Go PRO Now
Get unlimited access to all of our exclusive marketing resources
- Web 2.0 has changed what product definitions look like, and how things that are sold as 'free' can make money. So while the 4 Ps are a good start as buckets, let's update them for today's era and discuss what you need to be doing to keep your mix both ... more
- Why should you create a Voice of the Customer program? And what steps should you take to do so? more
- It is the beginning of the fiscal year, and the marketing budget is fully funded. Giddy with delight, you begin diligently signing contracts and distributing spend for marketing investments throughout the year. But pretty soon, you begin to get the funny feeling that something—perhaps the cost-cutting chainsaw—is in the offing. Your ... more
- Much as you might dread it, planning and budgeting are not going away. So you may as well make the effort to get more value out of the process. It's actually an ideal time for putting basic ROI analysis to use. Here are four ways to use financial insight to ... more
- There is currently a fundamental shift in business thinking. In fact, business leaders are embracing, with great impact, the concept of integrating analytical abilities and creativity. And this is where our left brain-right brain discussion takes us.... more
- Remember back in the '90s, when voice of the customer (VOC) was all the rage? It was a process discipline, a way for companies to gather customer insight to drive product and service requirements. But VOC got lost amidst a booming tech sector, abundant resources, and the many, many new markets, ... more
- If only clients would stand still. How much easier our lives as marketing professionals would be if client needs were consistent year after year and their marketplaces were never buffeted with changes from the economy or competition. Unfortunately, that's not the case. more
- Guerrilla Marketing is often defined as an unconventional way of performing promotional activities on a very low budget. While this is accurate, it's not quite right. The great guerrillas like Che or Mao had something more going for them than being "unconventional and cheap." Their battles became legend because they ... more
- Increasingly there's a new priority emerging for marketers, and that is sales acceleration: Finding disciplined and repeatable ways to move existing customers as well as prospects from "why?" to "buy"—more rapidly. Here are tips on how marketers can prove their value and work together with sales to accelerate the sales cycle. more
- Do you remember that Dilbert panel where Dilbert follows a building map to find the marketing department? Upon arrival, he finds Grecian columns, a party that would make Bacchus proud, and a sign that says, "Welcome to Marketing. Two drink minimum." For me, having been on both sides of those Grecian ... more
- Why can't sales and marketing see eye to eye, and how does an organization deal with oftentimes opposing views? more
- The role of the Chief Marketing Officer, a title almost unheard of 10 years ago, will continue to expand in the next decade. Marketing is evolving from an art into a science—and it's about time. As CMOs begin to embrace their new-found stature, are they tuned into what really makes them ... more
- Over the last 50 years, marketers have been working overtime to legitimize our craft; we have even gone so far as to refer to marketing as a science. Without question we have made great strides. But at the same time, we have lost some of the magic. And a little ... more
- Many organizations have had customer reference programs in place for years, but not until recently have those programs begun to capture the executive attention they deserve. more
- Mixing business and fiction invariably involves a trade-off. Most business fables by business authors make up in insights what they lack in literary style. And most works of popular fiction sacrifice business verisimilitude for the sake of "art." But finally, business readers, you can read popular fiction propelled by a ... more
- MarketingProfs has gotten pretty good at producing a steady digital stream of marketing know-how for our members. But darn it, sometimes it's lonely doing everything through IP packets. Once in a while we've got to see another face, share a plate of nachos, and swap a few stories from the ... more
- In today's sophisticated marketplace, overcoming communication obstacles is critical—especially early on in the sales process. It is increasingly obvious that the competitive battle for customers is being won or lost at the top of the sales funnel. So, how does a firm make itself stand out from the rest? more
- What's the difference between so-called new marketing and traditional marketing methods? How can a marketer adapt? more
- As the old adage goes, "timing is everything." But while the idealistic mantra of direct marketing has always been to make the right offer to the right customer at the right time, the reality is very different. more
- Consumer preference services are a proven tool to curb the invasive use of personal data through cold calling and cold mailing. They protect the integrity of the marketing industries that rely upon telephone and post. But they fail to address the root cause of customer abuse—data gathering, CRM, and analytical ... more
- At a time when America is still feeling the sting of a prominent columnist being paid handsomely by a third-party for writing favorable opinion pieces; the nation's most respected newspaper publishing fabricated stories; and television stations running government-supplied and funded video news releases to report stories about the war, more ... more
- In tradeshow marketing, it is tempting to boast about the busy buzz at your booth and how many leads you generated. But don't succumb to temptation. You would be so much better off if you paid attention to lead quality instead of quantity. One secret to tradeshow success is your ability ... more
- Reverse engineering is the process of working back to a solution from an end result. In the era of result-oriented marketing (how did we ever afford to do it differently?), reverse engineering can help marketers refocus their efforts and resources to ensure marketing delivers results that are in line with ... more
MarketingProfs uses single