With the advent of digital, social, and mobile media, the consumer buying process has become more complex than simply identifying a need, exploring options, and making a purchase, according to new research conducted by Latitude and About.com. Even so, buying decisions appear to happening more quickly than ever, the study ... more

This installment answers two questions: "What's the difference between inbound and outbound marketing? (and which is better?)" and "With so much content to create, where do we focus our efforts?" more

This week we answer two questions: When is a lead truly "Sales-ready," and what are some best-practices of lead scoring? And we offer two tools you can use to help you answer those questions for yourself. more

Do you need a customer relationship management system to do lead nurturing? The short answer: A good CRM system is critical for getting all the value possible from your lead nurture and marketing automation investments. more

The typos on the title slide and other errors in this slide show are intentional. Moreover, MarketingProfs sincerely implores you to not follow the advice herein as prescription. In fact, consider it proscription. more

The torrent of content is increasing by the day. It's a good sign: Marketers are getting hip to the power of content. But the only way to survive the coming erosion of engagement with your content is to create a Great Content Brand. more

Smartphones and tablets are growing in popularity, so you might be assuming that they are completely transforming how folks shop. Transforming? Yes. Completely? Not quite. This infographic shows how mobile devices are really affecting the shopping experience. more

Sure, marketing can generate leads—but leads, though necessary, aren't sufficient. You also need a sales rock star to convert those leads into sales. So, what qualities should your star have? more

To answer the question of how much content you'll need for lead nurturing and marketing automation, let's look at how you pack for a long weekend of skiing with friends and family at a mountain resort. more

The second article in this series answers three questions: How do we get started with lead nurturing/marketing automation? What is lead nurturing and how does it work? How long till we see ROI on lead nurture? more

Whether you've been testing for years or you're just getting started, your optimization program's success depends on careful planning, implementation, and measurement. This is the first in a three-part series of articles that looks at the steps involved. more

Our penchant for snappy axioms—most of them a derivative of "set content free"—has put content marketing on a collision course with otherwise sensible business objectives. more

This first article of a series focusing on lead nurturing asks and answers, "How do you achieve alignment between Marketing and Sales?" The series will cover 15 questions that are top of mind for companies. more

Buyers don't care about your product or service. They just care about the problems and opportunities they face and how your expertise can help them. Accordingly, Marketing and Sales share a common goal: earning the right to connect with buyers. more

I know, I know. You're probably thinking, "Great, another end-of-the-year list!" I'm with you... But, it's easy to get contemplative when the last quarter draws to a close. And there are real lessons to learn. Here are eight of them for B2B marketers. more

With the prevalence of the smartphone, email has become a virtually "always on" channel. It can lift retention, increase brand favorability, and create more payers out of players (or subscribers or members or prospects...). more

Shoppers plan to spend $92-$96 billion online during the 2012 holiday season. To help brands understand how to reach those online shoppers, Maxymiser created this infographic of five online-shopper personas. more

Whiteboards are an essential visual storytelling tool that you as a marketer can help create for salespeople to differentiate your company from the competition—and get customers and prospects to choose you. more

As Hanukkah draws to a close and Christmas approaches, online retailers naturally wonder how the happy—and profitable—holiday season might add to their bottom line. Here are some clues. more

Online video is a highly engaging and versatile tool for B2B marketing and lead generation, including tradeshow marketing. This brief case study shares how a B2B technology company used online video to increase in-person tradeshow meetings with targeted decision makers by 218%. more

As marketers, we instinctively realize it's impossible to pinpoint when our prospects will be buying. That's why it's critical not just to keep in touch but also to make sure your company shows up in all of the right places when the prospect is selectively attracted to buy from you. more

Big Data, applied to marketing, is transforming how marketers in myriad industries attempt to reach consumers. But achieving meaningful returns from Big Data investments can be an elusive goal. Here are five of the best ways to increase the ROI you achieve on your Big Data expenditures. more

Traditional face-to-face tactics are still fundamental for SMB marketers: Personal relationships and networking (95%), tradeshows and industry events (89%), and in-person events (86%) rank as the most popular marketing tactics for finding new customers, according to a survey of small and midsized businesses conducted by Forrester Consulting for Act-On Software. more

Although social media is a relatively new marketing channel, there is fairly strong consensus that it can help with business growth. What few people realize, though, is that you can actually drive direct sales from social media—provided you have the right strategy in place. more

More than half of Americans (57%) are expected to shop from the comfort of their own computer and mobile screens this Cyber Monday; moreover, consumers will use social media for finding discounts (57% of consumers), reading reviews (51%), and finding gift ideas (49%), according to Radium One. more