MarketingProfs How-To Articles

Start Smart: A 10-Step Social Media Guide for B2B Marketers

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:05 GMT

There's no escaping it, marketers: Amid a flurry of headlines, bestsellers, and reports documenting social media's meteoric rise... the future has arrived. But for a B2B executive tasked with making sense of it all, wouldn't it be nice if the future came with a road map? Follow this 10-step guide.

Yes, Facebook Is a Business Tool

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:04 GMT

Is Facebook really a tool for business? Paul Chaney says yes. Much the same way a power company connects homes and businesses with electricity, Facebook is a "social utility" designed to facilitate connections between people as well as businesses. Accordingly, it can be highly useful as a business tool. This article ...

Mobile Coupons: Your Message on the Move

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:03 GMT

Ask most US consumers whether they want to receive mobile-marketing messages on their cell phones, and they will usually answer with a resounding "No." Consumers worry they'll start receiving unwanted Viagra ads and messages from a prince in Kenya. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Write From Your Reader's Perspective

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:02 GMT

When potential customers arrive at your website or look over your marketing materials, they immediately want to know what's in it for them. If that's not obvious, chances are they will move on quickly. By using the word "you," you begin to establish a connection with readers because you address their ...

The Surprising Evolution of Online Marketing in Software Sales

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:01 GMT

Online marketing is nothing new for software marketers. It's only natural that the software industry and computer-software users migrated to the Internet early on. So although the idea of online marketing isn't new, how software is marketed online continues to evolve.

Want to Better Manage Web Content? Five Questions for Your IT Staff

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:05 GMT

Well-run marketing campaigns must be supported by well-run websites to deliver rapid return on investment. By posing these five simple questions to IT staff, marketers can take on a more active role in ensuring a positive Web experience for visitors�delivering campaign results and, ultimately, corporate success.

Why 70% of Facebook 'Fans' Don't Want Marketing, and What You Can Do About It

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:04 GMT

Most consumers who use Facebook and are a "fan" of a company or brand don't believe they have given those companies permission to market to them; many don't believe marketers are welcome in social networks at all. But here's how companies can connect with fans without turning them off.

Eight Ways Marketers Can Benefit From Using Alltop

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:03 GMT

In aggregating and organizing content from top sites around the Internet, Alltop goes a long way toward solving the filtering problem that many of us have. Alltop can be an invaluable tool for marketers. This article shares eight ways that we can benefit from using Alltop.

Is Anybody Following Your Thought Leadership? Five Best-Practices

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:02 GMT

A big part of making market leadership pay off is an ability to convey and promote thought leadership. Thought leadership is the outward expression of market leadership. It conveys your views on where your market-space is heading (or should be heading), and by communicating in that way, you show confidence ...

22 Cheap or Free Web Usability Tools, Part 2

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:01 GMT

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the value of usability testing and talked about some testing tools. Here are more reviews of low-cost or no-cost usability tools.

Four Case Studies: How These (Very Different) B2B Organizations Are Succeeding With Social Media

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 16:00:05 GMT

Even though B2C companies get the lion's share of coverage about the benefits of social media, B2B organizations of vastly different sizes and industries are making striking gains in employing these technologies to increase their market share and solve revenue challenges.

The Three Most Popular Social Networks for Business (and Why You Should Use Them)

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 16:00:04 GMT

An ancient proverb states that a "cord of three strands is not easily broken." By way of analogy, I hypothesize that the more individual connections to a particular person you have, the stronger your overall relationship with that person will be. In constructing my social graph (i.e., my network of connections), ...

Marketing: Beware of 'Outkicking the Coverage'

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 16:00:03 GMT

Although football metaphors abound in business, this article explores the idea of "outkicking your coverage," which is when an overly strong player can actually be harmful to a team's performance. "Outkicking" refers to when an exceptional punter kicks the ball so far down the field that the runner for the receiving ...

Making Your Email 'Social-able'

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 16:00:02 GMT

Take a minute and think about the folks with whom you socialize. You may have a professional network (LinkedIn) and a personal network (Facebook). You may tweet for fun or business, or for both�or maybe you just follow some sports figures on Twitter to keep up to date on the ...

Proving ROI for Search-Engine Optimization

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 16:00:01 GMT

Search-engine optimization (SEO) provides several return on investment (ROI) measures that can have a positive impact on a company's bottom line far more visibly than most marketing tactics. Yet despite all the potential, and the many SEO success stories, it can still be surprisingly difficult to make a case for investment ...

Moving From Data to Action

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:15 GMT

Your site visitors are not one big herd of cattle moving from Point A to Point B. So to optimize response, you need to segment your visitors and your analysis.

3-D Analysis, No More Guesswork

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:14 GMT

Post-click marketing at its most basic is a conversion path rather than a single landing page. People who respond to your ad land on a path. As they move along this path, they make choices that give you information.

Give the Gorilla the Banana

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:13 GMT

Have you heard the concept of �giving the gorilla the banana�? In post-click marketing, the gorilla is the audience you want to convert and the banana is the reason they clicked your ad in the first place.

Which Type of Landing Experience is Right for You?

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:12 GMT

The type of landing experience that�s best for you depends on the situation. Check out these guidelines to make sense out of the options.

Message Mapping

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:11 GMT

Landing page strategy is about rising above the tactics of landing page optimization to focus on post-click marketing at a higher level. In the spirit of that mission, I�d like to share with you the idea of a �message map� that can be used for broader landing page planning.

Lead Generation Tactics Based on Prospect �Temperature�

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:10 GMT

When you�re in the trenches of post-click marketing, it�s easy to forget the relationship of what you�re doing to the wider context. This is especially true in lead generation because of the significant number of variables that impact success.

Offer Alternatives to Identify Your Best Prospects

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:09 GMT

The art of aligning your strategic objectives with the needs within your clickstream is critical to targeting your message and converting those people who are the best fits for your offering.

How Many Segments Do I Need?

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:08 GMT

Sheena Iyengar is a full professor in the Management Division of the Columbia Business School. I learned of her work in Malcolm Gladwell�s Blink. Iyengar is one of the leading experts on choice, and how choice impacts our decision-making. She is also my new hero.

Customer-Centric Segmentation

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:07 GMT

Sometimes, when we talk about segmentation, we can get caught up in thinking about it as merely categorization�we�re deciding what labels to put on people into and who belongs where. This is like thinking of segmentation as a kind of filing system.

Segmented Audiences are 4X More Valuable

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 14:00:06 GMT

Segmentation is immensely valuable. Behavioral targeting of ads is hot because�surprise, surprise�when you give people more relevant messaging and content, you get better results.