Frontline Perspectives

B2B social media marketers know that short URLs are a necessity. You’re constantly limited with how many characters you have for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. But the power of a long URL, with tracking and a targeted destination, is often the reality.

The answer? URL shorteners. These online tools, such as Bitly or Tiny URL, will let you paste your long url into a field on their site and instantly give you a shorter URL (about 8 to 12 characters) to the same destination – hiding your tracking, code or anything else that happens to be there. Read more »

We’ve all heard that content is king. That to build trust and gain customers, every B2B company should be creating online content that is relevant and valuable. And that’s true. But as communication evolves, what form should that content take? Should we continue to create content that’s a direct extension of our marketing efforts? Or should marketing departments take a more journalistic approach that focuses on content that improves people’s work lives, rather than promoting companies and products, knowing that the “gravy” will be improved SEO, influence and sales?

First, it’s helpful to understand how these two approaches differ. Read more »

Last week, while working on a business letter here at MarketSense, we took a step back and asked ourselves if the old letter-writing rules still apply. Sure, a strong headline always adds value, but what about that pesky postscript? Traditionally, business letters mention the call to action three times, including once in the postscript, in hopes that the reader will notice at least one of them. But today, in the interest of brevity, is it better to mention your call to action in the body copy and be done with it?

The answer: It depends. Read more »

Most of us wouldn’t be working here, at a business-to-business creative agency, if it weren’t for school art programs, extra-curricular art programs, art festivals, art movements and, last but not least, the money to fund those programs. In recent years, the arts have had some series cuts in funding, especially where it is needed most: in schools. Read more »

Now, here’s a pledge that’ll strengthen business relationships, as well as personal ones (happy Valentine’s Day, everyone). Listen. Just, listen.

There’s no doubt that listening is important. In fact, more than 35 studies show that listening is one of the key skills needed for business success. But it’s hard. Not only because we’re easily distracted, but because we simply cannot listen as fast as we think. Read more »

First, a disclaimer: I realize that the quickest way to ruin something funny is to overanalyze it. So before I ruin this, I just want to say:

Here’s a link. Enjoy these posts … some of them are pretty damn funny. Things Real People Don’t Say About Advertising. 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 »

If you’re like most people, you aren’t reading this. Read more »

You know why twitter can be useful to your business. You understand the basics of how to use it. Now how do you really develop a following? Read more »

Start your computer. Check your e-mail. Tweet. Pour some coffee. Go to a meeting. Write a blog post.

Get in a routine. Tweeting, linking, blogging and searching get easier the more you do them. Read more »