Recent studies tell us that while the adoption of marketing automation technology continues to gain momentum, fewer than 20 percent of marketing executives say that they are fully integrating the technology into their current sales and marketing initiatives. One of the reasons for this under-utilization, and the inability of some… Read More
Category Archives: B2B Marketing
In Defense of Unsolicited Email
Over at marketing automation firm Marketo, CEO Phil Fernandez just wrote a full-throated rant against the evils of unsolicited email and purchased email lists used indiscriminately: “How does anyone think that these are sensible emails to send to the CEO of a fast-growing public company? Do they really think that… Read More
Give Your Next Demand Gen Campaign A Reality Check
We’ve all been there. The copy is winding its way through the marketing group and is now on its fourth revision. The CEO didn’t like the photo at the top of the email so it’s back to the drawing board, design-wise. The marcom director wants to change the headline so… Read More
How the Answer to One Question Can Tell You How to Market Your Technology
One of the first questions I ask any prospective technology client is the following: “Imagine your product on a spectrum. At one end of that spectrum are commodity products – CRM, for example – people know these products exist, they understand the problem that the products solve, and they recognize… Read More
Accelerating the Pace of Inbound Leads: An Interview with Paul Albright of Captora
Paul Albright boasts a 30-year track record of success in Silicon Valley, including executive roles at companies such as Marketo, SuccessFactors, NetApp, and Informatica. As co-founder and CEO of Captora, Paul is now channeling his expertise into a new generation of marketing technology that captures and converts new buyers across… Read More
Campaign Makeover: Simple Changes Increase Email Response by 25 Percent
I received an email recently from Kevin Payne, Senior Director of Field Marketing at customer service software provider [24]7. Kevin writes: “Below is one of our most successful email campaigns. We’re getting ready for a second broadcast and after reading one of your recent blog posts, I can already think… Read More
More Evidence That Waiting Even 5 Seconds to Contact a New Sales Lead Can Be Disastrous
In my experience, most of the mental energy and strategic thinking around the practice of lead nurturing and lead management is usually applied to the goal of accelerating prospects through the sales process – from MQL to SQL, from SQL to Opportunity, and so on. Relatively little attention is paid… Read More