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Even with January behind us, a brand manager is still full of the promise of the New Year. Sure, things didn't go perfectly during 2005. But it's worth taking note of those things you'll solemnly swear you'll never do again.

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Online marketing and sales functions are often divided up between different people, groups or even offices. While each individual works hard to achieve a breakthrough increase in performance, the group as a whole often remains unaware of how much can be achieved over time through small micro-gains along the entire marketing and sales pathway. Remember what your investment adviser told you about the power of compounding? The exact same principle applies to marketing.

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With Google AdWords, it is now possible to target prospects at the very moment they are thinking about buying your products or services. Here's how to maximize your success with Google AdWords. With proper preparation and execution, starting Google AdWords can be like planting a money tree that will provide your business with a steady stream of revenue.

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Imagine if half the people that called your sales team hung up within 10 seconds. There are not prospects they were cold-calling either, but interested people calling them. Heads would roll. At the very least, you'd want to know why so many people were disengaging. Well, chances are it's happening to you right now, every day. Your sales team isn't the problem; the real problem is your most visible and active company representative—the Web site.

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Every company aims to maximize profit. Yet, in the frenzy of everyday work, it is not uncommon for "urgent" issues to supplant "important" ones, thereby shifting the focus of marketing professionals. The most important contribution that marketers make to the company's success is consciously choosing a strategy for optimizing sales and marketing resources—and then sticking to it.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

Most of the direct mail sent uses one of two copywriting techniques. In the author's view, neither works. The truth is there are only four ways of writing a direct mail ad that will raise your response rate.

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Over 20% of the US population consists of functionally illiterate consumers, yet we know very little about their thinking and behavior. Why should marketers pay attention to a segment that may seem less than economically desirable? Understanding how functionally illiterate consumers think and behave has many implications for businesses, particularly retail chains and service providers with a large proportion of customers with low literacy levels. What's more, in economies where self-service, packaged products, and computer technology characterize most retail shops, functional illiteracy is a surprisingly significant issue shaping the bottom line.

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It's been called "selling the invisible"—delivering intangible services as a core "product" offering. But invisibility, or intangibility, is just one factor that distinguishes services marketing from product marketing. Along with inseparability, variability, and perishability, these four characteristics affect the way clients behave during the buying process and the way organizations must interact with them.

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If you think your customer isn't concerned about environmental issues, or won't pay a premium for products that are more eco-responsible, think again. You may just find an opportunity to enhance your product's performance and strengthen your customer's loyalty—and command a higher price.

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Most companies have a serious problem: Sales hates marketing, and marketing despises sales. Marketing is having great success generating leads and uncovering opportunity. But sales has no respect for what marketing accomplishes. They take leads grudgingly and when the leads turn into real opportunities they claim those opportunities were already on their radar. There seems to be an unbridgeable gulf between these teams—they have separate goals, separate cultures, and different fears and motivations. But here is the story of one company that has managed to eliminate much of the typical animosity. Read how.

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How would you sell computer repair services? Fast, friendly, and reliable? That kind of language speaks to the company's opinion of itself, not necessarily what it can do for its customers. Here's how to position yourself with your clients and customers when you are selling a service.

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Many companies equate Customer Experience Management with Customer Relationship Management. But they are not the same. So what's the difference between them? And why is it important to understand the difference?

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Sometime last fall, Google launched a major update to its search algorithm, shaking up the search engine optimization community—and millions of Web site rankings. The update has been named Jagger and is apparently complete. The keywords that people used to find your site with in Google may not be producing as many visits any more, because the Jagger changes caused your rankings to plummet. If your site's rankings have decreased, what can be done to get back to where you were or better in the post-Jagger Google world?

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Too many consultancies and agencies equate Customer Experience Management (CEM) with User Experience. They are not the same. User Experience is an important part of CEM. But like Experiential Marketing, it's a part of a much larger whole.

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Testing is the backbone of any solid direct response campaign and business. Whether your business is mature or still in the launch phase, testing is necessary to keep your approach fresh and your product valuable to your customers—and profitable to your company. Whether you're testing new audience lists, media channel, offer, copy, premiums offers, headlines, or whatever...a solid testing plan must be an integral part of your business.

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One of the toughest challenges you face as a brand marketer is, very simply, getting your brand noticed. You have to worry about not just your direct competitors but all of the other brands fighting for a customer's attention. Just breaking through and being heard in this over-communicated, noisy marketing environment is a victory. So you need all the help you can get. And one place you might want to look for it is at the top of your organization. More and more, senior management plays a crucial role in the success of a brand that breaks away from the pack.

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Customers—even bad ones—are our best loyalty teachers. In fact, the lessons gleaned from "problem" customers are often rich and long-lasting. Consider the following less-than-ideal customer types and some of the loyalty-making insights they provide. You might recognize some of these individuals!

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

If ever a winner-take-all match took place among the marketing heavyweights—direct mail, telemarketing, and the Web—our money would be on direct mail, without doubt. Simply put, the best pound-for-pound method for targeting a large audience and gathering data is direct mail. Armed with the right data, message, and creative, direct mail can be a lean, mean, marketing power puncher that can hit your target like a ton of bricks and deliver a substantial return on investment. But to be effective, direct mail requires the careful combination of three key ingredients.

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Do your salespeople still ask, "How did you hear about us?" when a prospect calls? Do you list your contact information on your homepage? Do you display the same 800 number for all of your Web site visitors? If the answer to any of these questions is "Yes," then buckle up. You are costing your business money by not using all of the available tools to monitor and improve your online advertising campaigns. Following thesr eight guidelines will help you to make better choices about which campaigns you should expand and which ones you should eliminate.

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Many people equate Customer Experience Management with Experiential Marketing. But in recent years, "experiential marketing" has become perceptually aligned with "marketing execution". This is because it largely focuses on developing highly visible, stimulating, interactive, and sensory-engaging environments in which products and services are showcased. Accordingly, experiential marketing is an important component of CEM, but it isn't the whole enchilada.