The Marketing Executives Group International

Author: Harvey Kraft
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=92357&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro

Web collaboration is about to change how marketing and sales channels work together. The compelling premise for commercial Web collaboration is that interactivity opens up a host of opportunities that give your business a competitive edge, generate sustainable revenue increases, lower cost of acquisition, and achieve remarkably efficient productivity.

Author: Michael A. Brown
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-a-brown/3/918/979

Summary: Even with all the “e-“ and social media, human dialogue remains integral to B-to-B marketing. Here’s how to do it right.

Author: Wendy Flanagan

http://www.linkedin.com/in/wendyflanaganmurray

I've had the pleasure of conducting several live events and webinars on Social Media, and the number one question is, "Should I represent my company in Social Media?" I advise people to give some consideration to the following:

Author: Lou Amico, President L.A. Management Company
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/louamico

Summary:  Today's online marketing strategies require a much more holistic approach in order to be successful. You can no longer just build a web site, SEO is no longer just technical and Social Media is now a reality. To be successful online you need a comprehensive strategy the integrates multiple marketing components that if done properly can exceed your expectations and dominate your competition.

By: John A Burshek, President, The Arthur Group
Linkedin URL:  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-burshek/1/262/b68

By Laurie Leonard

Have you ever designed a great marketing strategy and been frustrated to find that the company you designed it for did a poor job of responding to the telephone leads it generated?  Worse yet, did they fail to properly track the leads that would have shown just how successful your marketing efforts actually were?

A good call center is a critical component of your marketing efforts.  It can provide you with a consistent process for:

By Janet LeBlanc

In early 2000, Canada Post was at a crossroads. It was challenged by the continued need to deliver to 14 million addresses in the harshest weather conditions — over 40 million messages serving approximately 32 million Canadians on any given business day. These daily operational realities led the company to an inward orientation focused on operations. As a result, Canada Post had cultivated an ‘inside out’ culture where the needs of the company were put before the customer experience.

By: Jim Sullivan

I love my direct mail; I look forward to reviewing every piece of the mail in my mail box. The best part of direct mail marketing is not how creative the package is, nor how good and responsive the list is, nor how strong the offer or how compelling the story about the kit is to me.

Why SaaS-Based Marketing Software Isn’t Always Enough

Marketing Resource Management (MRM) and Multichannel Campaign Management (MCM) platforms such as Aprimo have really taken off in the past few years, becoming a top-of-mind want, if not need, for a growing number of large and medium-sized corporate marketing departments. 

By: Susan Friedmann

Booth staff selection forms the single most important factor to your exhibiting success. More than graphics, signage, literature, giveaways, or any other variable, it is the people you put on the show floor that influence a visitor’s opinion about your organization. They are your ambassadors, representing your company, for the whole world to see. In other words, your team is crucial to your overall success.

Author: Rich Aroian

Channel Marketing executives need to look beyond lead generation and branding. This article identifies 10 areas critical to Channel success and outlines how Channel Marketing can be a key leader in each one.

FDA Social Media Hearing Summary

By:  Kurt Mueller
For now it would appear we are left to police ourselves, form our own guidelines and give our best effort to do right. The findings and ideas consolidated in this point of view article are offered in an effort to encourage more companies and marketers to become responsibly involved in social media so that we have a stake in shaping the final guidelines.

By: Ken Jackson

By the end of the last century, the mechanics of business marketing had largely been placed in the hands of product marketing managers. For many companies, marketing meant the engineering of channel rollouts, brochures and obligatory advertising; then off everybody went, guided by the time-proven sales principles of Zig Ziglar.

By Christopher Ryan

Even the most creative branding and awareness building program will not produce the desired results unless you can efficiently work prospects through the system and produce revenue at the other end. Therefore, you should continually evaluate your lead generation program to ensure that it meets these seven criteria:

By Eric Abrams

When you hear the words “Loyalty Program”, a lot of different images can run through your mind, especially when it comes to Restaurants.  From paper-based punch cards to electronic frequency cards stuffed in your wallet or purse, to the possibly dozens of plastic “mini-cards” dangling off of your keychain, all of these programs have been designed to keep you “loyal”.  But in the true sense of the word, are guests “Loyal”?  Does a plastic card create a long-lasting and value-driven relationship between a consumer and a brand?  Does being “loyal” mean I won’t stray from Pizza Place ‘A’ to Pizza Place ‘B’ even though I really love Pizza Place ‘A’?

