So you've set your company's sights on selling to smaller businesses. Sure, they aren't the heavy-hitters, the star accounts, but their loyalty could provide a nice budgetary cushion for your bigger sales efforts. And they'll surely be thrilled to tap into your products or services, right? Well, hold on a minute. According ... more

Most CMOs (89.4%) say social data has affected at least some of their business decisions, and 21.3% say social data affects at least 1 in 5 decisions they make, according to a new report by Bazaarvoice and The CMO Club. more

"B2B sales is by no means easy. It requires not only skill, but panache," says Jesse Noyes in a post at It's All About Revenue. But over time, a buzz can develop in the field about what tactics are working best to turn prospects into valued clients. Noyes highlights eight tips ... more

The final stop of the MarketingProfs Smart Marketers Tour was the beautiful deCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA, on July 10, and it was our best-attended. Our guests were Jeff Mayersohn, owner of the Harvard Bookstore in Harvard Square, Cambridge, and Lou Imbriano, CEO of TrinityOne and former CMO of the ... more

If you're still wondering about the value of segmentation, consider these numbers from eMarketer, as reported by HubSpot: "39% of email marketers that practice list segmentation see better open rates; 28% see lower opt-out and unsubscribe rates; and 24% see better email deliverability, increased sales leads, and greater revenue." HubSpot's Corey ... more

"Hundreds, if not thousands, of solutions have been developed to automate lead-scoring," writes Peter Gracey at MarketingProfs. "However, those scores don't provide salespeople much valuable information." That's why he developed a scoring system that asks six questions—three before a discover call, three afterwards—and assigns up to six points. Here they ... more

It's easy to send "just one email with the same content to everyone in your database," writes Matthew Johnson at the Vision6 blog. "But how do you send that same email and make it relevant to everyone in your database?" The short answer is: You can't. And that's why you need conditional ... more

"Most companies are either under-qualifying or over-qualifying leads," says PointClear's Dan McDade in this episode of the Marketing Smarts podcast. He goes on to explain what he means and offers a three-point solution to the problem. more

Websites are great ways to relay lots of information—and that's a blessing and a curse, as business sites pack in as much about themselves, their products, their customers, their services, as they possibly can. Against that daily data barrage, the use of imagery can pay off big, KISSmetrics tells us in ... more

Only one in five B2B marketing and sales professionals (20%) say their demand generation campaigns are fully effective, whereas 80% say they are ineffective to semi-ineffective, according to a survey from Corporate Visions. more

If your company operates in the B2B sphere, there's a good chance your lead-nurturing program includes email campaigns with triggered messages. But if those messages are too robotic, warns Ardath Albee, they might do more harm than good. "Lead nurturing is not about sending out emails on a regular schedule just because you can," ... more

When you troubleshoot your lead gen program's lack of closed deals, be sure to examine your sales reps' role in the process. "[A]ll too often, despite their critical contribution to a business, sales reps can get in their own way," writes Al Davidson at MarketingProfs. "They are often their own ... more

How do you read a casual email from a friend? In all likelihood, you scan it to get the general idea, write a quick reply and click back to your inbox. But what if—below her sign-off—she adds a P.S.? "Suddenly, she's got your attention," writes Sid Smith in an article at ... more

Between next-generation smartphones, tricked-out apps, and celebrity-filled Siri commercials, it's easy to look at mobile as a set of breakthrough devices, tools, and channels. But that's not the lens through which marketers should be viewing mobile. more

If your email marketing campaign doesn't generate the kind of ROI you expect, take a look at your typical call to action (CTA). Does it tell a customer how to take the next step? Does it create a sense of urgency? "When your audience is left with no direction and no ... more

In April, the McKinsey Quarterly published "Demystifying Social Media" for businesses. The article illustrates how using social media right can enable "targeted marketing responses at individual touch points along the consumer decision journey." Here are four steps to take to meet consumers along the way and achieve social touch-point engagement: Monitor. Make learning what's said about ... more

In a guest post at the Modern B2B Marketing blog, Joby Blume shares his lessons learned about implementing marketing automation in a B2B setting. First and foremost, he says, it's important to have a well-defined marketing process in place before adding any tech. "If you don't have a marketing process, marketing ... more

You've got a strong marketing mix—but does it include public speaking? "Whether used to promote a company report or in-house expertise, or simply to engender brand awareness, public speaking is a powerful—and often economical and organic—way to get your message to key influencers and decision-makers," writes Heather Rast at MarketingProfs. ... more

It became immediately apparent to Howard J. Sewell that something was terribly wrong with his client's lead scoring system. "The most glaring symptom was the absurdly high scores: hundreds of contacts had lead scores of more than 1,000, even though the supposed threshold for a sales-ready lead was a mere ... more

In this week's episode of Marketing Smarts, author Bob Burg explains why giving—consistently providing value to others—is not only a nice way to live life but also a financially profitable way that helps build valuable relationships. more

These days, B2B sales teams are carrying their product demos, order forms, cool presentations—you name it—with them in handy tablet form. And the tablet of choice is often the iPad. Dealmaker 365 blogger Donal Daly has been using the iPad on sales calls since the first model was introduced—and over time, ... more

How would you rate your company's all-around lead gen game? "Some companies are good at generating B2B sales leads [and] others are good at qualifying and closing those leads," writes Christopher Ryan at Great B2B Marketing, "but the top performing companies are those that leverage B2B lead management techniques and ... more

B2B marketers recognize the need for a data-driven approach to marketing and fully eight in ten (80%) say they are spending more time and resources on critical marketing metrics in 2012, according to a survey from Pardot. more

Though buyer personas loaded with biographical details might help salespeople manage relationships, they don't really help marketers segment and target B2B leads. To get the most marketing bang from your buyer persona buck, buyer personas must do four things. more

Best-in-Class B2B companies generate on average 17% of their leads from social media channels, roughly 230% more marketing-generated leads than other companies (5%), according to a new report by Aberdeen Group, which examines the social marketing strategies of top-performing B2B companies. more