Companies with strong alignment between marketing and sales departments have fared better during the economic recession, reporting higher levels of new customers, revenues, and customer retention than those with low alignment, according to a study by Miller Heiman and Northern Illinois University. more

As you nurture your leads, it's important to remember what "nurture" means. Because the last thing you want is to treat leads too aggressively, and so create a sense of alienation, before passing them along to Sales. In a helpful post at Marketo, Maria Pergolino identifies 10 faux pas to ... more

What's the easiest way to learn a tactical lesson about B2B marketing? By hearing it from someone who's already learned it the hard way. You gain the knowledge—but avoid the pain. That's the basic philosophy behind the MarketingProfs B2B Forum: It offers experiential case studies, best practices—you name it—to help ... more

Lead-gen alert: B2B prospects are "sick and tired of the sneaky ways being used to get their information so a salesperson can 'help' them," writes Dale Underwood in a post at the B2B Conversations Now blog. Prospects are skeptical of requesting information at B2B websites, says Underwood, because too many ... more

"Saving your budget (and keeping your team employed) in a down economy really boils down to one word: profit," writes Paul Stein in an article at MarketingProfs. "If you're not making money, you're losing money—and that's never good for business." As our recessionary hangover continues to linger, ROI matters more ... more

"One of today's hottest B2B marketing topics, along with social media, is content," writes Susan Fantle in a guest post at Marketfish. And if you want your content marketing program to generate and nurture the right kind of leads, she has advice like this:Tell them what they want to hear. ... more

You may be wondering about the evolution of SEO—and whether you'll get left behind as it grows in sophistication. Well, you're not alone. A recent interview with Nathan Thompson at the Inbound Internet Marketing blog yielded some takeaways that may help clarify SEO's development—and demonstrate how you can beef up your efforts ... more

"[L]et's assume that your current lead generation efforts cost $100,000 and generate 50,000 leads," says Pat McGraw at his blog. "[T]hat's a cost per lead of $2. But if your conversion rate is 10%, that means that 45,000 leads or $90,000 failed to produce your ultimate goal—a sale." So how can ... more

The best that most B2B companies achieve with their online marketing programs is "average performance through a favorite tactic and/or advertising partner," states Ben Hanna in a post at the B2B Online Marketing blog. But why are their results so blah when there's an abundance of phenomenal success stories at ... more

In an article at MarketingProfs, Dan Skeen writes that search-engine optimization provides several return-on-investment measures with a greater potential impact on a company's bottom line than many traditional tactics. However, he notes, because SEO is less tangible than some other areas of marketing investment, it's often harder to clearly show ... more

Over two-thirds of high-tech marketing professionals (68%) say lead generation is their top marketing priority this year and 74% cite social media as among the top emerging marketing channels for lead generation in 2010 and beyond, according to a Unisfair survey slated for release in late May. more

Does your marketing content tell buyers what they want to hear—or only what you want to say? Writing at the Marketing Interactions blog, Ardath Albee reports on a study that found content is relevant to a customer's needs only 42 percent of the time—and a lack of compelling content reduces ... more

The social-media revolution has undoubtedly altered the way you generate leads. On a given morning, for instance, you might write a compelling blog post, tweet about it, summarize the contents for your LinkedIn group and join a relevant conversation at Facebook. All of these actions spark activity at your website, ... more

OK, let's admit it. We've all sat through slide presentations monopolized by the tyranny of one conviction-ridden idea. They make us kind of crazy, right? And doesn't a more social world merit a more social PowerPoint? Well, here's some good news: Now you can breathe real-time life into your next ... more

Is there a sure-fire way to generate interest from each and every B2B lead you contact? There sure is, says Neil Baron, writing at the Fast Company blog: Just ask the Magic Question. "The Magic Question is that one question you need to ask to get the prospect to say 'please ... more

It's hard enough to keep up with new technology, so when it comes to selling IT, you might find yourself stuck using familiar tactics, even when business challenges signal otherwise. "Seriously ask yourself if you have faced the economic changes by selling the same things in the same way, but ... more

"A lot of marketers say they are 'nurturing' their prospects when in reality all they are doing is sending out nice brochures or marketing copy focused on product releases or company announcements," writes Brian Carroll at the B2B Lead Generation Blog. With that in mind, he discusses activities that do—and ... more

Technology buyers are aggressively adopting social technologies to help them make business decisions—most often using new social channels to complement traditional decision-making approaches and information sources, according to a survey from Forrester. more

The Brooks Group, where Tony Smith serves as national accounts manager, recently analyzed more than 12,000 sales interactions and concluded: "Selling is like being blindfolded, everything is pitch-black, and you have a dart in your hand. Your job: Just hit the target," says Smith. Well, that's just great. But lucky for ... more

Companies that have access to a holistic view of customer data achieve better customer service and efficiency, improved loyalty, and more repeat business from their established customers, according to a study by Aberdeen Group and VeraCentra. more

It's no secret that link-building can help boost your bottom line and make your SEO efforts a whole lot easier. So, here's a thought: To help improve your site's organic visibility, why not leverage the power of your entire company and have everyone contribute to active link-building? That's what Mark Thomson ... more

In a recent post at the Online Marketing Blog, Lee Odden explains how a better understanding of search-engine optimization can help PR and communications professionals boost their results in a digital world by making it easier for various search engines to find, index and rank their content. "If content can ... more

You probably protect your "real" email addresses—those where you receive emails from significant others, friends and colleagues—with the ferocity of a mother bear. You might give them to trusted sources when downloading a whitepaper or subscribing to a newsletter, but there's a good chance you have temporary "fake" accounts for ... more

Now that you have your marketing-automation system in place, is it really necessary to use those sorry Web registration forms when collecting leads? After all, you already know who these people are, since you can track their click-throughs when they download your whitepapers or data sheets, right? Not so, says ... more

In the rush to grow leads, B2B marketers are often tempted to use "quick-fix" lead-generation tactics, says Jep Castelein in a post at the Connected Marketer blog. Bad idea, he writes. Instead, B2B pros should take a step back, breathe deeply and "look at the big picture" to determine the ... more