As B2B buyers leverage Web 2.0 and social media to streamline their purchasing processes, the line between marketing and sales as it relates to prospect interaction becomes blurred. Marketing must take on the early-stage lead/prospect communication that was once the sole responsibility of sales, and frequently the two groups must work together to nurture a buyer from lead to prospect to customer. While challenging, it is possible to get marketing and sales on the same page.  Below I have outlined three steps that can move your organization towards marketing and sales alignment. Don’t do that! MORE >>

Great content and attracting inbound links are major elements of your SEO strategy. If you’ve created an exciting blog post or ebook, you’ll naturally want to work on making sure that you are driving as much traffic to it as possible. Part of that strategy should always include internal linking, and understanding how the other pages of your website can contribute value toward your new page. And with great internal linking, ranking for very difficult keyword phrases is made much easier as you share the authority of your other best content with your new efforts. Connect with HubSpot MORE >>

by Jon Miller Inbound marketing is a highly effective strategy for companies seeking to reach and connect with prospective buyers, but in isolation it will fail for most companies. Two of the most critical limitations are: It’s hard to target specific audiences with inbound marketing. If you want to reach a specific set of contacts – for example, decision makers at a list of target accounts – then inbound won’t let you do so efficiently. In contrast, you need “ground war” tactics (think marines and snipers) to target specific objectives and hold territory. Identify who’s hot – and who’s not. MORE >>

When it comes to the different types of content you can publish on a business blog , there is a world of possibilities. But among all those variations of blog content is a very important one that often gets overlooked. That, my friend, is evergreen content , and every blog could use some. In this article, we'll dive into what evergreen content is (and isn't), why it's so important to the success of a blog, and how you can effectively leverage it for your business. What Is Evergreen Blog Content? But we're talking about the web here, right? Where things change lightning fast? Breaking news (e.g. MORE >>

Generation Y , young, digital-savvy consumers, are the 18- to 34-year-old age group which has grown up with internet and social media. They communicate about product and services with their friends on social networks. They read and write online reviews and are more likely to recommend products. They have higher wages and are more likely to spend their money on luxury goods as well. survey done by American Express Business Insights find out that Generation Y increased their spending 31% in 2011 over 2010. This is about B2C. But how about B2B and what can they use this information for? As Gen. MORE >>