WebMarketCentral

JULY 20, 2009

Resources for starting a new business, ideas for naming that business, mistakes to avoid, lead generation strategies to embrace, how to apply some of Warren Buffet's wisdom to online marketing efforts.find all of that and more here in this final collection of the best posts on strategy and branding from the past year. What's in A Name?

Marketing & Strategy 20

Marketing & Strategy Brand Identity Branding Best Practices 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

But which social media tool do marketers find most valuable? What's the best tool for social media research and learning? How can you maximize the business value of tools like LinkedIn and Twitter? tools (delicious, Feedburner, LinkedIn et al.), How can you explain the value of social media to skeptics?

Social Media 20

Social Media Social Marketing Web 2.0 Paid Search Agency 20

WebMarketCentral

APRIL 20, 2009

Once you've optimized the list of keywords in your search engine marketing campaign, tweaked the bids and crafted stellar ad text to bring visitors to your site, landing page design is critical to converting those visitors into sales or leads. Here are a few of the best posts about SEM landing page design from last year.

Landing Pages 20

Landing Pages SEM Best Practices Search Engine Marketing 20

WebMarketCentral

MARCH 4, 2009

Social media "are primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information" according to Wikipedia. The context in this case is the particular tool, website or other online venue where the content will be shared: in a blog, a social networking or bookmarking site, a media sharing site (e.g.

Social Media 20

Social Media Web 2.0 Media Wiki 20

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 3, 2009

What's the real the optimal cost per lead for your SEM program? Finding The Optimal Cost-Per-Lead by Search Engine Land Patricia Hursh makes the case that the lowest cost per lead isn't always best, as this pursuit can cause marketers to leave leads on the table, so to speak. How can you improve conversion rates?

Search Engine Marketing 20

Search Engine Marketing Search Marketing Adwords SEM 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Although the improved UI is the big change, the new version also adds integration with SalesForce.com for AdWords campaigns and improved lead generation capabilities. Jeff contends that marketing automation systems will become required tools for any b2b "considered purchase" (i.e., The company's original focus was on web analytics.

Manticore 20

Manticore Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Automation 20

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 18, 2008

Leaving your content open may actually produce more leads in the long run, but you have no way to measure that with any precision (or even know for sure if that's the case). Next, create custom Flash forms using Docmetrics tools to collect user information. Are they actually reading your content? Printing it? Passing it along?

Spyware 20

Spyware Budget Programs Lead Capture Paper 20

WebMarketCentral

AUGUST 31, 2009

Doing a better job of training employees and qualifying leads? Looking for some off-the-beaten-trail ideas for driving more site traffic? Getting more out of those expensive marketing conferences? Meeting the biggest challenges in b2b marketing head-on? Then you're in the right place!

Paid Content 20

Paid Content Paid Search Agency Best Practices Advertising Agencies 20

WebMarketCentral

JUNE 3, 2009

SEO: best bang for your buck for generating online leads by E-consultancy Aliya Zaidi summarizes research from E-consultancy showing that while " natural search, email marketing and paid search are still the most commonly used methods for generating online leads," " SEO (is) seen as providing the best value for money."

Brand Identity 20

Brand Identity Branding Marketing & Strategy Best Practices 20

WebMarketCentral

JULY 30, 2009

I mean, it's all right there on your campaign management screen: how much you spent, how many conversions (leads) you got, and your cost per lead. Measuring only the final click, and giving all of the credit for the lead to your text ad, distorts what's truly happening. Simple, right? Balderdash.

Social Media 20

Social Media Paid Content ROI Media 20

WebMarketCentral

AUGUST 14, 2008

Google Analytics Keyword Sleuth vs Search Query Performance Report by Google Analytics Blog Mark Curtis offers up a detailed comparison of these two helpful PPC keyword research tools. Both are free, but one is considerably faster and more thorough. SEO and SEM Shortcuts, Spying and Stats to Dominate Google! Whats the best keyword match type?

Search Engine Marketing 20

Search Engine Marketing Search Marketing Marketing Analytics Tools Paid Search Agency 20

WebMarketCentral

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

In the words of MarketingSherpa, "Online ads are branding tools. So again: banner ads are branding, not revenue or lead generation. 2) Click-through rates are pathetic regardless of ad size, so don't use CTR as the primary metric for evaluating banner advertising. Direct clicks are simply a happy byproduct."

Banner Ads 20

Banner Ads CTR Banners Ads 20

WebMarketCentral

NOVEMBER 11, 2009

Various posts were promoted on Twitter (with retweeting encouraged) and to three relevant and popular LinkedIn Groups focused on social media, PR and b2b lead generation. While the results aren't scientific by any means, they are enlightening. The results? For a minimally retweeted post, Twitter drove about twice the traffic of LinkedIn.

