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

Too often, companies ignore search optimization simply because senior management does not understand it well enough to provide the necessary leadership and support. And if top management does not view it as priority, marketing and sales people are disinclined to pursue it. They will apply traditional, "accepted" tactics, shying away ... more

When Netflix launched in the late '90s, most people thought its developers were nuts. Even with the dot-com era in full bloom, the idea of renting movies via mail struck most as somewhat ludicrous. Looking back on Netflix's startup story, one of the co-founders shares five customer-focused lessons that ... more

We hear of freelance writers, freelance editors and freelance designers, but rarely do we hear of freelance "marketers." But that is beginning to change. Now that telecommuting is commonplace and workers are more mobile, freelance marketers are starting to sprout up all over the place. This week: Where can you find ... more

After years of paying lip service to the importance of marketing while engineering and design ruled the roost, technology companies are learning that maybe they need to be more like other businesses after all. more

Salespeople are notoriously poor in following up on qualified leads. In fact, experts say, sales does not follow up on more than 70% of leads. Why? Field salespeople in most organizations are compensated, motivated, and managed to focus on short-term opportunities, not on the pipeline. Contrast that scenario with the ... more

Patricia Hume, global VP of Avaya, gives her own views from the top about what she looks for in new hires, why she sometimes hugs her co-workers, and why women just might be the best marketers. more

What gets a resume more than a 10-second glance? What's the surest way to impress during an interview? Scott Davis, Senior Partner at Prophet and author of two widely acclaimed books on branding, offers must-read career insight. more

Customer experiences are the foundation for competitive differentiation, value creation, and brand identity. While some companies create emotion-driven customer experiences that leave an impact on shoppers, others create "co-production" experiences in which customers are active co-producers. Here's how it works. more

We've never seen a CEO who wouldn't sign up for customer loyalty, customer focus, and just plain improving things for their customers. It's getting them to drive the company to do something about it that's the challenge. A number of telltale signs determine pretty quickly whether a company is serious about ... more

The Olympic flame has been temporarily extinguished, the athletes have gone home, and the sidewalks of Turin are quiet again. As we look back at the highs and lows of the winter games, there are three definitive business and marketing lessons to be learned. more

Every marketer has by now heard the terms viral, buzz and word of mouth. Some will even have noted terms such as brand advocacy, advergames, blog marketing, influencer panels and consumer empowerment seeping into the industry's vocabulary. Collectively, the latest shift in thinking in the world of marketing has been termed ... more

Does your CEO love marketing? Does he or she recognize that marketing is the engine of the enterprise? And does he or she empower marketing to improve performance? Just as you strive to understand the needs of the customers who buy your company's products or services, you must understand ... more

Online marketing and sales functions are often divided up between different people, groups or even offices. While each individual works hard to achieve a breakthrough increase in performance, the group as a whole often remains unaware of how much can be achieved over time through small micro-gains along the entire ... more

It's been called "selling the invisible"—delivering intangible services as a core "product" offering. But invisibility, or intangibility, is just one factor that distinguishes services marketing from product marketing. Along with inseparability, variability, and perishability, these four characteristics affect the way clients behave during the buying process and the way organizations must ... more