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The BuyerSphere Project – An Interview With Gord Hotchkiss

Andrew Spoeth — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:34:42 +0000

Originally posted by Jeremy Victor on www.b2bbloggers.com. This interview has been reposted here with his permission.

The BuyerSphere Project puts into context all that is changing with B2B marketing and B2B buying behaviors and purchases. It goes in depth on virtually every topic affecting how business buys from business in a digital marketplace. The content of this book is the result of an extensive research initiative conducted by Enquiro with the support of Google, Marketo, Covario, Business.com, and demandbase. While I purchased a copy of the book at Amazon, Enquiro also graciously offers the the book as a free download at the Enquiro web site.

In my Twitter #B2Bbookclub interview with Gord Hotchkiss, Author and CEO of Enquiro, we cover several topics presented in The Buyersphere Project. One thing you are certain to recognize in this interview is that Gord is one of the leading thinkers in understanding the B2B purchasing process and the phycology involved in it that many of us have overlooked for far too long. If you are responsible for or involved in B2B marketing, The BuyerSphere Project is a must read. There is little chance you will find as much useful, helpful information on the changing nature of B2B marketing as Gord has packed into these less than 200 pages. Enjoy!

Jeremy: Gord, thanks for joining us today. I enjoyed reading The BuyerSphere Project tremendously. It stretched my thinking and I think that is what all of as B2B marketers need right now, new thinking. Is this what prompted you to write the book?

Gord: It was a few things. I felt there was little research out there into how companies buy. Also, we had our own experiences that showed there was more to the process than we knew, looking at it with our vendor hats on. So we decided to peak under the hood

Jeremy: It was a good decision. The BuyerSphere Project is filled with useful, helpful information. How is the book being received so far?

Gord: I think it sneaks up on people. When people read through it they find a lot of information. They are surprised at how much is packed into 200 some odd pages. One marketer called it a fire hose…so, it’s definitely building momentum.

Jeremy: I can definitely see why. Let’s start with the definition of “The BuyerSphere.” And why should it be mapped.

Gord: Okay. The premise of the book is to really understand your prospect – to see the process through their eyes. That’s the BuyerSphere. There are three dimensions: their view of the product, their view of the market. And finally, their reality as the buyer. What type of organization, the degree of risk, their role.

It needs to be mapped to allow us to shift our perspective to that of the buyer. And the more risk there is in the purchase (for the buyer) the more we need to invest the time to map the BuyerSphere. Risk is the overwhelming critical factor to understand.

Jeremy: Where do you think generally we are in the adoption curve with B2B marketers viewing their customers this way?

Gord: Very very very very (you get the idea?) early! This is very uncommon, at least from what I’ve seen. It’s a little more common in the B2C world, as they have more of a history of ethnographic customer research, literally, observing their customers “where they live”.

We seem to accept that emotions are common with consumers, but what I think our research showed was that emotion is very much present in the B2B market as well. It’s not a rational marketplace. So, B2B marketers are slow to come to the table in understanding the need of a deep understanding of their prospects emotional reality and the psychology at play here. There just isn’t a big body of info about this.

Jeremy: I’d agree is super early, but when you step back and consider that’s where we are in 2010, it seems almost imcomprehensible. What challenges are b2b marketers having seeing this shift?

Gord: We get caught up in technology, and we forget that what’s really important are the people using the technology. I think B2B marketers are struggling to realize the magnitude of the shift that’s happening. There was a lot of talk in 1999 and 2000 about frictionless B2B markets. That idea was appealing to B2B marketers.

In theory, it commoditized B2B purchasing, Made it rational.But what really happened was that buyers had more information than ever before, which made things more complex, not simpler. The internet introduced a number of new dynamics, just not the ones we expected.

Jeremy: Compounded by the irrational nature of B2B purchasing?

Gord: Exactly. B2B purchasing is all about mitigating risk. And the internet gives us some powerful new ways to do that. Many of which would be surprising to vendors.

Jeremy: This was my first “a-ha” moment in the book. Humans (people) make B2B purchases – and there are often many different people involved in the decision, each with multiple priorities, fears, uncertainties, and doubts.

Gord: For example, we found existing relationships with vendors to be hugely influential in eventual purchases. An early chat with a favored vendor can essentially define the landscape of the purchase. And face to face is still vitally important in high risk scenarios. The web doesn’t change that.

