"Ask any salesperson if all inbound inquires are leads," writes Mac McIntosh at Sales Leads Insights, "and when he or she stops laughing, you will probably get an earful about how inquiries, unless they have been prequalified, are a waste of salespeople's time." So why is there confusion over the ... more

Thought leaders in the email marketing industry are just about unanimous on the subject of randomly purchased lists. Their advice to marketers? Avoid them like the plague. You may, however, still encounter those who push the buying of email lists as a perfectly legal alternative to building lists through opt-in subscription. ... more

You have an HR handbook, departmental training materials and documented procedures. But do you have standards and rules for your marketing and sales database? That's the question Lauren Kincke asks in a post at The B2B Lead Blog. "Without some law and order, your database will start looking like the ... more

Less than a week before iPad's April 3 ship date, nearly two-thirds (65%) of consumers are aware of Apple's tablet device and 15% are already thinking about buying it in the next three months, according to comScore. more

Small business advertisers spent on average $2,149 on search advertising in the fourth quarter of 2009, up 111% from $1,018 spent in the same period a year earlier, and up 30% from the $1,658 spent in the third quarter of 2009, according to a study by WebVisible based on its ... more

We've all fallen for something when we should have known better. Gullibility is bad enough in our personal lives—but when it happens at work, jobs and profits might be on the line. Stephen Greenspan's book, Annals of Gullibility: Why We Get Duped and How to Avoid It, might help you ... more

"Your website can be your most powerful marketing tool, delivering a steady stream of new business leads and filling your sales pipeline," writes Bob DeStefano in a Pro article at MarketingProfs. To make the most of this potential, though, you need to know whether your site is a lead-generation machine ... more

Over one-third (36%) of smartphone owners say they want to receive mobile grocery coupons, but only 9% have received a location-based coupon, discount code, or text message on their phone in the previous six months, according to a survey from Compete. more

Point of fact: One of the most alluring things about Facebook is its infinite capacity to find us a new distraction—be it Farmville, virtual gift-giving or browsing through an old flame's recent family photo shoot (major creepiness factor, BTW). Second point of fact: Some companies know this about Facebook, and are already ... more

"I had a customer who made my blood pressure spike as soon as I heard she was on the phone," writes Scott McKain in a Pro article at the MarketingProfs site. "We would jump through hoops to try to keep her happy, and she stressed all of us beyond description." There ... more

When we create and evolve lead-generation programs, we tend to focus on strategies, tools and goals. It's just as important, however, to plan for the management of all the data we collect. In a pair of posts at the Database Diva blog, Lori Feldman outlines common lead-management mistakes made by marketing ... more

Chief marketing officers at US companies are planning significant hiring and budget increases over the next two years as they remain optimistic about prospects for their companies and the economy, according to a survey conducted by Duke University and the American Marketing Association. Overall, CMOs expect marketing budgets to increase, ... more

A recent Nielsen study found that global consumption of social media increased 82 percent from Dec. 2008 to Dec. 2009 in the 10 countries surveyed, with users spending an average of 5.5 hours on their sites of choice per month! US and Australian addicts are among the heaviest users of all, spending 6 ... more

As B2B marketers continue to pinch pennies, a post last summer by Adam Blitzer at the B2B Marketing ROI blog deserves a second look. The question Blitzer addresses is this: For B2B prospecting, are free trials better than paid pilot programs? While Blitzer acknowledges that offering free trials to prospects may ... more

Dudes: Are you ready to give off some fresh new surfer vibes? Search engines are constantly looking for new signals they can use to improve the quality of the results they provide to Internet surfers, says Eric Enge in a recent post at Search Engine Watch. "Search engines continue to ... more

Let's face it: If your marketing approach consists of sporadically touting your company's greatness via the overpopulated social mediaverse, you're about to get absolutely nowhere—except ignored. Or hated. Blacklisted, even.  Frustrated with today's confusing social-media etiquette? Well, don't be! There are sassy methods for making your outreach simply ooze old-fashioned Southern ... more

In a recent Search Engine Land article, Andrew Goodman predicts that the biggest risk in 2010-2011 for search marketers may lie in working with outdated assumptions about the size and potential of target markets and the paid-search channel. As a remedy, he suggests five investment or expansion "risks" that could ... more

We like to emphasize that mobile is probably the most personalized technology available so far in the 21st century. And these days, finding ways to incorporate yourself into users' daily rituals is crucial to maximizing brand exposure on their up-close-and-personal handhelds. That's one reason for taking a look at GM's new ... more

"Since white papers are among the most popular pieces of content for [many] buyers," notes Cheryl Goldberg at the High Tech Communicator blog, "you'll want to create a lot of them. But coming up with new ideas for white papers can be a daunting task." To ease your brainstorming efforts, ... more

Looking to make your brand trendier? Get a load of Trendistic, a clear and simple way to watch the ebb and flow of buzz on Twitter. A visit to the Trendistic homepage gives you a quick glimpse at what keyword is hottest on Twitter right now. In addition to the most current ... more

In a post at the Build a Sales Machine blog, Aaron Ross predicts that B2B boards and VPs of sales will repeat a "fatal mistake" in 2010. They'll assume this "old bedrock sales principle" still holds true: "If I need to double revenue growth, I need to double my sales ... more

In May 2009, Omniture and The CMO Club asked 102 CMOs to rate the relative effectiveness of digital-marketing media. The vast majority (78 percent) gave top marks to email marketing, but a sizable minority (33 percent) reported success in emerging social-media channels, too. That's because, these days, consumers "engage with a ... more

Before you start soliciting links and becoming active in online communities, it's best to first ensure that your site's content, structure, and design are in peak condition, Virginia Nussey advises in a recent post at the Bruce Clay blog: "Before you can expect a site to develop inbound links, you have ... more

When IBM suspected that a bad economy and widespread IT budget cuts would negatively affect attendance at its IMPACT 2009 SOA conference, it devised a strategy that used social networking and other online tactics to boost attendance and build stronger customer relationships. In a case study published by MarketingProfs, Sandy ... more

It'd be an understatement to say 2009 was a tough year for Domino's Pizza, what with the awkward employees-abusing-food scandal. A quick recap: two bored employees recorded themselves doing unpleasant things with food, and the video wound up on YouTube. Domino's responded swiftly enough, both terminating the employees and releasing an apologetic YouTube video ... more