By: Mike Mraz

The path of least resistance leads to nowhere!

I’ve been making presentations to exhibitors for years. Recently I’ve noticed that many of them seem to be planning better. Their strategy is better. They’re finding, learning about and taking advantage of current trends. They are discovering the value of targeted pre-show promotions. Effective exhibit design, even at the 10 foot and table top level, seems to be more prevalent.

By John L. Schinnerer, Ph.D. and Shirley Knight

On average, companies change CMOs every two years. Is this a function of unrealistic expectations, unclear job requirements, or something more fundamental? Perhaps the solution is as simple as accurately measuring that which truly bonds consumers to brands – emotional engagement.

Reengineering the White Paper - Part 1

 Developing a Compelling Point of View

This is the first of a three-part series on the staple of every thought leadership marketing campaign: the white paper.  Most white papers are ignored or forgotten soon after they are published.  But a few connect with executives and open doors.  These white papers result from a very different approach to developing and marketing content.

By Matt Heinz - http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattheinz

29 ways to get more leads & sales at your next trade show

By: Luke McKeever  - http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/luke-mckeever/1/9b6/b04

Today, more so than ever, marketers are under pressure to deliver tangible, measurable results. At the same time however, they are facing increasingly competitive markets, greater ad-fatigue, higher customer expectations, a proliferation of new media and sales channels, more marketing communication opt outs than ever before, and shrinking marketing budgets.

By: Seena Sharp http://www.linkedin.com/in/seenasharp 

The eternal question in business is “Why do so many companies fail or lose money?” The answer has to come down to the decisions made, and the resulting consequences of those decisions.  But, while this explains what may have happened, it does not address why it happened, or how these decisions might have been improved. 

By Marc Kauffmann - http://www.linkedin.com/in/marckauffmann

In the next couple of years, executive recruiters for "C-level" positions in leading-edge organizations will be filling a new position--the CRO or Chief Relationship Officer. With business more competitive than ever, and with many companies (and consumers) left licking their wounds after the dotcom bust, an organization's key constituents--customers, suppliers, partners, shareholders, and employees
--are king. The company that has the lion's share of them is the victor. So taking relationship leverage solutions seriously is absolutely critical and 100% justifiable.

By: Lonny Strum - www.linkedin.com/in/strumconsulting
 

Unfortunately quality products and services fail due to poor marketing decisions. The following provides a list of ten marketing mistakes many businesses make. Hope you don’t find too many of them familiar to you and your company. The challenge for any business is to create great products and services and then market them smartly. These are the ten pitfalls to avoid:

By:  Elaine Leonetti http://www.linkedin.com/in/elaineleonetti

CASCADING YOUR BRAND

Most people think a brand is created through marketing and advertising and point to the interesting ads, impactful messages and cool designs. 

Author: Carla Robinson - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/carla-robinson/6/198/183

“We appear to be in the midst of a period of rapid innovation that is bringing with it substantial and lasting benefits to the economy”

 - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan

By: Chuck Patton - http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlespatton

On the surface, database marketing seems simple. You pull your customer data into one place and then you use the data to target market to your customers. What could be easier? More complexities hide within this simplicity than most marketers could ever expect, lying like Venus Fly Traps that lure you to their attractive scent then only to immobilize you with their sticky tentacles. Here are six varieties of the traps.

By: Rudy Picchietti http:linkedin.com/in/rudypicchietti

Today’s article covers good database techniques and the heart of Customer segmentation and one of the most powerful database marketing technique used by all good direct marketers, RFM segmenting. RFM stands for Recency (when the customer placed the last order), Frequency (how many orders the customer placed in a period of time) and Monetary (how much money the customer spent).. There have been books written on RFM modeling and if you are interested check with the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) for a recommendation.

By: David Nies - http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=hb_tab_pro

 Mobile marketing is leading brand managers in exciting directions! Through SMS, mobile websites, mobile video, and mobile applications brand managers are finding incredibly affordable and effective means of increasing a brand’s value and subsequent sales.

By Mike Harris - http://www.linkedin.com/in/harrisconsultingllc

New products and services are the lifeblood of every company. Many marketers, however, are unaware that fast, low cost guerilla techniques for market concept testing (MCT) can easily replace cumbersome market research, saving lots of money and time in the process.

Summary: