by Carol Fox CSO Insights just released the results of its annual Lead Management Optimization (LMO) Study. The study, conducted in partnership with Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) and Marketo, helps shed light on the role marketing plays in lead generation for sales by showing how marketing organizations are investing their time and money into efforts like lead scoring and nurturing, then relating this data to sales results. And customer loyalty increased in priority this year – cited by 32% of companies as opposed to 2010′s 25%. MORE >>

Leading Lights: Marketing and PR Strategist David Meerman Scott – video interview. Blog Modern B2B Marketing Twitter Marketo InboundMarketer. "Simple Content Creates Quality Leads!" Maria Pergolino is Director of Marketing at Marketo , leading their efforts in adoption of social media channels for brand awareness and demand generation. She has worked in marketing for over ten years, and specifically in online marketing including social media, search marketing, and lead generation and nurturing for the past six. Blogs. MORE >>

in January 2010 alone, to slightly more than 203 million users. The same Nielsen study mentioned above found that the average time people spend using Facebook per month grew nearly 10% monthly over a year, topping seven hours at the beginning of 2010 and apparently not having slowed since. With this type of presence on social networking sites, peer reviews have never carried as much weight as they do now. To make sure you are taking advantage of peer-shared content, be sure to add social sharing options to the content you publish. Attention Scarcity Online. MORE >>

For example, marketing efforts that focus on email marketing can incorporate social networking channels to maximize reach. Traditional phone polls by customer service representatives have evolved to include additional marketing channels, including email and social media. By incorporating A/B testing as a tactic of your B2B marketing strategy, you can maximize conversion rates and get more leads for your money. Take lead management to the next level. Unfortunately, not all B2B organizations recognize the full potential of lead management efforts. Rick Volz. MORE >>

Which content should be gated to genereate leads? We asked B2B Marketing experts: " How should B2B marketers balance the need for free content (helpful for prospects decision making) Vs. the need to have content that produces a steady flow of good leads (that can directed to sales team)? Lead generation requires that a prospect become motivated enough to fill out a form and give you at least some information about themselves. In my opinion, all content should accomplish either lead generation or play a role in creating momentum toward purchase. Patsi Krakoff. MORE >>