “killer app”. As for SoftVu we have been working on a data warehousing solution with a business intelligence reporting (BIR) engine since Q4 of 2007 and we plan to showcase the solution later this year. We’ll see if we can show the panelists what “analytics” really are.
- Lead management software becoming a hot topic
B2B Lead Generation Blog | Apr 07, 2008
What do you do with leads or inquires once you generate them? This basic question is overlooked by so many and yet it’s the leading cause of failure in what would otherwise be effective lead generation programs. The common-sense answer...
- 2008 State of the Marketer Survey Released
-
To get started, please fill out the form below and we wil get in touch with you right away.
SEE WHO IS USING READYCONTACTS
Our company was looking for a targeted list of contacts with specific job titles in two industries. The end product was exactly what we were looking for and was delivered on time. I found ReadyContacts to be very professional and responsive to my needs. I highly recommend them.
-
