Kronos had an obvious identity problem that clearly impacted its sales performance, so getting support from the executive suite for a branding initiative should have been a slam-dunk. Except not quite. While everyone agreed there was a brand problem, the solution was costly and very long-term. Here's how Marketing won ... more

SIGG had been selling its aluminum water and fuel bottles to the US outdoor market for years at a price about twice as much as the closest competitor's. It counted on the Swiss reputation for quality to drive sales—but sales were flat. Then its newly formed US subsidiary made some ... more

With the rise of social media and user-generated content, there are more factors than ever to consider when designing a company Web site. Throw in SEO and choosing the proper design/layout for your Web site, and it all gets very confusing... very quickly. Which means that Web site optimization experts such ... more

Selling now takes more time and resources then ever before. In fact, the sales cycle has become 22% longer as buyers more carefully consider their decisions. If this true for you, then consider it a great opportunity for email marketing segmentation strategies. By segmenting your prospects, you can boost revenue, ... more

Driving sales is what B2B marketing is all about. Although the precise roles and responsibilities of Marketing may differ from company to company, your marching orders are the same: Help Sales produce more with less. All marketers want to know best practices and share experiences about driving sales. Here are ... more

Softrax Corp.'s enterprise software automates a company's entire revenue cycle. With the advantages of automation not always apparent to potential customers, Softrax based its marketing strategy on educating the market, while competitors relied mostly on advertising. Webcasts featuring government and industry experts—with only an indirect connection to Softrax apparent—formed the ... more

"You can't sit around and wait for inspiration," said Jack London. "You have to go after it with a club." Pick up your club (your pencil, your laptop, your sketchbook) and let's go. Whatever your particular challenge, these 10 strategies can help you innovate—on a deadline. more

The manufacturing sector is more traditional than most. Many of its customers aren't high tech—some don't even have Internet access. Fabcon, a Minnesota builder of precast wall panels, struggled with marrying its desire for high-tech operational efficiency and its need to service customers in the method that they preferred. more

Earthlink, one of the country's smaller Internet service providers, serves just over 5 million customers. To differentiate itself, it has decided to provide superior customer service. An early adopter of chat technology, it has sought to actively offer efficient online customer service via chat—both shifting customer support away from the ... more

Every company has a story to tell, but how do marketers figure out the best way to tell it, in a compelling way? Here are six questions that will help you develop your marketing story. more

The nonprofit Oregon Sports Authority (OSA) was striving to bring new sporting events, teams, and tourist dollars to the state. It also wanted to become the official sports resource for state residents. An overhaul of its promotions and more compelling communication of its brand were the ambitious goals that the ... more

Market power used to be much like a big castle surrounded by high walls and a moat to control access. If the old-school world was the castle and the moat, the new model is more like an aerial view of San Francisco—lots of paths in and out. more

It might seem farfetched to characterize a metric as sexy. But by the time you are done reading this article you'll be more than attracted to the metric. Are you are spending tons of time, energy, and budget on Web marketing efforts but your conversion rates (or ROI) are stuck ... more

With Web hosting fast becoming a commodity, Web hosting firm Rackspace realized it needed to stand out from the pack. Its founders decided they would stake a claim to "fanatical" commitment to customer service. Rackspace wove the concept into its very business structure, even trademarking the term "Fanatical Support." And ... more

There are two of the things you need to do with an effective sales page: You need to write a strong sales message, and you need to minimize the perception of risk. In other words, you need to write compelling sales copy, at the same time keeping anxiety levels at a ... more

Royal Canin Canada puts an enormous budget behind creating customized, breed-specific pet food. But many pet owners don't realize how much their dog or cat could benefit from a specially formulated food. By creating a loyalty email program targeted with information on specific breeds, Royal Canin was able to earn ... more

You can flip the 80/20 in your favor by devoting your marketing resources to creating a referral network that will compound in value year after year. more

If you practice Internet marketing, you know the importance of a high-converting "landing page"—also called a promotional page, jump page, or squeeze page. Regardless of the specific purpose, one fact remains the same—you want the user to take some type of action. Here are seven landing-page best practices for increasing ... more

The sales playbook captures your company's knowledge about its markets, value propositions, offers, competitors, and best practices. These are the very elements that fall within the marketing organization's domain, which is why marketing plays a strategic role in developing the playbook. more

Privately held Pavilion Technologies knows how important it is for businesses to track ROI. But two years ago, its marketing department realized it was having trouble tracking its own ROI. Pavilion ultimately found a solution through a software system that helps monitor all prospects who visit its Web site. more

Part 1 of this series discussed the evolution of customer reference programs and gave guidance on how to create a program that's a strategic asset to your company. Here, part 2 discusses the next steps of customer program evolution... and how to change corporate culture by focusing on customers. more

Each year, we ask decision-makers at a group of 100 leading brands: "At pitch, what are the specific reasons for choosing one agency over another?" In the latest results, "good chemistry" ranked as the leading factor. Here's a full list of the top 20 factors. more

UCLA Professor Albert Mehrabian is best known for his 7%-38%-55% Rule. It states that 55% of communication is attributable to non-verbal behaviors like body language and facial expressions; 38% of communication is attributable to voice, including volume, tone, pitch, cadence, and quality; and only 7% of communication is attributable to ... more

By dynamically changing content on its start page to targeted segments of site visitors, along with testing the placement of additional product offerings within the transaction funnel, American International Underwriters upped the conversion rates of several of its products. more

Many Web sites offer a resource library for visitors—an area filled with articles covering relevant topics to the industry with which the site is connected. The articles may cover how to do something, or they may define an aspect of the industry, but they do not usually directly sell the ... more