"This email must go out to all our customers in the next 7 minutes." That is how much time a client of mine was recently given to send an important email announcement to their entire customer base. The company she worked for (which will remain anonymous) is a software security vendor. The email was intended …
How a 1% unsubscribe rate KILLS your business
 Below is a screen shot of the footer of an email I received early this morning, one which illustrates a common problem in email subscription management. This particular one is from a software vendor not unlike many others. As a long-time customer of this company I receive regular email, and in good faith started …
Continue reading "How a 1% unsubscribe rate KILLS your business"
Take the Quiz: Is Your Data Quality Good Enough?
The value of high-quality data cannot be lost on any marketer. It's our job after all, to know the market - what customers need, what they expect - fully and completely. Top-quality data enables that knowledge. As a marketer armed with perfect data, I can engage large numbers of prospects with pinpoint accuracy. No prospect …
Continue reading "Take the Quiz: Is Your Data Quality Good Enough?"
Lead Scoring: Start the Conversation
So you've decided to embark on building a state-of-the-art lead scoring program. Most marketers seem to agree that scoring leads prior to sending over to Sales for follow-up is a good idea.  If nothing else, the score attached to each lead creates a useful data point to reflect the expected value of that individual's inquiry …
Are Marketers Doing Enough to Prevent Data Breach?
Finally, at long last, you have reached your marketing automation nirvana. Your web site visitors are being tracked, inquiries are scored and sent over to sales, you are getting great feedback from sales on lead quality. Your teammates in marketing are also seeing good results from their campaign efforts. Time to kick back and relax …
Continue reading "Are Marketers Doing Enough to Prevent Data Breach?"
B2B Multi-channel Done Right
At the Eloqua Experience conference last month I briefly met an interesting new Eloqua technology partner, Advanced Image Direct, based in Fullerton, CA and their Cloud2You solution for automated Eloqua direct mail programs.Simply put, you can use their solution to trigger individualized, personalized mailers to contacts as they are added to a Program Builder step.  …
Marketing Operations: Is Contracting Out Worth It?
Following the various discussion forums out there, you’ll find "marketing operations staffing practices" is a perennial hot-topic (recent examples found on LinkedIn, Topliners and MarketingProfs). The points of view offered in these forums typically revolve around the merits of outsourcing this-or-that type of activity; which outsourced or in-sourced work lead to a tangible economic return …
Continue reading "Marketing Operations: Is Contracting Out Worth It?"
3 Things You Can Do to Integrate Email and Social Media. Right Now.
Wish you had more traffic to your blogs, forums and other social media outlets?  While the benefits of using social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for marketing purposes are well-documented, it seems that few marketers are using the features available in their marketing automation software to get customers and prospects to social media outlets. …
Continue reading "3 Things You Can Do to Integrate Email and Social Media. Right Now."