The Point

MARCH 7, 2019

Recently I was interviewed by the folks at Demand Gen Report as part of an article on current trends in email marketing , an article that you can read online here. With permission, a more complete version of the interview follows: (DGR) What trends are you currently seeing in B2B email marketing today? (HS)

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The Point

APRIL 29, 2021

Many thanks to Spear’s Melanie Totenberg and the Spear marketing automation team for their help with this article. In more cases than not, adoption of basic best practices should eliminate the need for a separate email domain, and also make email management much less complicated. Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash.

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The Point

DECEMBER 21, 2018

There’s a fascinating article over at LinkedIn: “ You Are What You Signal ,” in which the authors discuss the concept of “signaling theory” in advertising, best summarized in simple terms as the way in which ads “signal” a consumer into trusting a particular brand. Apple knows that expensive signals quality, which sells more phones.”.

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The Point

JUNE 20, 2018

Thanks to Tom Meriam, Spear’s VP Business Development (and resident ABM guru) for his contributions to this article. Can you create ABM-like campaigns and still generate results? Just don’t call it ABM. Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash. The post Can You Shortcut ABM and Still Make it Work? appeared first on The Point.

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The Point

OCTOBER 22, 2019

A big thank you to Spear copywriter Hannah Scott and Technology Director Anne Angele for their work on this article. Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash. The post Email Bots: What They Are, Why They Matter, and How to Stop Them appeared first on The Point.

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The Point

DECEMBER 16, 2013

Sirius Decisions wrote an insightful article last week about the acquisition by Marketo of Insightera (a Web personalization platform), and included was the following projection: “By 2015, we expect to see 71 percent of b-to-b organizations’ new inquiries coming via the corporate Web site.”.

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The Point

APRIL 26, 2017

For a more detailed recounting of those early events, read this great article on LinkedIn by Sandra Freeman.). The event has transformed since 2009, when the customer party fit (literally) onto a suburban restaurant patio.

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The Point

JUNE 20, 2011

Commentary/Analysis – as different from #1 (opinion), a written response to a third party article, blog post, report or market event. Content Excerpts – excerpt content from a white paper, article or Webinar and post it to the blog. Lists works well here (e.g. Top 5 Mistakes …”, “7 Easy Techniques …”).

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The Point

APRIL 5, 2011

This reminded me of an article (below) on direct mail and focus groups that I wrote more than 10 years ago. Article excerpted from the ebook: “The High Tech Direct Marketing Handbook.” What I said then is true today: Focus groups are notoriously unreliable when it comes to evaluating direct mail. To download a free copy, click here.

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The Point

AUGUST 16, 2016

The microsite features different marketing campaigns each week, spotlights the brands driving the most engagement on social media, and provides articles, blog posts, and other content that showcases top performing campaigns.

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The Point

JULY 28, 2009

There’s a great article (and not just because I’m quoted) in this week’s Demand Generation Report describing how marketers are actively seeking alternatives to the free trial offer. As I say in the article, free trials have become popular – too popular, in my opinion – as offers, because they’re perceived to be the shortest route [.].

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The Point

MARCH 15, 2016

But the fact that every other tweet, post, article, Webinar and white paper is about ABM doesn’t make it a slam dunk for everyone. It’s a significant development in the evolution of B2B marketing, and one worth evaluating in the context of your companies’ objectives, audience, and sales model.

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The Point

MARCH 3, 2010

In a recent article (member access only), Marketing Sherpa offers up some intriguing research into how prospective tech buyers view email offer content, and how those views can differ dramatically from common assumptions held by marketers. News and articles, at 84%. The type of content ranked most highly by buyers? In a word: no.

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The Point

JULY 19, 2010

Last week I was interviewed by BtoB Magazine for an article, “Webinars: Are They Worth It?” The article contains some valuable insights on where Webinars fit in today’s B2B demand generation mix, and is definitely worth a read. that appeared online today.

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The Point

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

A quick Web search yields dozens of blog posts and articles on the topic, many quoting the same source, a Doctor Jeffrey Lant and his “Rule of Seven,” a rule that states: “You must contact your buyers a minimum of seven times in an 18-month period for them to remember you.”.

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The Point

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Dave’s article was directed at salespeople, but he drives home an equally valid point for marketers. His point (crudely distilled) is that while most of us believe that customers are buying our products and services, in fact what they’re really buying is more immediate and personal. Like the ability to keep one’s job.

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The Point

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

This article originally appeared in Demand Gen Report. “Quite aside from just improving the performance of our outbound campaigns, we know that the leads we generate from all sources are now much more likely to convert into qualified sales opportunities.”. Re-posted with permission.