Traffic 20

Traffic Twitter Linkedin Web 2.0 20

WebMarketCentral

APRIL 22, 2009

Technical ability —not all that long ago, PR pros' primary tools were email and the phone. Greater availability of information requires greater transparency, but also leads to richer conversations. Those days are fading, which is welcome news to many PR practitioners as well as their audiences.

PR 20

PR Social Media Web 2.0 Media 20

WebMarketCentral

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

As Glen notes, commenting generally drives only a small amount of direct traffic, but helps establish a relationship with the blogger that can lead to links and other benefits down the road.

RSS 20

RSS Best Practices Business Blogger 20

WebMarketCentral

JULY 14, 2008

With that in mind, MarketingSherpa last week presented their Top 10 B-to-B Marketing FastFixes: How to Generate & Nurture More Qualified Leads. Next, run those phrases through a keyword tool to find similar phrases and their relative search frequency. Speak Up Speaking engagements are an excellent source of high-quality leads.

Enterprise Management 20

Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management B2B Marketing 20

WebMarketCentral

SEPTEMBER 20, 2007

These best practices include: Use free online tools such as Google Suggest and Overture's Keyword Selector Tool to help select the most popular search terms relevant to your campaign. Write compelling, carefully targeted ad copy. Track, analyze, optimize and test everything: ad copy, landing pages, keyword bids and response incentives.

CTR 20

CTR Adwords Practices Doubleclick 20

WebMarketCentral

APRIL 17, 2006

Expansion continues at WebMarketCentral with the addition of a new Web marketing resources page for b2b lead generation, a new Web marketing tools page, additional listings for SEO services and ad agencies, and a bigger Web marketing books page. Ohio), Neutralize in the U.K., and RankUno in India.

Marketing Management 20

Marketing Management Advertising Agencies Paid Search Agency Lead Qualification 20

WebMarketCentral

MARCH 24, 2009

Paid search—one of the most cost-effective and measurable lead generation tactics—was actually in line for cuts by slightly more respondents than increases. Slimmer majorities found it even "somewhat effective" at generating leads or increasing sales.

Social Media 20

Social Media Paid Content Paid Search Agency Web 2.0 20

WebMarketCentral

OCTOBER 6, 2008

Of executives "who said they focused on sales ‘effectiveness' strategic activities such as lead management and deal registration, 62% reported an increase in revenue. Ensure that leads are delivered rapidly. Particularly for near-commodity products, leads can "cool off" quickly, and first-to-respond often beats best product offering.

Advertising Channels 20

Advertising Channels Enterprise Management Marketing Management Marketing & Strategy 20

WebMarketCentral

JANUARY 23, 2009

For example, though I've used many keyword tools and even written about some of the best keyword research tools here and here , I somehow managed to overlook Wordtracker's free keyword suggestion tool , which uses data from Dogpile and Metacrawler to estimate search volume across all search engines. Buzz , Digg and Photo.net. "A

Optimization 20

Optimization Marketing Websites PageRank Lead Scoring 20

WebMarketCentral

AUGUST 29, 2007

Marketing guru, podcaster and blogger extraordinaire Paul Dunay has developed a reputation for interviewing smart, interesting people about their knowledge of web marketing, blogging and social media tools. In case you missed it, last week he took a break from that practice—and interviewed me instead. tags: Paul Dunay, podcast, web 2.0

Web 2.0 20

Web 2.0 Marketing Management B2B Thought Leadership Bandwidth 20

WebMarketCentral

FEBRUARY 25, 2008

Practical Guide to Website Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) by Search Engine Journal Writer Julie Mason details the key website performance indicators that "help you measure the effectiveness of your website with quantifiable and actionable results," including page views per visit, visits per lead and cost per lead.

Analytics 20

Analytics Best Practices Blogger Banner Ads 20

WebMarketCentral

APRIL 3, 2007

There are a number of helpful, free online spam-checking tools available including tools from Lyris and Sitesell. Here are four tips to improve the deliverability of your legitimate, opt-in email marketing newsletters and campaign blasts. 1) Run a spam check on your content before sending. 2) Be careful with subject lines and content.

Deliverability 20

Deliverability Blast Campaigns CAN-SPAM Opt-out 20

WebMarketCentral

APRIL 11, 2008

It can be a healthy creative outlet, and a valuable PR tool. Brian Carroll, B2B Lead Generation Blog, Elge Premeau, My Travels on the Net, Albert Maruggi, Marketing Edge podcast, Skip Lineberg, Marketing Genius, corporate bloggers, technology bloggers, Russell Shaw, Marc Orchant del.icio.us Why do you blog?

