Calls-to-action (CTAs) are one of the most important elements of lead generation , and they should be used in each and every one of your marketing tactics: emails, social media updates, press releases, trade shows. the list goes on. In fact, whenever you want to ensure your team is moving in the right direction, pose the question, “What’s the call-to-action we're using to drive people's behavior?” ” Once you have a strategy in mind for which calls-to-action you'll feature on your website, you'll probably start obsessing over their design. Size Matters: Make Your CTA Big. MORE >>

Business-to-business (B2B) companies are starting to embrace social media to a greater extent these days. According to a report by Forrester , roughly 81 percent of B2B companies reported that they used social media in 2011. The increased adoption of social media among B2B companies indicates that companies are finding more value out of ramping up their social presence online. One industry that’s been relatively slow to adopt social media, however, is manufacturing. Here are three things that manufacturers can do to get off on the right foot using social media tools. MORE >>

SEO remains the most cost-effective way to drive website traffic. B2B websites often receive anywhere from 30%-60% from organic search, with 50% or more sometimes coming from Google alone. But SEO is changing. Directory links are worth less, social links worth more, site performance is increasing in importance, site age is decreasing…how is a digital marketer to keep up? Sure-Fire Signs Your SEO Sucks by HubSpot Blog. Corey Eridon presents signs that your SEO efforts may be headed down the wrong path, along with guidance for fixing each issue. Example: “2.) Other than with alcohol?) MORE >>

by Elle Woulfe | Tweet this If you send every “lead” to sales, regardless of quality, they will have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince. Not everyone who fills out a form, attends a webinar or clicks through on one of your emails should be passed to sales.  Marketers have to evaluate buyer fit (Do they map to your ideal customer profile?) and buyer behavior (Have they shown interest in what you sell?). What constitutes buyer fit and intent differs for every company. Lead scoring makes evaluation scalable and automated so the ready prospects go to sales, and others get nurtured. MORE >>

The transformational trend of social business is disrupting and revolutionizing large and small businesses alike as the world becomes increasingly more interconnected, rewired and reoriented by social technology. Businesses are in the midst of fundamental changes that will neither reverse for stragglers nor offer them mulligans. Innovative leaders must rethink their social strategies and move beyond the linear, process-driven approach to dynamic, collaborative, networked organizations. What Does Social Business Really Mean? Reason for Social Business? The State of Social Businesses. MORE >>