Whether you need data to back up a proposal for investing in social media marketing for CFO, want to understand which online tactics work best for engaging with customers and prospects, or are just an analytics data junky, you’ll find a treasure trove of key insights and happy hour trivia in this collection of the best articles and blog posts on social media and other marketing research of the past year. Searchers Using Longer Queries in 2009 by Small Business Search Marketing. in 2009, while 4-word searches increased from 13.3% in 2009 to 11.3% to 14.9% MORE >>

Summary: a new Aberdeen Group report argues that Web content management systems should add customer management features and will ultimately compete with traditional marketing automation products. agree with one reservation: I doubt large companies will use a single system to manage all customer touchpoints. The logic is that Web sites are increasingly the primary method of interaction between a company and its customers, and that Web analytics, testing and personalized treatments are better executed within the content management system rather than by external products. MORE >>

Google Alerts - Get updates on who's talking about you, your industry, your customers. StumbleUpon - Randomly generates content for users by interest area. Google Custom Search - Set up your own niche search engine on your site or blog. Google Analytics - I recommend using Google Analytics even if you have a paid analytics service (courtesy Cim Buser ). Hubspot - I'm a customer. Website Grader - Hubspot product that will grade your website on a number of analytics and social media indicators.    Here's a taste.  MORE >>

Social Web Analytics. It also offers information on a large selection of free analytics tools, including Google Alerts, Google Trends and BlogPulse. He discusses best practices for elements such as linking, drop down menus, content and tabs in order to improve customer experience on websites. Problems identified by author Kathryn Roy include producing glamorous collateral pieces without analysis and creating campaigns with overly aggressive customer calls to action. The High-Tech Direct Marketing Handbook: 65 Tips on B2B Demand Generation. Enjoy! MORE >>

Getting into lead generation was an accident. had more ego than understanding about lead generation and professional selling. That started my journey into lead generation, marketing & sales. If marketing & lead generation are in the flow, sales is (or has the opportunity to be) in the flow. If marketing & lead generation aren't t in the flow, sales will struggle. In The Fatal Mistake Boards and VP Sales Will Make In 2009 Planning , I discuss how lead generation causes new customer acquisition and salespeople fullfill it. MORE >>