B-to-B General Advice

SUMMARY: This year saw a surge in interest for social sharing features, which let subscribers post email content to their social networks. If you haven’t yet added social sharing to your email newsletters, check out this case study from our archives and consider testing the tactic in 2010.

We spoke with a B2B email newsletter publisher to learn how they implemented social sharing this year. The early results showed a 25% boost in reader interaction, and a surge in inbound traffic from social networking sites. Includes tips on:
o Choosing the right networks
o Designing a template
o Launching the program
o Measuring results read the complete case study

SUMMARY: A company blog is a great way to share your industry expertise with clients, and to create keyword-rich content for search engines. But creating a blog and encouraging multiple authors to contribute can be daunting.

Read how a small consulting firm had nearly everyone in their company contribute to a corporate blog that now accounts for more than 50% of natural search-generated visits. Learn tips on identifying keywords, creating an editorial calendar and setting deadlines. read the complete article

SUMMARY: Your best-laid marketing campaigns can suffer when disaster strikes. You still have to get your message out, but you face a state of crisis and turmoil.

Discover strategies you can use in a time of crisis. Two marketing vets of two of the largest nonprofit disaster-relief agencies in the U.S share how they continue to solicit donations and get their messages out even when disaster strikes. read the complete interview

SUMMARY: In this week’s chart, we’ll take a look at marketing budgets as a percentage of total gross revenue for various organization sizes.

What is your marketing budget and what percentage of your gross revenue does it represent? Check out this week’s chart to see how your budget compares to other organizations of your size. read the complete article

By Anne Holland, Founder

I woke with a start at four in the morning in a hotel room in Scottsdale, Arizona, where I was conducting research at a marketing trade show in October 1999.

Back then, as now, marketing, PR and advertising professionals were nearly deafened by a deluge of media "serving" them. Magazines, events, newsletters, etc., etc. But, as a 20-year veteran, I felt that huge amount of content hadn't been terribly... read the complete blog post