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There’s always a stiff debate around the role of marketers in such environments as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Purists believe that the use of these platforms for product or service marketing disrupts what would otherwise be an online place where friends can get together. Yet, in order to support the operation and growth of social media platforms, there’s an important role for marketers to play. Read our guest post on SocialTimes to learn more.

[Source: SocialTimes]

Webinar: February 4, 2010, 12:30 to 1:15 PM EST

Prospecting for today isn’t good enough. Focus too much on the near term, and you’ll find yourself in a constant scramble for leads. Break the cycle now, and cultivate leads for the future. You’ll develop a pipeline for the future and gain a platform for strong, consistent growth. Don’t chase leads… cultivate them.

Join enter:marketing for this webinar to learn how you can cultivate your leads!

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Four reasons CIOs don’t switch (but a big reason why they do): You can run down the list of enhancements and show that your solution could beat the competition head-to-head. And, it’s cheaper – a lot cheaper. It goes on and on. You’re talking to a prospective client and keep hitting a roadblock: he doesn’t want to switch from what he has now. In the IT sales and marketing space, this could be the most difficult challenge you’ll face.

Read the article >>

Five ways to get started on “social CRM”: A decade ago, the CRM sector was hitting its stride. The commericialization of the web made it possible for businesses to keep better track of their customers, marketing initiatives and the revenue associated with each, with the evolution of software as a service (SaaS) making it even more accessible and powerful. The next iteration in the maturity of CRM is social media. Beyond the nebulous benefits of connecting with existing and new clients via this increasingly popular channel, there are steps you can take to use tools like Twitter and LinkedIn to extend your CRM capabilities.

Read the article >>

enter:marketing announces new IT social media marketing solution: The buzz around social media marketing is palpable, but many IT resellers are rightfully skeptical. After all, how do you link tweets, fans and other nebulous concepts to sales opportunities? Through our work with you and the top IT manufacturers in the business, enter:marketing has developed a unique, results-focused social media marketing approach that is designed to extend your reach, target your message to a specific market and generate opportunities for client intelligence and new business. Enter the social media space confidently, and reap the rewards of this robust marketing venue.

Read the article >>

Read the rest of this entry »

There is no shortage of IT marketing agencies on the market that would be thrilled to have you as a client. You get calls regularly, have listened to countless pitches and reviewed what feels like a never-ending stack of presentations on demand generation. So, how do you choose? If you have a partner in place, how do you evaluate its effectiveness?

The most important aspect of your relationship, of course, is the result generated. You are looking for a return on your marketing investment, and sluggish demand generation is probably an indicator that you need to take a closer look at your IT marketing agency. And, strong results may be effective now, but you need to think toward the future — is your agency equipped to help you grow and mature?

To help you answer these questions, you’ll find below five characteristics of an
optimal IT marketing partner. Take a look to get a sense of what you are receiving
from your current relationship.

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In the average IT VAR’s arsenal of marketing tools, events are a perennial favorite. They give you a chance to meet clients and prospects face-to-face, develop relationships and gather the information you need to advance toward a sale. Unfortunately, you’re not the only reseller who knows this. So, calendars fill up quickly, and IT buyers need to make choices. Your goal is to make them see the value in your event above the others and drive swift, decisive action.

To win a spot on an IT buyer’s calendar, your invitation needs to stand out. Tight, high-impact copy and a compelling design are crucial – but these aren’t always enough to differentiate your event. Below, you’ll find three ways to make your event invitation more actionable.

Read the rest of this entry »

You can’t talk about marketing without talking about conversion. Reaching a broad audience that is interested in your company or solution is only the first step in turning contact into a sale, and every professional marketer knows that names fall off from one stage of the sales cycle to the next. Ultimately, the number that indicates your success is revenue – if you’re hitting your targets, you must be doing something right, the conventional wisdom holds. But, there are measures along the way that can help you refine your marketing and sales practices and lead to greater returns on your marketing investment.

Read the rest of this entry »

A decade ago, the CRM sector was hitting its stride. The commericialization of the web made it possible for businesses to keep better track of their customers, marketing initiatives and the revenue associated with each, with the evolution of software as a service (SaaS) making it even more accessible and powerful. The next iteration in the maturity of CRM is social media. Beyond the nebulous benefits of connecting with existing and new clients via this increasingly popular channel, there are steps you can take to use tools like Twitter and LinkedIn to extend your CRM capabilities.

The stakes are high, of course. Forrester Research estimates that around 75 percent of adults online in the United States use social media platforms, so there’s a decent chance that a meaningful portion of your target market can be found in this environment. The challenge then becomes … what do you do with this access?

