The sales playbook captures your company's knowledge about its markets, value propositions, offers, competitors, and best practices. These are the very elements that fall within the marketing organization's domain, which is why marketing plays a strategic role in developing the playbook. more

Privately held Pavilion Technologies knows how important it is for businesses to track ROI. But two years ago, its marketing department realized it was having trouble tracking its own ROI. Pavilion ultimately found a solution through a software system that helps monitor all prospects who visit its Web site. more

Part 1 of this series discussed the evolution of customer reference programs and gave guidance on how to create a program that's a strategic asset to your company. Here, part 2 discusses the next steps of customer program evolution... and how to change corporate culture by focusing on customers. more

Each year, we ask decision-makers at a group of 100 leading brands: "At pitch, what are the specific reasons for choosing one agency over another?" In the latest results, "good chemistry" ranked as the leading factor. Here's a full list of the top 20 factors. more

UCLA Professor Albert Mehrabian is best known for his 7%-38%-55% Rule. It states that 55% of communication is attributable to non-verbal behaviors like body language and facial expressions; 38% of communication is attributable to voice, including volume, tone, pitch, cadence, and quality; and only 7% of communication is attributable to ... more

By dynamically changing content on its start page to targeted segments of site visitors, along with testing the placement of additional product offerings within the transaction funnel, American International Underwriters upped the conversion rates of several of its products. more

Many Web sites offer a resource library for visitors—an area filled with articles covering relevant topics to the industry with which the site is connected. The articles may cover how to do something, or they may define an aspect of the industry, but they do not usually directly sell the ... more

A use case, often created for product development, is commonly used to capture functional requirements. A use case provides one or more scenarios for how a solution/system/product/service achieves a specific business goal. From this perspective, then, another way to think about a use case is as a usage scenario. With a ... more

PR success isn't mysterious. It comes down to a mix of old-fashioned research, savvy trend-watching and good people skills. It is the age-old talent of telling a good story. That's really the essential difference between PR and advertising. Here's the "secret recipe" for telling your business story through public relations. more

A Web site isn't much of a marketing tool if your target audience can't find it. Officials at RUD Chain, a manufacturer of high-end industrial chains, discovered that access to a quality vertical search engine was the missing link to getting its Web site in front of key customers. Until a ... more

We often complain that we have too few success stories or lack examples in specific verticals, or in specific geographies, or find that the customers' quotes are bland and lack specific metrics of success. Even worse, all success stories age. Those that are a few years old may cease to ... more

Do your marketing and sales communications perpetuate the head-to-head competitive bakeoff? Or does it equip and enable your sales people to participate earlier and more effectively in the customer buying cycle? There is an easy way to tell. more

Monster.com, an established online staffing firm, needed new ways to reach its core audience of busy corporate human resources professionals. In the third quarter of 2006, Monster revamped its main email marketing campaign to make it more interactive and personal. Monster representatives now send their contacts a short text email ... more

Brands that deliver general interest newsletters filled with tips, tools, and advice—but not unique, brand-differentiating content—should re-think their approach. Progressive brands are making advances in their approach, tightening the focus of their relationship marketing, and now filling newsletters with more unique-to-the-brand content. more

Can you make money by giving away your product? Absolutely—and companies like Adobe (PDF Reader) and Macromedia (Shockwave Player) have proven it. With Web 2.0, consumers have gotten a lot of things at no cost due to various monetization practices—and that's good. But should you give away your product? That's another ... more

by Loren McDonald Email is the most-used tool in the marketer's arsenal—but there's a pretty good chance your CEO just doesn't understand its contribution to the bottom line. Unfortunately, that's because most marketers don't get it either. And, as long as we don't get it, we also won't get the ... more

Here's to you! You just got deputized to handle demand generation. You're not sure if you should reach for the champagne, or the antacid... From this point on, you're a metric-driven marketer; your success is measured by the number of leads you generate. Just don't take your eyes off the end ... more

For more than a century, Boston's Museum of Science has depended on government grants and donors to finance its stated goal of encouraging "interest in and further understanding of science and technology and their importance for individuals and for society." The Museum attracts about 1.6 million visitors a year, including ... more

Last year, a study by comScore Networks found that an average of 63% of online searchers who proceeded to complete a purchase did so offline rather than online. Just as online and offline shopping have fused into a single experience, marketers have the opportunity to follow suit by fusing their ... more

Changes in the way customers buy technology are stressing existing vendor channel and partner organizations, processes, and capabilities. As a result, companies need to rethink the ways they allocate their channel marketing resources and how they use marketing infrastructure to scale their channel operations, particularly as they target the small- ... more

This MarketingProfs Classic, originally published January 8, 2002, remains as relevant today as ever. As Nick Usborne writes, some words really can make a difference on your site. They are not "powerful" in isolation but, in the right context, can make an important difference. more

BearingPoint, a global provider of management and technology services, had won a major contract to implement a complicated voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) system for a financial company and wanted to leverage off that success. But it was competing with larger telecommunications brands to educate potential new customers about the ... more

Lead nurturing has become an integral component of an overall marketing strategy. While there is an ever-growing incentive to implement an effective lead nurturing strategy with business partners and prospects, determining which specific tactics to utilize can prove challenging. more

Sandra Zoratti, vice-president of worldwide marketing of the soon-to-be-formed InfoPrint Solutions Company, a Ricoh/IBM joint venture, added interactive marketing to the InfoPrint Solutions Company marketing mix to multiply the reach of the sales force in pursuit of the coveted small and medium-sized business market. Here is an overview of Sandra's ... more

If you're like most marketers, you're probably struggling with the best ways to help your salespeople have more meaningful conversations with customers and prospects. Here are five quick tips for creating scripted conversations to help salespeople more effectively communicate your company's business value to customers and prospects. more