To view this issue on the Web, use this link: http://www.marketingprofs.com/webnews/7/news9-4-07_0.asp ============================================================== MARKETINGPROFS - TODAY ============================================================== September 4, 2007 Volume 6, No. 36 ============================================================== made possible by: VERTICAL RESPONSE Watch Your Business Grow - Free 30 Day Trial Watch Your Business Grow-Easily create email newsletters-Save time & money- Start Your Free 30 Day Trial Today http://clk.atdmt.com/BSF/go/mrktfver0020000040bsf/direct/01/ =============================================================== THIS ISSUE'S ARTICLES: 1 - Prospect Follow-Up: The Need for Speed 2 - 25 Metrics to Prove Marketing Drives Sales 3 - How to Use Email Segmentation to Shorten the Sales Cycle 4 - Why It's Important to Write Transitions From One Web Page to the Next 5 - Maximizing Your Web Site's Effectiveness: Q&A with Karen Breen Vogel, CEO of ClearGauge 6 - Five Steps: How to Mine for Net Promoter Gold by Listening Hard to Detractors 7 - Personalized Search: All's Well... or Orwell? + Advertising Info. for MarketingProfs + Top articles from our last newsletter - in case you missed it A NOTE TO READERS: Are You on Facebook Yet? Last month, in BusinessWeek, writer and entrepreneur Jeff Pulver asked that question, adding, "Maybe you should be." Jeff has essentially abandoned LinkedIn in favor of Facebook—because of Facebook's rich and flexible platform and overall experience. While LinkedIn gave him "no compelling reason...to stay and interact," FaceBook "is great for business networking as well as socializing, and provides a platform for creating networks among like-minded people." I still see a role for LinkedIn, but I'm beginning to embrace Facebook. As I've spent time playing around with it, I've become increasingly enamored (and impressed). Facebook bills itself as a "social utility" that connects people with friends, as well as those who work, go to school, share interests with and live around them. You can use Facebook to keep up with friends, learn more about them, see who they are networked with, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and join groups, both professional and not-so. Facebook, in my mind, is a seamless mix of social and professional, of serious and silly—kind of like our world. It gives you a more complete picture of all the small threads that make up the tapestries of our lives—which I think is critical in an age where we are marketing to People, not Markets. And it's FUN. (There are more reasons I like Facebook, which you can read about on the Daily Fix blog.) All that is cool, you say. But what's the point? Can it help you grow your business? I say: Absolutely. Facebook offers an unfiltered way for people to connect with other professionals. But I also see the potential for businesses to interact with customers and fans on a more personal level. How, exactly? Well, there's no a magic formula; every business has to figure out the best approach for itself. I created the Fans of MarketingProfs group on Facebook, for example. And I created an “Event” listing for our upcoming Driving Sales conference. I see it as yet another way for us to talk to our audience—to let them get to know the people behind MarketingProfs—and for us to listen, to get feedback on what we don't do well or on what we do well but could do better. Here's my Facebook profile, if you're curious. So back to you. Have you checked out Facebook? If yes, how do you use it? If no, do you plan to? Until next week, Ann Handley ann@marketingprofs.com Chief Content Officer MarketingProfs ============================================================== made possible by: VOCUS Whitepaper: The Insider Scoop on Blogger Relations Learn new tactics and strategies for effectively delivering your marketing message to the blogosphere. Get best practices from top blogging experts here. http://www.vocus.com/marketingprofs/bloggerwp/index.asp ================================================================ 1 - PROSPECT FOLLOW-UP: THE NEED FOR SPEED People are often in a rush to get their needs fulfilled. Decision-makers want things done yesterday. In other words: Responding to prospects in a timely manner is critical for customer acquisition and retention. Whether companies manage B2C or B2B relationships, the first businesses to reply to customer inquiries have a better chance at scoring than those who ignore them or respond too late. Has your company established prospect follow-up protocols and standards? Begin by answering these questions. Get the full story. Please note: This article is available to paid subscribers only. Get more information or sign up here. http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/prospect-follow-up-need-for-speed-fogel.asp **************************************************************** 2 - 25 METRICS TO PROVE MARKETING DRIVES SALES Driving sales is what B2B marketing is all about. Although the precise roles and responsibilities of Marketing may differ from company to company, your marching orders are the same: Help Sales produce more with less. All marketers want to know best practices and share experiences about driving sales. Here are 25 metrics you should select from to prove marketing drives sales... and to track progress. Get the full story. http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/25-metrics-prove-marketing-drives-sales-young.asp **************************************************************** 3 - HOW TO USE EMAIL SEGMENTATION TO SHORTEN THE SALES CYCLE Selling now takes more time and resources then ever before. In fact, the sales cycle has become 22% longer as buyers more carefully consider their