One of the things I have been interested in is examining practical applications of Klout and social scoring to an internal enterprise. If you are unclear about social scoring systems and what they attempt to measure, it might be useful to start with this blog post about Why Klout Matters. Like a credit score, let’s assume that companies like Klout, Kred and Appinions are beginning to measure something that correlates to an individual’s social media effectiveness. began with an overview of the basics behind these systems and what we can really learn from them. ” Indeed. MORE >>

As much as marketing and sales best practices—not to mention just plain common sense—dictate that cost-per-lead not play a prominent role in managing and measuring B2B lead generation investments, the metric continues to prevail. included the following in a blog on the cost-per-lead metric I wrote in the summer of 2010: “I continue to marvel at the high number of companies that only use cost-per-lead as a basis for lead generation buying decisions. “Don’t you know that roulette wheel is crooked?” Don’t you all know it’s crooked?” MORE >>

We all know people that overshare. They are the people that discuss their sex lives, their drinking problems or their last conversation with their probation officer for all to hear. These are all conversations I have overheard recently on public transit). Of course, most businesses and professionals don’t share information like this in social media, but another kind of oversharing pervades social media: oversharing content. The Oversharing Trap Oversharing generally starts with a reasonable purpose: share valuable content in order to serve and grow an audience. Get out of your rut. MORE >>

I’ll go out on a limb and state that content marketing for engineers is different. Yes, I do get it that the lines between work and personal lives have blurred thanks to today’s hyper-connected world where everybody is always “On.” And I agree that at the end of the day, marketing to engineers is still all about communicating with people. Call it P2P (Person-to-Person) marketing if you will. However, to engage with engineers and address their needs (WIIFM), your marketing content needs to have a different flavor of storytelling. know it’s Emerson again. video from Fluke Corp., MORE >>

Customers today are engaging sales reps later and later in the purchase decision. Our research shows that the typical purchase decision is 57% complete by the time the customer reaches out to a supplier. By that point, the customer has already decided: The problem that needs to be solved, The course of action that needs to be taken, The list of suppliers they might buy from, What they want to pay. potentially). All that’s left for the rep to negotiate is price. High performers, though, reject being relegated to an “order fulfillment” role and instead head upstream—WAY upstream.  . MORE >>