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The Point

FEBRUARY 8, 2011

In addition to tips, ideas, and opinions from some of the brightest minds in social media, the report also includes links to more than 60 articles and blog posts about blogging strategy, tactics, and best practices for B2B Marketers. For a copy of the complete report (no registration required), click here.

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The Point

MARCH 13, 2013

This article originally appeared as a guest post on Optify’s Lead Generation Software Blog. Offers that require less of a commitment – a Webinar, or video, or case study – can help move that prospect one small step further along the sales process (and identify him or her as a candidate for further nurturing.).

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The Point

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

This same point was brought home by an insightful article, “ Calculating the ROI of Marketing Automation Platforms ,” published late last year by Sirius Decisions. It would appear that companies are now waking up to the fact that no marketing automation software can be successful without a proper strategic foundation.

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The Point

APRIL 30, 2013

Over at TechCrunch, writer Josh Constine recently penned an intriguing article about the potential for social media platforms eating into Google’s near monopoly on search advertising. In fact, to the extent branding is even a minor goal of your demand gen strategy, you’re likely to fail at both.

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The Point

JULY 18, 2014

Even then, the data from Forrester’s own study seem to suggest that the results from content marketing aren’t quite as downbeat as the Ad Age article would suggest (though I accept that bad news makes for more compelling reading.)

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The Point

MAY 30, 2014

Over at the IDC Technology Marketing Blog , analyst Sam Melnick posted an article recently with the intriguing title: “Are Ad Agencies Keeping Pace with the Marketing’s (sic) Massive Digital Uptake? Hint: Maybe Not)”.

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The Point

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

BONUS TIP: 11. Create a separate demand generation blog. Let’s say that social media strategy at your company is owned by the PR folks, and they’re not too crazy about the demand gen team converting their precious blog into some kind of lead generation vehicle (the nerve!).

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The Point

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

Make the requirements simple: say, a 200-300 word article every 6 weeks. Examples could be Case Studies, Best Practices, Industry News, Opinion/Analysis, etc. Then assign those categories to specific contributors, aligned by subject matter expertise. Use Google Alerts, social media, and your PR agency to help spot potential topics.

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The Point

MARCH 9, 2011

Google was neither involved in, nor consulted for, this article. Do your part as a civic-minded marketer and help your local shops increase their visibility online. Disclaimer: Google is a Spear Marketing Group client. The views expressed are entirely those of the author.].

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The Point

OCTOBER 7, 2014

When posting a Sponsored Update, create a custom image, one that’s optimized for click-throughs, rather than just let LinkedIn pull an image from your post or article. However, as “native advertising,” Sponsored Updates can also generate 5x the engagement rate (including likes and shares).

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The Point

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

Shout out to Lynn Dodds, Spear’s VP Creative Services, for her help with this article. . * Approval Process : Detail who will review creative, who gives final approval, and what the process will look like (including time required for review) to avoid bottlenecks or disappointments.

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The Point

JULY 15, 2010

DT: As I wrote in an article for CIO.com last year, marketing automation and CRM are close cousins. HS: How do marketing automation systems make Salesforce more useful? What basic principles do you recommend to Salesforce users that are implementing marketing automation? But they are different systems, focused on different processes.

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The Point

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

A big thank-you to Spear’s SEO & Social Media maestro, Robin Kavanagh, for her help with this article. The PESO model provides a convenient, and time-tested, framework for expanding the notion of what an “integrated campaign” really means. The post The PESO Model & Your Demand Generation Strategy appeared first on The Point.

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The Point

JANUARY 30, 2018

In a recent article on LinkedIn that I highly recommend for any tech entrepreneur, Jason Seeba and Ashu Garg spell out the key priorities, milestones, and pitfalls for early-stage companies seeking to acquire customers. Their article inspired me to reflect on some of the start-ups that our agency has worked with over the years.

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The Point

MARCH 12, 2020

This article is for you. If you’re one of those marketers, your company may or may not have the ready infrastructure or culture that supports remote work. And you also may not be blessed with a dedicated work space in the home environment.

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The Point

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

The result was hundreds of downloads, more than a thousand social shares, and articles in more than a dozen online publications. However, when we promoted that report, we did so with the headline: “Marketing Automation Users Score a C in Maturity”.

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The Point

DECEMBER 10, 2019

A big thank you to Anne Angele, Spear’s resident compliance guru, for her help with this article. Marketers should consult with legal counsel on the risk/liability from, or compliance with, any data privacy regulation. The post Infographic – The Next Wave of Data Privacy Regulation appeared first on The Point.

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The Point

FEBRUARY 28, 2017

Aaron Dun wrote a great article last month for CMSWire in which he detailed strategies that he believes B2B Marketers need to adopt to stay current in “a highly digital, connected world.” Amongst those strategies, according to Dun: 1.

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