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CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

Why can't sales and marketing see eye to eye, and how does an organization deal with oftentimes opposing views?

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The Web analytics space is hot, customers are engaged, consultants busy, vendors optimistic. There's no question this is a healthy "industry." But intense competition among the top vendors has somewhat killed product innovation. Unfortunately, that's happening at a time when the next generation of the Internet—what some call Web 2.0—needs a totally different kind of Web analytics.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

Are you confident that the tactics you, your web designer, and your SEO all employ won't get you slapped by the search engines? If you can't say with absolutely certainty that you're squeaky clean, then you'd better study the following list of black hat tactics to avoid.

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The role of the Chief Marketing Officer, a title almost unheard of 10 years ago, will continue to expand in the next decade. Marketing is evolving from an art into a science—and it's about time. As CMOs begin to embrace their new-found stature, are they tuned into what really makes them effective?

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Over the last 50 years, marketers have been working overtime to legitimize our craft; we have even gone so far as to refer to marketing as a science. Without question we have made great strides. But at the same time, we have lost some of the magic. And a little magic can make a good marketing plan quantifiably better, and in many cases great!

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Many organizations have had customer reference programs in place for years, but not until recently have those programs begun to capture the executive attention they deserve.

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RSS may not ever replace email as a delivery tool. But nonetheless, it will move Web site traffic, because people can use RSS readers to receive content without having to visit a site. Here's part two of a primer on RSS, and why marketers should care about it.

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Imagine a California wine club modeled after the movie "Sideways"? Sure, it sounds cool. But there are many inherent challenges -- the decay curve on the "Sideways" recall, for example, and the fact that marketing a sensory product online is always a challenge. Read the details in this case study.

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Most CEOs and even VPs of marketing think messaging is about a good tagline. That's partially true, but a tagline is only a small portion of smart messaging work.

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We've all read about Web 2.0 and the impact it will have on businesses. Some find the principles life-altering, others say it's pure hype. Whichever camp you are in, you can't ignore the fact that business is changing—especially online. Here are five categories that managers need to consider now to keep in step with Web 2.0 changes.

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Mixing business and fiction invariably involves a trade-off. Most business fables by business authors make up in insights what they lack in literary style. And most works of popular fiction sacrifice business verisimilitude for the sake of "art." But finally, business readers, you can read popular fiction propelled by a sense of what really makes business people tick. Here's a Q&A with the author of the new book, "Killer Instinct," released today.

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MarketingProfs has gotten pretty good at producing a steady digital stream of marketing know-how for our members. But darn it, sometimes it's lonely doing everything through IP packets. Once in a while we've got to see another face, share a plate of nachos, and swap a few stories from the business trenches.

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A couple of weeks ago I gave a short talk on building your newsletter lists with barter co-registration. Does it work? Does it ever!

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Vendors are in ferocious competition to engage customer C-level executives who can assure prospective peers that "this" purchase decision is the right one. One such way of engaging executives is the Executive Sponsor Program, a standard "sales tool" since companies like IBM and Xerox pioneered relationship-based sales models many moons ago.

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The most effective research isn't necessarily the most rigidly designed. In fact, a loosely designed program—whether qualitative or quantitative—may not appear as "scientific" at first glance, yet sometimes can do far more to reveal real truths than more carefully crafted and comprehensive research programs.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Communications

In today's sophisticated marketplace, overcoming communication obstacles is critical—especially early on in the sales process. It is increasingly obvious that the competitive battle for customers is being won or lost at the top of the sales funnel. So, how does a firm make itself stand out from the rest?

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A new Internet gold rush has been taking hold with the emergence of social networking, blogging, podcasting, and other Web 2.0 experiments. Media companies and Internet giants have reacted promptly by acquiring many of the new players to take advantage of these new advertising vehicles and evolve their endangered models. Yet advertisers themselves have stayed on the sidelines to a great extent. Small businesses, especially, have reacted cautiously to Web 2.0 marketing, fearing its hype and its inherent risks. Here are clear examples of why they shouldn't.

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RSS may not ever replace email as a delivery tool. But nonetheless, it will move Web site traffic, because people can use RSS readers to receive content without having to visit a site. Here's a primer on RSS, and why marketers should care about it.

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Blogging is one of the hottest trends on the Web. Whether yours is an individual blog, a group blog, a character blog, or a CEO blog, there's no doubt that, done right, a blog can position you as a thought leader, bring your Web presence to life, and help you engage with your customers. But with over 75,000 new blogs created every single day, and tens of millions of blogs already in the blogosphere, it's not a given that you'll get found by your target audience and develop a loyal following of readers. What can you do to pull in the crowds and to rise in the rankings? Here Stephan shares his secrets.

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What's the difference between so-called new marketing and traditional marketing methods? How can a marketer adapt?