The B2B marcom world has had an interesting last decade trying to navigate its way through the latest digital marketing trends (and we don’t just mean social media!). As consumers in our personal lives, we are marketed to almost entirely differently than in our business lives.

It’s that time of year again….back to school. Excitement at the anticipation of a new learning year is upon us. But it doesn’t just have to be for the kids… We, as adults, should continually embark on a new journey of learning and self-betterment.

A quick sidebar on creativity through email

We can all agree, creativity isn’t a linear process—it best thrives when varying perspectives are all given equal weight and the something that has been looked at a thousand times in one light is suddenly seen in a completely different one.

It’s summer. Not only is everyone gearing up for vacation and big plans away, but also getting ready to hit the second half of the year strong. Maybe there have been some adjustments to your marketing goals after the first half. Maybe the second half has the potential to be a game changer for your company. Either way, it might also be time to pack your bags for another big reason: tradeshows.

Let’s face it, things don’t always turn out as well as you had expected. Sometimes you need to deliver news that isn’t particularly flattering to your company or its products. And although we would love to keep a lid on negative publicity and not let the world know about it, sometimes it is unavoidable. So, what are we to do? Sweep it under the rug? Lie? Act like it never happened? The answer to each of these questions is a resounding NO!

Marketing automation has breathed new life into email marketing. That which was once destined for junk folders and blacklists is becoming useful again by not merely spamming the reader with potentially relevant information, but instead providing value driven material that matches the interests and needs of the recipient.

I’ve never been very good at gardening, even though I still try each year. I till my little patch of land so that I can sow my vegetables, spending far more on plants and preparation than my meager harvest would ever come close to paying out.

While recently reading ‘On the Near Impossibility of Measuring the Returns to Advertising’ by Randall A. Lewis and Justin M. Rao, it was stated that the average American sees 25-45 minutes of tv commercials, multiple billboards and an array of internet ads per day. They go on further to say that industry reports place annual advertising revenue in the US in the range of $173 billion, or about $500 per American per year. In order for advertisers to break even they need to net about $1.50 in profits per person per day – translating into about $3,500 -$5,500 per household per year. So is this possible? Is it possible to measure the exact return on investment metrics of an advertising campaign?

As I often do when writing these blog posts, I harken back to early in my career. This one in particular made me laugh a bit to myself because it reminded me of something I said to my mother when I was desperately trying to figure out what to do for a living.

So many companies focus on identifying their brands by sitting around their own conference room discussing what they think their customers value about their brand. Few step outside the office to truly figure out what resonates from an end user perspective.

Marketing automation is an exciting topic these days. Very few other management platforms combine both marketing, sales and analytics functions effectively into one package. When done correctly, marketing automation can save time, automate routine operations and provide analytics.