Blogger 20

Blogger Paid Search Agency PR Tagging 20

WebMarketCentral

FEBRUARY 6, 2009

Compelling copy, logical and intuitive navigation, and clear calls to action are the tools SEOs use to keep this online process on track. He defines a lead as "anyone with a checkbook" and exaggerates product capabilities in order to close more deals. Demonstrate mastery by achieving (the right) measurable results.

SEO 20

SEO Ethics Word of Mouth Sales Qualified Leads 20

WebMarketCentral

FEBRUARY 14, 2007

Webinars can be a powerful B2B lead generation tool, but vendors come with a wide variety of price points and feature sets. Check out several before selecting the best one to meet your unique needs.

Service 20

Service Webcast Vendors Lead Scoring 20

WebMarketCentral

FEBRUARY 12, 2007

Among the key findings: - The use of both video and audio webcasting by B2B marketers increased in 2006 over 2005, though video grew somewhat faster (44% vs. 32%), driven by the increasing acceptance of webcasts as a B2B lead generation tool and the widespread adoption of broadband Internet connections, even in home and small office environments.

Webcast 20

Webcast Trends PR Marketing Mix 20

WebMarketCentral

DECEMBER 6, 2007

Divide this into three sections—strategies, tactics and tools. Marketing & PR Tactics Tactics specify how the identified marketing and strategies will be implemented, and how the tools that will be identified in the next session will be used to support the stated marketing and PR objectives. That ought to get you started!

Planning 20

Planning Marketing Plans Paid Search Agency Banner Ads 20

WebMarketCentral

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

Website analytics tools ranging from the elegant but pricey Websense to the cumbersome but free Google Analytics provide an exhaustive array of analytical statistics: how many visitors are finding your site, where they are finding it, how they are searching for it, what they do when they get there, how much time they spend, and on and on.

Analytics 20

Analytics Paid Search Agency Cost per Lead Marketing Analytics Tools 20

WebMarketCentral

JULY 9, 2007

Seana Mulcahy at MediaPost recently wrote a piece about using social media and other tools to build word-of-mouth promotion online. There are a number of online tools and methods to spread word of mouth online, but a key one is interactive PR.

Word of Mouth 20

Word of Mouth PR Buzz Web 2.0 20

WebMarketCentral

SEPTEMBER 18, 2006

The professional services marketing experts at RainToday will be hosting a valuable Webinar on " How to Lead Masterful Sales Conversations " October 5th and 10th.

Buy 20

Buy Webinar Metrics Software Contact Marketing 20

WebMarketCentral

FEBRUARY 5, 2007

The flying superhero wore a high-tech toolpack on his chest with tools creatively labeled to reflect the company's supply chain services offering, such as “Inventory Normalizer” and “Supply Chain Analyzer.” The result: an award-winning campaign that was also a big business success.

Work Management 20

Work Management Marketing Management Paid Search Agency Planning 20

WebMarketCentral

JANUARY 16, 2009

The model has potential, though at $10 per lead the cost could quickly take a tool on an unemployed candidate's budget. I couldn't find much written about the company or CEO Rick Probstein , so if you have any experience with this company, please leave a comment below.

Resources 20

Resources PR Tagging Lead Ranking 20

WebMarketCentral

JUNE 26, 2007

A decent tool, but nothing really sets it apart from the pack. Their clipping tool provides limited control over the area to be clipped—but gets first-rate results anyway. BeeTooBee is one of the best places to tag content related to online marketing tools, services, strategies, tactics and content. social bookmarking sites.

Web 2.0 20

Web 2.0 Tagging Digg B2B Thought Leadership 20

WebMarketCentral

MARCH 1, 2007

Ted Boardman's brief review helpfully points out the "Curse of Knowledge" described in the book: the natural human tendency for people with deep expertise in a particular subject to forget that often their audience doesn't share that level of knowledge, which leads to the creation of overly complicated and detailed messages that don't resonate or stick. (..)

Advertising Agencies 20

Advertising Agencies Amazon PR Paid Search Agency 20

WebMarketCentral

AUGUST 20, 2008

In response, non-profits are getting more creative in using social media and other online tools to provide people with more ways to contribute than simply reaching for nearly-empty wallets. For example, their Vision Simulator tool helps web designers understand how people with different types of vision impairment see the web.

Social Media 20

Social Media Ning Media Tagging 20