Frontline Perspectives

With the world buzzing about social media, it’s easy to overlook the traditional case study or testimonial as a marketing tool and to focus instead on adding followers through Facebook and Twitter. But you don’t have to choose one or the other. In fact, testimonials might be the key to growing your social fanbase — and your fans might be your best source for new testimonials.

In a MarketingSherpa survey of B2B marketers, seeking out testimonials and case studies ranked as the #2 most effective tactic for developing marketing content — second only to repurposing information that already exists (see below). That means testimonials and case studies are the top source for new content. And once you’ve got a good one, you can share it through social and other media.  Read more »

Most marketers know that having a database is important to their organization’s marketing efforts. But creating one, maintaining it and using it effectively are much easier said than done. To ensure you’re getting the most sales from your lead generation efforts, here are seven tactical things every marketer should do right now with their marketing database…followed by one piece of advice on strategy. Read more »

By now, most B2B marketers know that creating content and establishing thought leadership — through blogs, white papers, etc. — is a critical component of marketing success. The value of nurturing prospects and driving search engine traffic has been hammered home consistently over the past decade. Each step in the evolution of the web has emphasized the importance of communication with customers and prospects via a high-quality content portfolio — from corporate website content to blogs and now social media. Read more »

The new rules of social media series.

While on vacation this past week, I had the chance to finish Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and more) that Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business. As a long-time fan of Anne Handley of Marketing Profs, I was looking forward to hearing what she had to say about  maximizing your online presence. Read more »

You’ve probably seen them: futuristic-looking black-and-white boxes that look like the love child of a barcode and a postage stamp. They’re called QR (for Quick Response) codes and they’re popping up everywhere — like on the side of this bus — as the latest buzz-worthy tool to hit marketing.

Developed in Japan in the mid-90s, QR codes bridge the gap between the physical world and the digital one. Readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and the cameras on smartphones, the black-and-white boxes contain encoded information such as text, URLs and other data. Read more »

The Rolling Stones sang this well.  Life is full of unfulfilled dreams, wants and needs. And many of us get pretty darn crabby about it. For the sales and marketing teams:  “If we only had the resources to develop the website more, or the money to develop an SEM campaign, or hire five new sales people to develop the new verticals we’ve danced around.  And then there’s the video and green room that could take our video platform to a whole new planet.  We could be so much better, only if we hand X, Y, Z…” Read more »

Your company probably spends a lot of time and money finding qualified leads. These are the folks who have raised their hands and shown interest in your business in response to your marketing efforts. Sounds good, right? So why is your sales force complaining about them? Read more »

YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world and the fourth-most visited site online according to Earnest Agency. Video is revolutionizing marketing and changing the way prospects get information — including in B2B markets. Read more »

We’re in the process of hiring right now, which means I’m spending a fair amount of time reviewing resumes. I’m continually amazed that the majority of people don’t include a cover letter with their resume. And those who do include one have serious grammar, spelling and clarity issues. What this means is that the majority (and I mean more than 75%) of these people have either made very little, or a terrible, first impression. And because of that, they’re not going to get to the interview stage. Read more »

A lot of marketing time and money is spent generating leads. And these leads often go directly to the sales team for follow up. If the leads don’t immediately turn into sales, the complaints start flying. Marketing generally complains that the sales team doesn’t follow up quickly and effectively, and sales generally complains that the leads aren’t worth the effort. And management is left to wonder why this is so difficult to resolve. Read more »