No one’s suggesting these platforms aren’t extremely valuable for business; rather, marketing leaders seem to be coming to the conclusion that having a presence on those platforms won’t lead to the pie-in-the-sky results promised by a lot of consultants and vendors. Can you believe it’s September already? Here in the US, Labor Day has come and gone, kids are back in school, the pools are closed, traffic is (very abruptly) much worse, and there’s a tiny hint of chill in the air at night. What are you keeping an eye on? Let us know in the comments section. MORE >>

Ari shared an example of a detailed editorial calendar for Jive’s social efforts leading up to its annual conference.  That will lead to stickier web interactions with prospects and customers. On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of moderating a great panel conversation on the use of social media in B2B sales and marketing.  The panelists included Anne Plese from Cisco, Tom Vaughn from Microsoft, and Ari Newman from Jive Software. Huge thanks to Anne, Tom and Ari for sharing their wisdom.  And so much of it!  However, that’s death for marketing teams on tight budgets.  MORE >>

This promise can drive leads and consideration.  The technology generally works well—marketers love that it gives them a chance to target their content and better manage and track the lead pipeline. Your customers live in a noisy environment.  They are constantly bombarded with messages.  You’re trying to break through and it’s tough. At best, a typical B2B supplier can expect to get 12% of a customer’s total share of attention across the purchase process. That statistic comes from comprehensive research on B2B buying and content marketing that we here at CEB have just completed.  MORE >>

For many marketers, this seems to be a year-round pain – the leads they so painstakingly manage to generate do not convert to actual purchases. MLC research shows, on an average only 25% of marketing-generated leads result in desired follow up and results. It is but natural that marketers would try to enhance the quantity and quality of leads they generate, to result in higher conversion. MLC’s resource center on Lead Generation is a rich source of resources on lead generation for marketers. Cornerstones B2B Marketing Lead Generation Marketing Communications MORE >>

Before releasing a disruptive idea into the market, leading companies ensure they understand the current level of openness to the new idea. IBM is leading the charge here by helping sales reps share key insights with their social networks. We recently polled B2B CMOs on their top priorities for next year and “Digital integration” came pretty high on the list.  Since buyers increasingly delay contact with Sales in order to do their own supplier research online, digital is a pretty hot topic for B2Bs.  Use online communities to learn about customers’ current assumptions.  MORE >>