Jeremy: On the topic of risk – will you define Risk Gap for us? And how the emotion of fear impacts the purchasing process?

Gord: We have this vision of a buying funnel, an ideal model of prospect behavior. There are some assumptions there – the process is linear, all prospects are treated equally, and that it is rational and logical. That’s almost never the case. There are incumbent vendors that block the funnel. New prospects come from nowhere. And above all, there’s a risk gap. The process starts with what we call “doers” -the people using the product.

But at some point it switches to “buyers,” -the ones who control budget and that’s usually where you find the risk gap. Suddenly, the decision criteria changes. It switches from product risk to vendor risk. That’s where the funnel often blows apart. Suddenly, vendors disappear from it and new ones come in.

Jeremy: You stress the importance of face-to-face interaction, does the amount of face-to-face interaction needed rise with higher risk?

Gord: Absolutely. We’re built to communicate face to face. There is a richness of communication that other channels can’t match. We need to be face to face to build trust. That’s just how we’re built. Online is efficient communication. Face to face is effective communication. [<--editorial insertion: brilliant quote]

What you need to do is plan a persuasion strategy so you’re using each channel to it’s advantage. Use online to get the right information in the hands of the right people. I called those IQ friction points – the need for information. And then there are EQ friction points – the need for persuasion. That’s the place for face to face.

Jeremy: To your firehouse metaphor earlier, we’ve only scratched the surface of Chapters 1 & 2. You really have packed this full. Let’s move to Maximizing Online Touch Points. Why does the influence of online factors increase with risk?

Gord: It comes to something called information asymmetry. The higher the risk, the more information we need. It used to be that the seller always had more information than the buyer, hence the asymmetry. The web changed that. That’s why we have some much more online activity in high risk purchases. Another thing, the “doer” goes much further down the path now, thanks to all the information available online. There’s more of an overlap between doers and buyers. This makes things a lot more complex for the vendor to understand.

Jeremy: How should marketers adapt in the face of this new found “information symmetry” between the buyer and vendor?

Gord: It sounds cliche, but understand that this is a partnership. You have to meet them halfway. Take a servant based approach to the process. You’re there to serve their needs. The better you do that, the more successful you’ll be. And you can only understand needs by getting to know them. Use online to enhance traditional sales practices, not replace them. There is an exponential increase in effectiveness.

Jeremy: And back to your definition of The BuyerSphere – looking at it through their eyes and note your own, right?

Gord: Yes! Absolutely. You can get by without a deep understanding in low risk, commoditized purchases (although this understanding would certainly help), but it’s essential in high risk purchases.

Jeremy: A few more questions before we finish up. First, why do you believe a company’s website is its most important digital asset?

Gord: Our research has shown that it’s the biggest factor in influencing purchases. There is a lot of interaction on it. Increasingly, we have a portfolio of digital assets: podcasts, videos, etc..but the website is still the crown jewel. That’s why it’s essential to understand what people are looking for on it. The rule is, make sure you do the basics first. Pricing, product info, comparisons with the competition, in forms that’s easy to pass along. People love info that they can quickly scan..random access info. Serial access..videos, flash demos, etc, come after. But you have to know who you’re talking to. To be a servant, you have to know “who do you serve?”

Jeremy: So what is your take on those that are beginning to say a Blog is the main hub or most important digital asset?

Gord: Blogs are great for thought leadership. That’s higher up in the chain. It’s essential in carving a niche in the market. It serves a different purpose. It’s an important one, but it’s not a replacement. Again, if you map the buyersphere. You’ll understand the role of a blog in risk mitigation of your prospects. Then evaluate it’s place in your strategy.

Jeremy: Great Quote (pg 145) Information gathering has to support the prospect, not violate the relationship. Question… Why are marketers reluctant to accept this and continue to place the same “lead form” in front every piece of content?

Gord: It’s all about control. Marketers want to control the process. It’s probably the single biggest mindshift that’s needed. They don’t realize other choices are just a click away. This is a path that you’re walking down with your prospect. You direct that journey by providing persuasive paths to follow, not forcing them into dead end alleys. Forcing only works if you prospect has no choice..if you’re a “vending machine in the desert” to use example from the book. And that is probably the single biggest reason why B2B marketers are behind the curve. They hate giving up control.

