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To help manage more complex marketing processes, marketers are increasingly turning to software technology known as MOM, or Marketing Operations Management. Here are 10 frequently asked Q&As about the technology.

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Most trademark licensing relationships are defined and evaluated based on the terms in a license agreement contract. In the case of a brand extension license, there can be a lot at stake, including the health and wellbeing of the licensor's brand. Surprisingly, many license agreements do not include specific terms or requirements that reflect key marketing objectives.

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Most businesspeople intuitively know that the key to successful marketing is having a marketing plan—a blueprint for action. But many companies operate without one, focusing instead on the issues of the moment without committing to a long-term strategy. A marketing plan does not need to be complex, but it does require several elements to be effective.

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This week, add your two pesos to the dilemma: If you're a service business or sell a more complex product, is it still possibly to take advantage of the holiday shopping season? Also this week, read your answers to last week's problem: What is the best approach or message for marketing technical services and solutions?

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If you're competing on price, you'll never achieve maximum profitability. Instead, everyone's job must become value creation. But are you sure that you're providing value to your customers? Even if your answer is an emphatic yes, you might want to take a closer look.

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Speak any language long enough, and you'll become fluent; take on the mindset of a strategist and you'll start to see things through a strategist's eyes. And others will notice the change in you--you'll find yourself more and more being called on to act as counsel on all matters customer.

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In today's increasingly post-literate culture, the idea of a 10-plus page linear narrative may seem out of date. But not so. The role of the marketing/technical whitepaper is on an upswing as companies recognize their effectiveness in communicating with audiences that demand authenticity and detail when making business decisions. The big problem with whitepapers, however, is that their length and complexity make them vulnerable to delays and budget overruns, usually in the late phases of the document review process. Here's how to avoid Death by Review.

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Have you learned the best way to identify and serve customers in your target segments? Segmentation could be the marketing tool that sets your company apart from the competition. Get the full story.

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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 strategic marketing experts at CenterBeam, a San Jose-based IT outsourcing firm that provides IT outsourcing services on a fee-for-service basis. By making the lead-generation process a cornerstone of its strategic marketing program, CenterBeam is getting many of its sales from long-term leads cultivated on the "farm"—and a ten-to-one return on its outside investment in the farmers. Here's how.

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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 create more profitable strategies and tactical plans while building greater credibility with your executive team.

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Marketing Operations is an emerging discipline with the potential to significantly increase performance and accountability in complex marketing organizations. It addresses the seven deadliest marketing sins that plague organizations of all sizes by leveraging a strong front-end infrastructure to reinforce marketing strategy and back-end programs and tactics. Is your organization ready for a change?

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It may be bold. It may be controversial. But the author is convinced the following will prove true: Without customer-centricity, or a role in gathering and interpreting the voice of the customer, marketing will become nothing more than the execution arm of companies. There are signs of this everywhere....

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Here's what Jim believes will be the trends for 2007 in marketing ROI as well as priorities you should keep in mind. Progress in 2007 will not come from new technologies or techniques, he says, but from increased adoption as we get smarter about addressing measurement challenges and recognize the opportunity to align marketing strategies and tactics with business objectives.

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What does it mean to truly be marketing-led organization? And what does it take to understand the consequences in implementing this dramatic shift in strategy and culture?

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Think of personas—customer archetypes—as "stand-ins" representing the needs, goals, and personal characteristics of various groups of your customers. They are invaluable for giving salespeople insight into the behaviors, expectations, and motivations of users and buyers in the buying process.

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Walk through any bookstore and you'll find dozens of books about the marketing and branding efforts of corporate America. The process of corporate communication has been thinly sliced and diced over and over, but what you won't find is a book about the one truly essential characteristic in our 21st century world: the company persona -- and how words that work are used to create and sustain it.

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It's the first week of the quarter. You're on deadline to get new programs and sales tools in gear. Meanwhile, the sales team is having its kickoff—and changing the success criteria for your lead machine! They're not deliberately changing the game on you. They're in "New Quarter's Resolutions" mode. If they made goal last quarter, their quotas are higher. If they didn't, they're in the hot seat. Either way, they're re-evaluating and retooling the sales model—and now your carefully planned lead-generation programs are out of alignment.

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Marketing operations enables an organization to run the marketing function as a fully accountable business. Marketing operations is about performance, financial management, strategic planning, marketing resource, and skills assessment and management. If you are considering developing a marketing operations function, this article outlines some the five primary responsibilities.

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A good way to think about your marketing operations function is that it could operate either as a pit crew or as a service station. Both maintain and support a car's (or Marketing's) performance, so what's the difference?

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No question about it, brand loyalty is down since the recession. To fight that trend, marketers have been using short-term tactics—with diminishing results. Something different is needed.