Like Forrester, I agree that you need to dodge the hype and get right down to business. There are plenty of specific ways you can extend your CRM capabilities into the social media space, from monitoring client satisfaction trends to identifying pain points that can be used in pursuing new business. The potential is easy enough to identify — execution tends to be the tough part.

So, here are five suggestions from Forrester on how to get started … with an enter:marketing twist:

Read the rest of this entry »

Introduction: If every marketing effort you pursue is successful, then it’s screamingly clear that you need help. A sky-high success rate means you aren’t being aggressive enough – and you’re probably leaving ROI on the table. This week, we’ll dig into the opportunities that come from unsuccessful marketing efforts – and not the “learn from experience” kind. The concept of learning from your mistakes is old and established: we all know the drill. Instead, I’m talking about the salient and immediate efforts of a swing and a miss.

Read the article >>

Are you trying hard enough?: In IT marketing departments and businesses around the world, the fear of failure is endemic. Nobody wants to have to explain why something didn’t work … let alone carry the stigma of an unsuccessful attempt. This phobia, unfortunately, is costing companies ROI. As we mentioned yesterday, if you’re doing everything right, you’re really doing everything wrong. You should be stretching for bigger results. Take the risk, and you may trade a few unsuccessful for campaigns for a much higher overall marketing ROI.

Read the article >>

Which ROI is important?: The biggest mistake you can make is to evaluate success exclusively on a campaign-by-campaign basis: it costs you a view of the whole (and some ROI). Don’t misunderstand: metrics for every campaign should be scrutinized; you can learn a lot from them. Your principal measure of success, however, should be much broader.

Read the article >>

Define your risk profile: An aggressive approach to marketing may not be right for your company. After all, some businesses are uncomfortable with risk, while others thrive on it. What’s important, however, is that you know what type of company yours is in regards to marketing risk and return.

Read the article >>

Plan for growth: Even if your company values a steady, conservative approach to marketing, you may have more latitude than you realize. Reflected on your recent programs, and think about what you could have done differently. Challenge yourself to identify missed opportunities. Use them as the backbone of a marketing plan that you can submit to your executive team (enter:marketing can help you put it together), and show how you could increase your company’s marketing ROI.

Read the article >>

Click here to receive enter:marketing blog updates by e-mail >>

Four reasons CIOs don’t switch (but a big reason why they do): You can run down the list of enhancements and show that your solution could beat the competition head-to-head. And, it’s cheaper – a lot cheaper. It goes on and on. You’re talking to a prospective client and keep hitting a roadblock: he doesn’t want to switch from what he has now. In the IT sales and marketing space, this could be the most difficult challenge you’ll face.

Read the article >>

enter:marketing announces new IT social media marketing solution: The buzz around social media marketing is palpable, but many IT resellers are rightfully skeptical. After all, how do you link tweets, fans and other nebulous concepts to sales opportunities? Through our work with you and the top IT manufacturers in the business, enter:marketing has developed a unique, results-focused social media marketing approach that is designed to extend your reach, target your message to a specific market and generate opportunities for client intelligence and new business. Enter the social media space confidently, and reap the rewards of this robust marketing venue.

Read the article >>

Swing for the fences: Are you trying hard enough?: In IT marketing departments and businesses around the world, the fear of failure is endemic. Nobody wants to have to explain why something didn’t work … let alone carry the stigma of an unsuccessful attempt. This phobia, unfortunately, is costing companies ROI. As we mentioned yesterday, if you’re doing everything right, you’re really doing everything wrong. You should be stretching for bigger results. Take the risk, and you may trade a few unsuccessful for campaigns for a much higher overall marketing ROI.

Read the article >>

Read the rest of this entry »

Even if your company values a steady, conservative approach to marketing, you may have more latitude than you realize. Reflected on your recent programs, and think about what you could have done differently. Challenge yourself to identify missed opportunities. Use them as the backbone of a marketing plan that you can submit to your executive team (enter:marketing can help you put it together), and show how you could increase your company’s marketing ROI.

And, change the way you evaluate success.

Specific program performance is important, but it could obscure greater opportunities, causing you to miss significant chances to contribute to company growth. Program results are for learning, aggregate returns determine success.

Take a few risks, even small ones, and your company will be rewarded.

Previous articles in this series:

Introduction >>

Are you trying hard enough? >>

Which ROI is important? >>

Define your risk profile >>

Click here to receive enter:marketing blog updates by e-mail >>