Jeremy: Just one last question. I agree with you that digital marketing is just preparing to cross the Chasm, what words of advice do you have for today’s B2B marketers?

Gord: Take nothing for granted. With chasm crossings, there is inevitably a changing of the guard. That means there is a dramatic shift in the market place. Treat this as a warning. Things are changing. Nimbleness, responsiveness, boldness and a willingness to make mistakes may not be a guarantee of survival. But they are by far your best bets for success. Online pure plays have eaten the lunch of the big guys in the consumer world. Expect the same to start happening in the B2B world.

Jeremy: Gord, thanks for your time. As a reminder…the book is available as a free download for anyone interested, visit http://www.enquiro.com/b2bresearch.

Gord Hotchkiss Interview and Preview to SES San Jose

Andrew Spoeth — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:34:50 +0000

As a preview to the upcoming Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, Byron Gordon of SEO-PR caught up with our CEO & President, Gord Hotchkiss. Gord will be presenting at the search marketing conference as part of its B2B & Vertical track on August 12. He will be joined in person by the same B2B panel of experts that participated in our popular webinar series.

The BuyerSphere Project at SES San Jose
August 12, 4:00 – 5:15pm

- Gord Hotchkiss, President & CEO, Enquiro
- Mark McMaster, Senior Planner of B2B and Technology Markets, Google
- Ben Hanna, VP Marketing, Business.com
- Chris Golec, Founder and CEO, Demandbase
- Jon Miller, VP Marketing, Marketo
- Matthias Blume, Chief Analytics Officer, Covario

A major B2B research initiative, conducted by Enquiro with input from Google, Business.com, Covario, Marketo and DemandBase, showed that most marketers are not effectively leveraging online assets to their best potential. Among other things, the notion of a strictly followed, traditional buying funnel is simply not accurate in many instances, risk dictates buying behavior, search is incredibly important as an integrator across online and offline channels and face-to-face persuasion is still necessary in many high risk, complex purchases.

The BuyerSphere project looks at how online strategies became artificially separated from traditional best practices, how they can be more effectively integrated and the part search plays as a major influencer. This panel will review the research from over 100 face-to-face interviews, hundreds of eye tracking sessions and over 3,000 survey responses in total. The project represents a major step forward in understanding B2B buyer patterns and the part online marketing can play in influencing them.

For more background the B2B marketing webinar and white paper series, see www.enquiro.com/b2bresearch.

Interview with Michel Leconte CEO of SEO Samba – Part II

Jody Nimetz — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:18:06 +0000

Part One of our interview with SEO Samba CEO Michel Leconte.

Here is the conclusion of our interview with Michel. If you are attending SMX West this week, be sure to check out the SEO Samba booth (booth #321).

[Jody]: Why do you think that online marketers tend to focus budget on PPC rather than SEO? With the current state of the economy, do you think this will change? Will SEO and Organic Search finally get the recognition it deserves?

[Michel Leconte]: I recall a neuroscience study (my wife’s trade) stating that activities that produce instant rewards excite a very specific part of the brain, which in turn sends endorphins throughout your body. So it is not totally surprising that PPC has been such a hit. On the other hand, SEO is a longer-term endeavor based on contradictory theories and information that is confusing to most, rather painful and lengthy to execute, does not scale well, and might or might not meet expectations. Hmmm…do you think we have a perception problem here? Our reptilian brains do not cope well with complexity. This reptilian part of our brains need clear choices—and it makes decisions at the end of the day. For SEO to claim a bigger part of the pie, I think many professionals position SEO as a virtuous foundation for all marketing initiatives, both downstream and sideways, with the highest return on investment of the SEM spectrum. This is all good and well, but for this message to be credible, we need to bring a higher level of SEO performance predictability.

[Jody]: Agreed, we feel that things such as Universal and Blended Search require a higher level of SEO.

[Michel Leconte]: When consulting with larger or growing organizations, scale becomes a consideration. Unfortunately, scale often turns up being a con rather than a pro. Once all is said and done, a couple of challenges, at least, remain on the agency side: how to differentiate your SEO offering from the competition, and how to take advantage of your own pool of business and scale your practice? It is very much part of SEO Samba’s core value proposition to provide answers to all of those questions. The current economic environment will trigger various behaviors. Sophisticated marketers might move budgets away from PPC to SEO if they are convinced that conditions are met for a breakthrough of their web properties in the SERP, while first time search marketers in the small business segment might be reassured by the predictability and immediate return offered by PPC. At SEO Samba, we also see an opportunity in that segment for our SEO expert partners, especially at the local search engine optimization level. We are seeing a new wave of first-time marketers leapfrogging more experienced ones and adopting the technology platform as a way to perform quickly without having to go through the trials and errors of others, while establishing a base from which they can scale their online operations.

