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While most people think of public relations as media relations, there are times when either you can't reach your audience through print, broadcast or the Internet, or you need to supplement your media program. That's when you need to think about face-to-face marketing—placing clients directly in front of targeted audiences through informational events structured around their interests. This strategy works well for consumer markets (think cooking demonstrations in grocery stores, hospital-sponsored health fairs, and hotel-sponsored bridal expos). It also works well for B2B companies like construction companies, law firms, or consultancies—businesses that want to showcase the expertise of their management team.

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B2B sales happen over a period of several months as trust builds between the prospect and the seller. Webinars may be used not just to bring new leads in the door but also to move existing leads through the pipeline to a final contract. Rather than a one-hit approach, you need to determine where webinars fit into the overall sales cycle.

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What does "best practices" in Marketing Operations look like, and how do industry-leading companies operate and integrate this highly valuable function? Marketing Operations Partners recently polled more than 80 marketing leaders to find out.

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Long-term, lifecycle emails train a customer into becoming a better one, and they enhance the relationship between customer and company. It's sometimes hard to sell to the finance group that lifecycle emails work. And now, with trends going toward social networks and word-of-mouth networking, how do lifecycle emails compete? Here are three techniques you can use effectively to fight the good fight.

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What's this new buzzword "TransPromo" all about? The term is heard more and more frequently in industry circles today, at conferences, trade shows, and even in boardrooms. So just what is TransPromo?

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Marketing Strategy

The "need" for differentiation is so well accepted, it's considered simplistic to even make the case for differentiation. Why make a case for something everyone already knows? I disagree. Put some further thought in it. Most everything I've read and heard about differentiation is wrong. I suspect the same is true for you.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

All email marketing managers search for ways to grow their subscription files, and many options and opportunities exist to grow subscription files organically. Unfortunately, some email marketers still rely on purchasing permission-based lists as a means to increase their email file. By doing so, however, they settle for a quick fix that really does not result in a stable, viable, and cost-effective file. The saying "Good things come to those who wait" applies to smart email marketing managers who appreciate the logic and process of growing their subscription file organically, over time, with well-developed marketing efforts.

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There are countless ways to get into the game with Social Media. Check out these few sample Social Media tools and see how they can be used effectively and efficiently.

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In his last article, the author defined multivariate testing and how it can optimize your Web marketing, as well as five common errors to avoid. Now, he looks at what to measure in your tests and how to define your criteria for success. Before you start formulating a test hypothesis, or begin running your tests, the first and most important step is to ensure that you have clearly defined objectives for your Web site. You'll want to examine your marketing goals in order to determine the appropriate success factors that all of your organization's stakeholders can agree upon. Let's start with typical measurable Web site goals.

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Launching new products, services, or segments is the lifeblood of growth for most organizations. Yet, despite its importance, the launch process is often mishandled or assigned inadequate resources. Many of the mistakes that companies make are basic—yet frighteningly frequent and consistent across various types of businesses and industries. Here are six common fault lines in the launch process that very company should look out for.

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Today, leads flow to Marketing from ever-increasing online sources—email campaigns, the company Web site, Google AdWords and Google searches, webinars, online advertising, blogs, and virtual trade shows—as well as from traditional marketing activities. The sheer volume of leads, or "suspects," can be overwhelming. How does Marketing prioritize all these suspects?

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The modern email inbox is a perpetual promotion machine of colors, styles, and sales pitches all fighting to be seen. In an attempt to break from the herd, many email marketers ironically adopt a herd mentality of more clutter, more content, more, more, more. This misguided pursuit of increased visibility merely leads to increased invisibility. Before joining the invisible ranks of the "clutter cult" of email marketers, consider that a huge body of marketing research demonstrates that the human mind is a sucker for simplicity and focus. The eye embraces that which can be easily digested. Less is more.

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Isn't direct mail pricey? It can be. But don't think that you have to create big, flashy mailers. In fact, when your goal is to generate sales leads, simpler, cheaper formats often work better. Here are five basic direct mail tools that you can use to generate sales leads quickly and inexpensively.

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You've probably heard phrases such as site optimization, search engine optimization, event optimization, and campaign optimization. A more recent concept with broader application to marketing is the idea of marketing optimization.

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As marketing managers seek to keep their brands fresh and relevant, many are tempted to jump on the latest trends and fads. You know: online and major media advertising with new imagery... new slogans and taglines... new product packaging... all playing to the latest pop-cult phenomena, hot colors, and new vibes. But is that really the solution? The short answer is "no."

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Marketing professionals know that careful, accurate, and constant campaign tracking and analysis are just as important as delivery itself. Your email marketing campaigns, integrated with Google Analytics, make this possible—and easier to do than ever before.

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Luanne Tierney, Senior Director US and Canada Channels Marketing at Cisco, has had a 20-year career in technology marketing—the past 12 years at Cisco, and before that at Apple, HP, and 3Com. She is a "Marketing Champion," because she drives cash flow for Cisco by helping channel partners market more effectively. Excerpted here is her philosophy of leadership in marketing.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

Email marketers are perpetually caught in the middle. On the one hand, we are celebrated for being the go-to resource for generating short-term revenue results. On the other hand, the applause dies down when the budget talk comes around and we continue to be handicapped by limited investment and strained resources. What's an email marketer to do? Here are five ideas.

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Building a list of responsive subscribers via a Web site that has a bit of traffic and quality content is surprisingly easy. But sometimes, when working with users, we're surprised to see low conversion rates. So, we take a look into just why that might be. Here are five factors to consider when growing your list.

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By looking at your company's readiness in conjunction with your market, your competitors, and your buyers, you'll be able to determine what the potential is (or isn't) for social media. What's more, you'll be able to assess where you should be diving in, or what's a realistic starting place.