Here's a popular way to generate online leads: Buy a keyword ad on a search engine site. In your ad, offer free content -- such as a white paper -- to respondents who complete a short form. In theory, this type of campaign works well: The people who respond get something ... more

Today's leading companies don't rely on chance for market success. They take a scientific approach -- just as they do for product development -- to align company resources and activities for maximum launch impact. As margins grow razor thin and competition comes from anywhere, scientific product launches can help your company ... more

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 ... more

Some of you may think "scent marketing" and identify with a company like Yankee Candle, which understands the power of scent—but today's technology goes beyond melted wax, potpourri, and fragrant oils. And most significantly, scent technology today reaches far beyond the home. Increasingly, scent branding is being broadly deployed in ... more

Here are three new ways for you, and your creative team, to trigger some gigantic ideas. more

In the world of engineers, where numbers and measurable impacts reign supreme, marketing communications may seem like a bunch of mumbo jumbo, a pointless exercise in corporate frivolity. But not to electronics components manufacturer Minco. more

Writing a compelling story is the inner game of marketing and is often the exclusive realm of your creative agencies. The client scowls during the presentation, asks if the logo could be bigger, and then picks the execution they think is the funniest. This symbiotic relationship holds up pretty well ... more

Whether your launch is for an entirely new product or for a line extension, these seven marketing communication musts will put you on the path to success. more

What makes for great advertising? What's the most critical element of a good campaign? And who are the MVPs on a marketing team? This week, Roy Young interviews marketing champion Steve Cone, head of advertising and brand management at Citigroup Global Wealth Management, who gives his take on these issues... ... more

Ever read a book and wanted to discuss or debate it with fellow marketers? Now you can. Or ask the author a question? Now you can do that, too. Introducing the MarketingProfs Book Club. Offering a free-flow of ideas—and some free books—our Book Club keeps you ahead of the marketing ... more

Do you have the killer instinct? A small percentage of Web content really makes a difference. It makes the sale, delivers the service, and builds the brand. This is the killer Web content. It probably represents less than 10% of content published on the Web, because—let's face it—most content just gets ... more

Pay-per-click advertising is the biggest lead-generation breakthrough to come about in a long time. For small and midsize companies, in particular—and thanks to its ability to narrowly target prospects, tightly manage spending, and precisely measure results—PPC is one of the most efficient lead generation tools ever developed. It does, however, have ... more

Overall, big brands typically screw up search in two big ways, and Nike is no different... . more

When people hear about online marketing, they often think of two of the more popular methods that a company can use to enhance its visibility on the Web: organic search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising. In an ideal world, you would use both strategically to maximize your site's profile. However, budgetary ... more

What's the best way to get big results from a small budget? more

Quick—is your marketing mobile? Can your message reach your on-the-go audience and can your in-motion customer interact with you wherever they are? In the past, as long as you were advertising out-of-home, you could have answered "yes." But today, unless your media plan contains a significant amount of mobile-compatible mediums, you ... more

Web marketers don't sit in labs, mixing and testing search engine formulas. Good Web marketers form online relationships by joining discussion forums, subscribing to e-newsletters, visiting blogs, and introducing themselves to online media. So get inspired and get yourself out there. more

Specialized and targeted audiences are great, but what about those Fortune 500 advertisers that still wish to reach a truly LARGE audience? The author challenged his R&D team to develop a new advertising vehicle that delivers a true mass audience. The following are the lessons they learned about reaching big audiences. more

What do Major League Baseball, Coca Cola, Well Forgo Bank, the W Hotel, and the American Cancer Society have in common? They all use a virtual realm to reach out to potential customers and supporters in novel ways. more

The search engine marketing industry is consistently evolving, sometimes at a pace that makes it hard to believe that search engine marketing services can stay on top of all the latest developments. The one constant for search engine marketing firms, and for the industry in general, is change—usually for the ... more

The marketing times, they certainly are a-changin'. So how does it feel? To be on your own? With no direction home? Like a complete unknown? Like a rolling stone? How does it feel to have consumers in charge of what, how, and when they watch, read, listen, and click? So ... more

Traffic is good, but ultimately it's all about conversion. more

If people pay attention to what interests them and ignore everything else, how can you break through the clutter with a message that people care about? All you have to do is press your customers' hot buttons. more

If you're marketing in a highly competitive keyword space or providing products and services with little or no name recognition, you should consider creating branded keywords and driving their search demand with buzz. more

Blog advertising expenditures have exploded in the past year. Companies can make a really big brand splash for relatively little money, meaning that blogs provide advertisers an excellent opportunity to reach a devoted audience niche. But blog numbers, until recently, have been little more than curiosities to big brands. more