decisions. If this true for you, then consider it a great opportunity for email marketing segmentation strategies. By segmenting your prospects, you can boost revenue, improve conversion from email marketing, strengthen buyer satisfaction, and build your brand. Sound like a tall order for a segmentation strategy? Consider these ideas. Get the full story. http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/email-segmentation-shorten-sales-cycle-miller.asp ============================================================== made possible by: TEXT ADS ================================================================ 4 - WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO WRITE TRANSITIONS FROM ONE WEB PAGE TO THE NEXT Site visitors rarely want to view just one page on your site, except in the case of landing pages or single-page sites. If people actually want to get something done on your site, they will generally work through two or three different pages before taking an action. So here is the question of the day: How well do your pages work together? Or to put it another way: How strong is the transition between your pages? Get the full story. http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/web-page-to-page-transition-importance-usborne.asp **************************************************************** 5 - MAXIMIZING YOUR WEB SITE'S EFFECTIVENESS: Q&A WITH KAREN BREEN VOGEL, CEO OF CLEARGAUGE With the rise of social media and user-generated content, there are more factors than ever to consider when designing a company Web site. Throw in SEO and choosing the proper design/layout for your Web site, and it all gets very confusing... very quickly. Which means that Web site optimization experts such as Karen Breen Vogel are in very high demand. Vogel understands how to lead organic traffic to Web sites—but, perhaps more importantly, she understands how to give those users the content they are looking for when they arrive. Here Vogel cuts through the clutter and gives invaluable advice on how to build disciplined Web site optimization programs that build on strengths and business objectives. Get the full story. Note: Vogel is a presenter at the upcoming MarketingProfs conference: Driving Sales. Check out the complete program. http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/maximizing-web-site-effectiveness-karen-breen-vogel-collier.asp **************************************************************** 6 - FIVE STEPS: HOW TO MINE FOR NET PROMOTER GOLD BY LISTENING HARD TO DETRACTORS If you are adopting Net Promoter as part of your survey/metrics approach, there's a rich part of the findings that many who are implementing this approach don't consider: learning from your "Detractors." Here, Jeanne Bliss focuses on Detractors, and how to mine the gold by listening hard to their feedback to improve your organization and relationship with your customers. Get the full story. http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/mine-for-net-promoter-gold-listen-to-detractors-bliss.asp ============================================================== made possible by: B2B EVENT OCTOBER 2007 Driving Sales: What's New, What Works and What Sticks Join us for two days of intensive learning, networking, and learn the secrets of B2B prospect acquisition and management from the industry’s leading experts. Check out the complete conference program October 1 & 2, 2007 Renaissance Chicago Hotel Register Today https://www.marketingprofs.com/events/register.asp?evid=1 ================================================================ 7 - PERSONALIZED SEARCH: ALL'S WELL... OR ORWELL? Google is now (and has been for some time) collecting data on individual users, and they are assuming that users will trust them with this data to "Do No Evil," as their famous slogan goes. Only time will tell whether the trust is well-placed. Get the full story. http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/seo-personalized-search-alls-well-orwell-buresh.asp **************************************************************** TOP ARTICLES FROM OUR LAST NEWSLETTER THE SEVEN DIRTY WORDS YOU CAN'T SAY IN EMAIL SUBJECT LINES (PLUS 100 OTHERS YOU SHOULDN'T USE, EITHER) http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/seven-dirty-words-email-subject-lines-ayan.asp 10 INNOVATION IDEAS WHEN YOU ARE ON A DEADLINE http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/innovation-ideas-when-on-deadline-dwyer.asp WHAT'S NEXT IN SOCIAL MEDIA: Q&A WITH JOSH HALLETT http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/social-media-qa-with-josh-hallett-collier.asp WHAT THE WEB MARKETER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT FACEBOOK http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/facebook-what-web-marketers-should-know-owyang.asp **************************************************************** SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FUTURE NEWSLETTERS Not a subscriber? Get the latest web and off-line marketing know-how delivered bi-weekly. Solid ideas backed by theory, experience and understanding. We give it to you free without the hype and self-promotion found elsewhere. http://www.MarketingProfs.com/Newsletter/signup/subscribepage.asp?t=MPnews **************************************************************** INFO ABOUT MARKETINGPROFS.COM MarketingProfs.com is an online publishing company that specializes in providing both strategic and tactical marketing know-how to Internet and offline marketing professionals through a combination of provocative articles and commentary. Get original, not recycled ideas. ADVERTISING INFO If you want to reach a marketing audience, won't find a better place to advertise on the web. 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