Confession: as a died-in-the-wool direct marketer, I am a branding cynic. My general attitude towards branding is summed up in the old maxim: “Branding is what your agency calls your campaign when they can’t measure it.”. Now that’s not to say that a brand isn’t real, for some. Starbucks is a successful brand. And so is Nike. And Coke. But does a B2B company, particularly an early-stage company, need branding? would argue: no. What makes branding even more irrelevant for most B2B companies today is the very nature of modern demand generation : namely, content marketing. MORE >>

In an earlier post we discussed the importance of paying attention to warm or less-than-perfect leads that could result in sales if pursued with additional insight and diligence. In this post we want. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]. B2B marketing B2B Sales CRM Lead analytics Lead Lifecycle Management b2b Demand Generation leads Marketing Automation ROI sales rejected leads srls MORE >>

By Kerry Gorgone, Contributing {grow} Columnist. Entrepreneurs are universally short on time and money. Everyone knows that social media needs to play a role in their marketing efforts, but managing all of the different social networks can seem daunting. There are numerous tools that make populating your Twitter feed, Facebook page, and other social media outlets relatively painless, and some are completely free. Of course, if you want more versatility (additional profiles, analytics, etc.), some services require premium subscriptions. Hootsuite / Seesmic. Tweetdeck. Price : Free. Buffer. MORE >>

The 3 U’s apply to collaboration as well – source: Nicola Millard (Scribd) I haven’t been blogging a lot in recent months. Since nearly five months we started working with BT Global Services on an integrated global social business, training and content marketing program. Many departments, countries, languages and actions: you can imagine it learns one a few lessons on social business and collaboration. Some facts and data. Social business is all about people, integration (the silos, remember?) and collaboration. That’s how we often describe it. It’s at the very center of success.  MORE >>

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  a business blog is the best way to get found online, the best way to connect with potential clients, and the pathway to turning readers into clients. So, what’s your favorite excuse for not blogging for your business? keep hearing the same reasons, over and over. Top 3 Excuses for Not Blogging: “I don’t have time to blog.”. My clients aren’t surfing the Web reading blogs.”. Oh, that means I’ve got to write about my business every week?”. There are over a billion people connected to the Internet. m not saying that. Well worth it, IMHO. MORE >>