Commonly used in business-to-business (B2B) or longer sales cycle business-to-consumer (B2C) sales cycles, Marketing Automation is really the marriage of email marketing technology coupled with a structured sales process as defined by a customer relationship management (CRM) program. We chose LoopFuse due to its track record working with open source businesses, tight integration with Salesforce CRM, and its flexible pricing model. If a lead meets the score threshold just by filling out the registration form it should be immediately exported into your CRM. Tough call? MORE >>

Like everyone else, I’m seeing greater use of social, mobile, and video; more cross-channel campaigns; closer cooperation between marketing and sales; and expanded use of analytics. The task is really the same as a sophisticated lead nurturing campaign: to monitor customer behavior and respond appropriately. But CRM systems are deeply embedded in sales departments, so they block growth in that direction. marketing automation can also be divided into layers of delivery systems, campaign management, and platform functions. MORE >>

The modern marketing engineers at Marketo have set out to revolutionize the way companies interact with their customers – primarily through email marketing campaigns. The days of stale marketing campaigns that closely resemble spam are over for those of us that use Marketo. Recently, Marketo launched a new component to the Marketing Nation, a rich resource for marketers called the Marketo Program Exchange: a network that hosts a free, shared library of pre-built marketing programs for customers so they can quickly set up campaigns and start getting results. MORE >>

On Focus.com , Adam asks: ““What percentage success rate do people (expect from) direct mail campaigns? By most standards, your current response rates are well above average, but it’s almost impossible to compare those metrics to any other company or campaign because of the variables involved. direct mail campaign offering say, a white paper, will generate roughly twice the response of a seminar invitation on the same topic. It’s the oldest direct marketing rule in the book that list quality is the #1 ingredient in a successful campaign. MORE >>

The beauty of doing marketing today is that tools like Google Analytics, Omniture, or HubSpot's data and insights make marketing easier. Here's how you can use marketing analytics to solve four of your most irksome marketing challenges! Search and analytics are no replacement for talking to your prospects and customers, but you can get a lot more efficient and targeted with keyword analytics. Before you create your next ebook, blog post, or even email campaign, be sure to check out your (and your competitors') traffic-driving keywords. MORE >>