[Jody]: Many suggest that SEO is dead? Do you agree or is SEO just finding its legs?

[Michel Leconte]: At this juncture, I believe that SEO is a by-product of “freedom of enterprise” expression. The day it dies, it will be an indicator that we loose our freedom to engage in a free-to-enterprise system. In effect, SEO will die the day there’s only paid-for-placement. However, that business model, like Goto.com found out in its time, is not sustainable in an open network. Only controlled Internet access could maintain an artificial order, de facto restraining listing in such ways. Microsoft and AOL could not impose their vision of the world back in the early days, and no one can seriously contemplate proposing this model to consumers again at this stage and expect them to accept it willingly. Now, do not get me wrong here. I’m not saying that if SEO exists as an industry in your country, then you can establish the fact that you live in a democratic state.

China with its developing SEO industry is an illustration of this. I’m just saying that if SEO exists and then dies off, I’d be worried. I’d be worried because I can imagine a landscape where search engine queries would be made by other forms of artificial intelligence based on an expressed or implied need from a human. And I still see a need for SEO on the seller side. Closer to home, I can see a decrease in search engines crawling web sites to retrieve content and use RSS coupled with an updated and harden version of Ping to display updates in real time while weighing interest from social venues metrics. But even then, this trade, albeit with a different name, would survive.

As long as free-to-use, relatively efficient large distribution channels are available, sellers will compete to position a product or a service in front of buyers. Even channel fragmentation from personalization technologies will not prevent SEO, or whatever acronym its successor will bear, from existing. It will merely create sub-specializations by consumer profiles…following traditional marketing agency segmentation models (GenX, babyboomers specialists..etc..) only in a more refined way.

SEO gives the impression that it’s perpetually looking for its bearings, and in a reactive mode. This is to be expected from a trade that is living off understanding changes occurring in application’s algorithm controlled by other entities. Indeed, the relationship is not one of equals. For SEO to perform, one needs to understand the interest of search engines. On that count, I’m observing that their concern for SEO stems from a quality assurance rather than a business development angle. The mere fact that our designated interlocutor at the largest search engine is the head of the spam team (even if he’s a great evangelist) is telling in that sense. Thanks to our previous experiences working at search engine companies, SEO Samba has integrated this dimension to make websites compliant with published guidelines at the outset. I think there’s also an opportunity for less of a schizophrenic relationship between search engines and SEO, but that’s a different discussion altogether.

[Jody]: Michel it was a pleasure. Enjoy your time at SMX West. We’ll catch up with you at SES NY next month.

Writing and Promoting White Papers – an interview with Michael Stelzner

Andrew Spoeth — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:38:53 +0000

Michael Stelzner is one of the leading authorities on the topic of writing and marketing white papers. He has written more than 130 white papers for many of the world’s most recognized companies, including Microsoft, Dow Jones, FedEx, Motorola, Monster, Hewlett-Packard and SAP.

In this 17 minute interview, you’ll hear me ask Michael about white paper promotion from a b2b marketing perspective, including:

What prompted the book Writing White Papers?
Which promotional channels work best for white papers?
What is the life span of a white paper?
Should companies charge for white papers?
What about white paper registration forms?
What options are out there for white paper syndication?
Where is white paper publishing and promotion headed?

Michael is also the author of the bestselling book, Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged. His work is used as required reading at major universities such as MIT and Johns Hopkins. You can find him on Twitter at @mike_stelzner.

B2B, Social Media and Twitter – an Interview with Ann Handley of MarketingProfs

Andrew Spoeth — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:56:48 +0000

B2B, Social Media and Twitter – an Interview with Ann Handley of MarketingProfs

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: social media)

I recently had a chance to catch up with Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs. Ann has developed a successful online presence for MarketingProfs on popular social networking site, Twitter (see twitter.com/marketingprofs). In the interview, she shares her thoughts and personal experiences on Twitter as it relates to her role as a B2B marketer and promoter of the MarketingProfs brand.

