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If you’re marketing hardware, software or services for “Big Data” – the analysis of very, very large datasets to uncover business opportunities – you should check out a recent column my colleague Larry Marion  wrote for Datamation. In it, he wrote that “despite a decade of expensive deployments and a parade of innovative products” customers Read more...

A recent excellent post by CEO Patrick Murphy of inbound marketing agency Silicon Cloud asked whether too many organizations are doing content marketing. Or, rather, whether they’re doing the wrong kind of content marketing, overusing topical themes (like the election, Christmas, the Super Bowl, etc.). As Murphy points out, it’s a fine idea to go Read more...

Back in the ‘80s, rockabilly giant Sleepy LaBeef recorded a song called “It Ain’t What You Eat (It’s the Way How You Chew It). Sadly, even Google can’t find it now, but I recall one of the lines was “It ain’t what you do, it’ the way how you do it.” When it comes to Read more...

I usually don’t pity banks, but I hate to see anyone waste money on ads that don’t deliver. Check out this ad from a major business pub. (I’m quoting everything but the headline and fine print, and replacing company and product names with ****.) “When long-term client **** **** wanted to build their hospital of Read more...

In journalism school they teach that the best reporters ask the dumbest questions.  That’s because the dumbest-sounding, most obvious questions are often the ones everyone else is dying to ask but are afraid to because they think they’ll look dumb themselves. This is just as true when you, as the marketing or product manager, are Read more...

I recently described how the old fashioned business-to -business “marketing funnel” is now a chaotic and unpredictable marketing tornado. A recent Webinar featuring marketing automation (MA) success stories from Dell and Trend Micro showed how marketing automation can meet these challenges. But, these customers said, it is an ongoing process, not a one-time silver bullet. Read more...

The best reporters and editors are those who can step outside what they think is important and focus on what their readers care about most. It’s a basic lesson but one that’s frightfully hard to keep in mind, whether you’re doing content marketing or covering Hurricane Sandy, the supposed “Frankenstorm” hitting the East Coast today Read more...

B2B buying patterns are getting more chaotic and unpredictable – even to the buyers. That makes it more important than ever to track what prospects do, rather than what they tell you, so you can find those who suddenly need your products or services. Four out of ten B2B buyers had little advance notice of Read more...