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Too often, companies ignore search optimization simply because senior management does not understand it well enough to provide the necessary leadership and support. And if top management does not view it as priority, marketing and sales people are disinclined to pursue it. They will apply traditional, "accepted" tactics, shying away from one of the most efficient, measurable ways to get in front of prospects.

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The gig is up. Your customers think it's simply too much work to reap the benefits of a "loyalty program." So here's the classic experience customers have with loyalty programs. After reading this, how loyal would you be? Scratch that. After reading this, how much of this makes you downright exhausted and inclined not to buy from a company that makes you jump through such hoops?

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Companies sometimes have two names: the company name and the brand name. This week: How do you find a dream name for a company or product?

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Last week, we ended the first part of this two-part series with a discussion of the perceived entry barriers to marketing to Hispanics. Now, we take a brief look at the tactics that marketers use to reach the Hispanic market, and discuss in depth Search Engine Marketing as an optimal way of reaching Hispanics.

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When Netflix launched in the late '90s, most people thought its developers were nuts. Even with the dot-com era in full bloom, the idea of renting movies via mail struck most as somewhat ludicrous. Looking back on Netflix's startup story, one of the co-founders shares five customer-focused lessons that stand out as critical in creating the then-innovative Internet business.

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A successful differentiation has two defining characteristics: (1) It is not imitated by your competitors, even though (2) it brings you unmistakable success with consumers. Impossible, you say? Not quite.

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How can B2B companies truly differentiate their offering and be relevant to customers over the long term? This is where brands come in.

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This second article in a series focuses on implementing a successful business blog. It dissects the steps of selecting development tools, working out a content plan for launch, making a debut, developing a style and personality, handling responses, monitoring consumer discussion on your subject, and enjoying the process. Here are nine valuable tips for implementing and launching a blog.

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Marketing research isn't just a way to collect opinions, measure awareness, or test positioning statements any more. Packaged correctly, your research itself can be your message. You can turn your results into media stories that attract favorable publicity and establish you or your business as an authority. Or you can craft compelling premiums—reports, guides, or booklets—with must-have information that generates leads.

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You play by the rules. Your list is confirmed opt-in. You have spent time writing a compelling message and an inspiring call to action. Your graphic designers have designed a stunning custom email. You then send the email to your list but find that deliverability rates are lower than you planned—mostly because none of your recipients at a major Internet service provider (ISP) received your email.... Uh-oh.

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Problems cost money. More often than not, however, the only cost that customers and sales people focus on is that of the proposed solution. The most critical cost, the cost of the problem, remains the best-kept secret in the selling world—and certainly the most overlooked.

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Who doesn't have a business blog these days? Maybe you? Fret no more. Here are the necessary steps to planning and implementing a corporate blog. This first article examines the key decisions on subject, mission, audience targeting, market survey, blogger selection, securing of a corporate champion, and the "go" decision.

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While Leigh is a huge Mac fan, her recent experience at her local Apple store was surprisingly underwhelming. In fact, it was bad. While it's possible that the problems she encountered are isolated, there are nonetheless some good lessons for anyone managing a retail merchandising experience.

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We hear of freelance writers, freelance editors and freelance designers, but rarely do we hear of freelance "marketers." But that is beginning to change. Now that telecommuting is commonplace and workers are more mobile, freelance marketers are starting to sprout up all over the place. This week: Where can you find a good one?

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The US Hispanic population, with its growing purchasing power and impressive growth in media usage, has companies scrambling for ideas and ways to effectively target this barely tapped market. In this new report from MarketingProfs is solid and hard-to-find data on what organizations are doing effectively to target this market, as well as what roadblocks exist.

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To create a complete marketing plan, one that drives near- and longer-term marketing action, I need only four "colors." Here's how structuring the "color set" will help you focus your research, derive relevant conclusions, and then use all that information to create workable, living action plans for your marketing efforts.

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After years of paying lip service to the importance of marketing while engineering and design ruled the roost, technology companies are learning that maybe they need to be more like other businesses after all.

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Salespeople are notoriously poor in following up on qualified leads. In fact, experts say, sales does not follow up on more than 70% of leads. Why? Field salespeople in most organizations are compensated, motivated, and managed to focus on short-term opportunities, not on the pipeline. Contrast that scenario with the strategic marketing experts at CenterBeam, a San Jose-based IT outsourcing firm that provides IT outsourcing services on a fee-for-service basis. By making the lead-generation process a cornerstone of its strategic marketing program, CenterBeam is getting many of its sales from long-term leads cultivated on the "farm"—and a ten-to-one return on its outside investment in the farmers. Here's how.

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Nothing gets the adrenalin pumping quite like an AdWords campaign that delivers a strong ROI. Success brings a big grin on your face when you realize you can invest more in the campaign, expand the base of keywords, and make even more money. The more you spend, the more you make. It's a great moment, while it lasts. But the problem is, it doesn't. There will come a point when you hit a plateau. You have tested and optimized different headlines, body text and ad groups, you have adjusted the bid prices, and included just about every related keyword you can imagine. What now?

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Thanks to the time constraints and laziness of both traditional journalists and bloggers, you may be quoted in a story (sometimes at length), without having been interviewed—the victim of a stealth interview. There was a big brouhaha when something similar happened to actor George Clooney recently, but it's really nothing out of the ordinary.