Sometimes it’s What’s Missing That Counts I was reading MarketingSherpa’s 2009 Email Marketing Benchmarking Guide looking for useful metrics and tips. The goal of this post is not to criticize the great work by the MarketingSherpa folks but rather to provide feedback and start a discussion on the types of benchmarks that should be included in future reports – especially when we’re talking about b2b marketing. It would be very useful to B2B marketers to have benchmarks to track if their automated campaigns are trending upwards or downwards year after year. Tweet This! MORE >>

At Savvy B2B Marketing, we thrive on different perspectives and new ideas, which is why we are thrilled to welcome today's guest blogger, Ardath Albee. We enjoy Ardath's blog, Marketing Interactions , for its keen insights into B2B marketing (and so do many others - check out all her top blog awards!) Word choice is one of the most important facets of B2B website content. Unfortunately, B2B technology companies often use a generalist approach to this critical aspect of branding and communication. More fantastic guests are planned for the weeks ahead, so stay tuned. MORE >>

He recently turned the tables on me with seven questions of his own as part of his own interview series: Thought Leadership Interview #6: Miller Time: Marketo’s Jon Miller on Lead Generation and Management in 2009. What are the three trends you see emerging in 2009? However, new contacts typically cost money, so as marketers try to do more with less in 2009 they will focus more attention on improving conversion in the middle part of the funnel , i.e., the percentage of in-profile prospects that become sales-ready opportunities. Here are just a few excerpts: 1. Enjoy! MORE >>

I was thinking about all the lead qualification criteria I’ve seen used in B2B lead generation programs and started listing them by category. List of B2B Lead Qualification Criteria by Category. Tags: B2B marketing Here’s what I came up with so far: Firmographics (Industry, company size, location). Demographics (Contact’s title, job function). Contactability (Phone number, email address). Action taken (Attended webinar, downloaded whitepaper, requested pricing, spent time on certain Web pages). Need for your product or service. MORE >>

With 2009 quickly coming to a close, it’s a perfect time for marketing professionals to evaluate this past year and see where they can best focus their efforts in 2010. wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of B2B companies felt they didn’t invest as much time or energy as they would have liked to in social media. While tight budgets may have limited companies’ abilities to devote resources to exploring social media, its application and value to B2B marketers continue to progress.  What was a weak link in your marketing program? MORE >>