In order to make a compelling case for social media, senior leadership needs to understand the connection between regular social posting and increased revenue for the company. To help you make the case for a social media budget, here are seven legitimate business reasons that support having a strategic plan in place for social media marketing:

This spooky list is all about the scariest thing a marketer can do. From social media to misidentifying your audience. Prepare to be frightened, and Happy Halloween!

In the world of product marketing, it is not unusual for there to be a little tension between marketing and sales. Marketing revolves around words and images. Sales involve building relationships and closing on contracts. Sales often have immediate needs and sense of urgency. Marketing is in it for the long haul. Tension.

Do you ever wonder if all the marketing activity you are doing is actually productive? Are you ever in a situation where the sales team is questioning how your campaign work is tied to their goals? Establishing a strong brand promise that both the sales and marketing teams can use will help avoid that uncomfortable feeling that stems from uncertainty.

Isn’t it exciting to be on the hunt for the next BIG IDEA? We like it, too! But we also know that a hint of skepticism should always accompany exciting big-picture marketing ideas. It's remarkably easy to get distracted by the method of delivery and wind up delivering a version of your brand story that is a near miss–something that is close but not effective. Fun projects can be great to work on, but to be effective marketing campaigns they must tie directly to sales goals.

All clients and creative partners have ideas about capturing attention, content creation, and lead generation. So often, marketing firms are hired to do one tactical thing that the client wants immediately, but as marketers we know there’s more to it. A marketing plan is a business plan, with most major decisions made at the C-Level. There should be concrete numbers tied to all of your actions based on an annual budget. Once that budget is set, the year tends to become a list of projects. Because there are so many projects on that marketing calendar, all vying for attention, it’s easy to fall into the habit of creative problem solving without a strategic foundation.

Contrary to what some marketers believe, your website is NOT merely a silent salesman. It’s an engaged ecosystem of product information and promotion, with a goal to become a communication tool that successfully identifies and targets good-fit leads. Product launch doesn't happen in a vacuum; your site is in constant competition for your audience’s attention.

We write a lot about how effective landing pages can be at bringing in new digital leads through your website. However, a landing page can only perform well if you also create a smart nurturing strategy to support it. Did you know that it takes 6-8 touch points to close a sale? Your landing page might generate new leads, but it's important not to let them sit idle. Instead, use a strategic progression of friendly, relevant emails to gauge their interest in your products.

Search the term “product landing page,” and you’ll find many solutions for eCommerce pages that handle direct-to-consumer sales. B2B2C brands are unique to online sales in that the most significant deals come from distributors and retail chains. Whether you are listing a product on a distributor’s dashboard, using an online sales tool like RangeMe, or building a custom landing page, a B2B product landing page must have some essential information to support retail sales. Besides the list price, four things make a landing page for B2B products perform well: Brand, Product, Program, and Design.

Manufacturing seems to be one of the last segments to embrace online sales tools. As recently as last year, industry research revealed that few sales reps were using the web to optimize sales. The digital trend is rising rapidly, and if you are still managing your website like it is a digital brochure, you are missing the chance to connect with shoppers and close sales. Wait too much longer and your brand will be left behind.

Have you ever seen a commercial or viral campaign that was captivating and entertaining, and yet, an hour later you couldn’t remember what they were selling? It happens more often than you’d realize, and it’s a symptom of a campaign that got caught up in the creative process but lost sight of its goal. No matter how high or low the production value, if there’s no brand recognition, then there is no ROI on that marketing spend. An audience needs to be aware of your brand and the value it provides them through every stage of the journey, from awareness through purchase.

Your brand pillars are not for public consumption. This diagram is just an organizing vehicle to help clarify business decisions. Brand pillars are popular now, but some future iteration of business education may change that, and some other diagram will be in vogue. It doesn’t really matter what business tool your company uses. Your customer doesn’t care what your pillars are, or whatever tool you are using to keep your brand team straight. Your tools are for you.