Editor’s note: Increasingly, marketing experts are emphasizing the value of paying attention to the complete customer experience, as opposed to a more narrow focus on lead generation and qualification. Colin Shaw is founder & CEO of Beyond Philosophy, one of the world’s first organizations devoted to customer experience. Colin recently... View Article
Companies that nail lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads, at 33% lower cost per lead, according to a report by Forrester Research. There are five solid reasons for this, beginning with the nature of B2B sales: 1. B2B buyers are not impulse purchasers. The sales cycle has gotten longer,... View Article
All leads are not created equal. Some are almost ready to buy when you find them, but most are in an earlier stage of the buyer’s journey. The beauty of lead scoring is that once you’ve identified the characteristics and behaviors of leads at the various stages of readiness, you... View Article
“Chia” has been in the news lately; it was a mainstay in the ancient Aztec diet and is currently popular as a supplement that’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Google “chia”, and you’ll get 300 million results. Google “chia pet”, however, and you’ll get fewer than 2 million results. Google... View Article
Gentle reader, we pause today to observe Memorial Day. Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established “Decoration Day” as a time for the nation to decorate the graves... View Article
According to the Content Marketing Institute, the average B2B marketer used 8 separate tactics in 2011. In 2012, that jumped to 12 tactics – a 50% leap. And more of us, most of us, are producing our own content. Are you stressed yet? Part of your content marketing plan should... View Article
Last week, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) released its Quarterly Business Review (QBR) for the Q1 2013. The news is good. The last months of 2012 were overcast with economic uncertainty (fiscal cliffs, et alia) but first-quarter performance indicators point to strong growth prospects ahead. The report, available on the DMA’s... View Article
The number and variety of tools marketers have to reach potential prospects has grown exponentially, and many of them work exceedingly well. That’s the good news. But on the flip side… How do you use these tools so they augment each other? How do you find the time to manage... View Article
