Frontline Perspectives

I think every marketing person needs this written on a T-shirt to remind them what their customers are really thinking. Read more »

Much like a new-year fitness regimen, search engine optimization (SEO) will take some sweat and dedication, but you’ll love the results! Now is a great time to begin a serious SEO strategy, because MarketSense has just released a new white paper that puts a fun spin on the topic. The Dating Guide to SEO is designed to help B2B organizations develop a more fulfilling relationship with SEO. Read more »

It’s no surprise that we never have enough time to do everything we know we should.  No time to email your colleague about a great article you read. No time to update your home page, even though you know it’s growing stagnant. No time to work on that blog article you’ve been thinking about for months. Read more »

The latest trend in engaging customers via the web is the gaming culture.

Facebook and mobile apps have given rise to a pretty vast mainstream adult game playing culture. It’s incredibly popular and wildly addictive. It’s Tetris gone social. Read more »

A colleague contacted me the other day and asked if I had observed any shift in the market of B2B companies moving from indirect to direct sales.

The short answer to his question is yes. Read more »

You may have noticed that we’ve been blogging a lot more these days than we have in the past. It’s easy to let internal work fall between the cracks, as I’m sure you can understand, but we knew our blog needed to be a top priority. We wanted to share more thoughts and gain more followers. Since you’re reading this, it must be working! Read more »

…and hire a customer experience manager.

While this may sound like a play on words, it is a serious problem for many B2B companies today. Think about it: as you read this, your customer service team is down the hall answering calls and e-mails about orders, account issues, product problems, pricing questions, etc., right? Most customer service managers can tell me what percentage of their calls fall into each of these categories and how quickly the team can “resolve” these problems. Customer service is designed to react to each person who raises a hand with an issue. Read more »

As global sales continue to rise for most of our clients, the need to translate (and localize) has become increasingly important. It seems like a daunting and expensive venture. As with most marketing efforts, walking before you run will help you make the right decisions and keep information about your company’s solutions from getting lost in translation.

First, what do your international customers look like? It is not uncommon to find that the size of the company, the titles and functional responsibilities of decision maker(s), and the buying cycles are different from your customers in the U.S. You can’t effectively target new business without understanding who’s buying.

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Business writing is a lot like housebreaking a puppy. I came to this conclusion at four o’clock this morning while standing outside, coaxing my Wheaten Terrier, Red, to do his business. I filed the idea away for later, thinking there’s no way it would make sense during the decent hours of the day, but even now I think there’s something to it. At a basic level, business writing and potty training are both arts of persuasion.

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When the current hot item of the month is launched, the first thing people will react to will be the photography. You may have a great product with amazing benefits and capabilities, but if you can’t capture the audience with the photo or imagery first, how can you get them to read or want to know more about the product? Read more »