What’s the key to generating more inbound marketing leads? 79% of marketers measure website traffic from social media, and 68% track engagement metrics on social networks, but just 26% measure the relationship of social media activity to leads and sales. companies have integrated social media with their customer service, sales, or product development processes. Social media may be good for 99 things, but lead generation ain’t one of them. B2B Lead Blog ). 48% have generated customers through Twitter and 42% through Facebook. ( MORE >>

However, that figure rises if you work for a company generating at least $10 million in annual revenue, or you’re in management (in which case it’s $109,000). and 30% said it was to get updates on upcoming sales. Social Media Facts & Figures for B2B Sales by Inside View. And email messages that include at least one social sharing option generate a more than 30 percent higher click-through rate (CTR) than emails with no social sharing options. The B2B Marketer’s “New Normal”: How to Use Social Media to Generate Leads by iMedia Connection. ** 5 Stars. MORE >>

Typically, ads are measured based on click-through rates , although advanced ad tracking can also allow you to measure ads by leads or sales. So before we look at some Facebook ads we think are effective, let's quickly examine best practices on AdWords, as it's been the standard for so many years, and then we'll compare and contrast against Facebook. When advertising on Google AdWords, for example, the following three elements are crucial for high click-through rates. It also helps that SEM and SEO are in all caps. Facebook ads. What Makes an Ad 'Effective'? MORE >>

But in the world of search engine marketing (SEM), using paid search (PPC) to rank on a search engine results page (SERP) for a given term comes pretty close. That’s why PPC is such good business for Google, which still generates 96% of its revenue through advertising -- because marketers know when they invest in PPC properly, they can get pretty close to guaranteed placement in the SERPs and help you generate leads. So, how do you do PPC "properly" so you actually get leads at a reasonable cost? It comes down to intelligent campaign structure. Handy, right? MORE >>

Resources for starting a new business, ideas for naming that business, mistakes to avoid, lead generation strategies to embrace, how to apply some of Warren Buffet's wisdom to online marketing efforts.find all of that and more here in this final collection of the best posts on strategy and branding from the past year. What's in A Name? by MediaPost Online Publishing Insider Kory Kredit explores the inexact science of business naming, from descriptive ( AdBuyer.com ) to ont-quite-real words ( Aquisio ) to misspellings ( Personifi ) to WTF? Jivox, xy3). MORE >>