The Customer Life Cycle Funnel – an Interview with Jim Sterne

Andrew Spoeth — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:01:23 +0000

I recently had a chance to chat with Jim Sterne, Chairman of the Web Analytics Association and founder of the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit.

Jim Sterne’s depiction of the Customer Life Cycle Funnel – four distinct funnels based on successful or unsuccessful customer acquisition, persuasion and conversion – has been widely quoted and referenced since he first presented it in 2000. In the interview, Jim walks us through the four funnels, while also touching upon B2B vs. B2C, and social media marketing.

The SEO Dangers of Website Re-Design: Enquiro Retro Post

Jody Nimetz — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:53:02 +0000

The SEO Dangers of Website Re-Design: Enquiro Retro Post

We have been getting a lot of questions about website redesigns lately. Specifically as a site re-design relates to SEO and improving website usability with a website re-design. Many people are unaware of the "dangers" that you can place on your website when performing a site re-design that is not planned out. You must be aware of potential SEO issues when you plan a website re-design. As a result of the numerous questions that we have received recently, we have decided to visit our vaults for past articles that we have written that address issues with website re-designs and the impact that they have on SEO. For instance, take this piece written by former Enquiro team member Brenda Wright.

Website Re-Design Dangers
October 17, 2005

We owe our very existence to the caveman’s (and cavewoman’s) ability to know when to run away. Without this vital skill, we would have died out as a species long ago. In the time of the caveman it tended to be a lot easier to identify and respond to danger than is it today. Not a lot of time was lost standing around trying to identify the intentions of the saber-tooth tiger that was chasing the tribe.

Just like their ancient ancestors, modern day website managers/owners need to be aware of and avoid danger. One of the most dangerous times for websites is during a website re-design. Today the survival of many websites depend on the ability of the website owners/managers to recognize (and run away from) danger during a re-design.

Over the years, I have seen many companies sacrifice their website Search Engine visibility on the altar of re-design. Perhaps the most extreme example occurred a few years ago with a rental and service company for whom we had achieved phenomenal Search Engine visibility. The company thanked us very vocally for the literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of new business they were generating from their website now that it was being found on all the major Search Engines. As sometimes happens, our main contact within the company moved on and a new person was hired to manage their website. Unfortunately, without consulting with us, or bothering to find out why the website was doing so well on all the major Search Engines, the new website manager took down the carefully crafted and optimized website pages and replaced them all with images. Each website page was now one image. Search Engines cannot ‘see’ the content that is displayed via images. Predictably, the website Search Engine visibility began to plummet. We tried speaking with the website manager and even ended up speaking directly to the company owner – explaining what was happening and the need for swift action. His reply was, ‘well its ok – we are pretty booked up right now.’ As a result, the website lost all of its Search Engine visibility and they no longer had to worry about all the new customers coming to him via the Search Engines.

An inexperienced and unknowing employee sinks a website. It happens. But what happens even more often is the sinking of websites during re-design by ‘professional’ designers. Unfortunately, there are a lot of web design companies that have absolutely no clue about Search Engine Marketing or Optimization. There are still web designers who are convincing site owners to use a Splash entry page, think sites that are all in Flash are a great idea, and still kinda like Frames! These designers are not interested in promoting your business – they are interested it getting their designs up on the internet. To them it does not matter that your site cannot be found on Search Engines, or that those few visitors who do stumble across your site find it unusable – what matters is that the website conforms to their idea of good design.

To assist individuals thinking about a site redesign I have developed a “Run Away If” list that will save you grief, time, and money. This list presents very real danger signals that cautious website owners and managers should be aware of.

RUN AWAY if your web designer:

Does not ask you about your business
Does not ask you any questions about your Search Engine Marketing and Optimization programs
Begins the new design without discussing with you the goal of your website
Begins the new design without discussing with you who your target audience is
Puts visual impact ahead of the usability of the web site
Recommends a Splash entry page (Search Engines cannot normally ‘see’ Splash pages. This is a dated feature that tends to put off site visitors – who will often simply leave the page (and the website) before it has had a chance to load)
Recommends your entire site be in Flash (Search Engines cannot ‘see’ Flash pages)
Recommends putting your site in Frames (Search Engines have great difficulty ‘seeing’ Frames pages – there are workarounds for using Frames but they are a costly retro-fit. A good designer will recommend using tables rather than Frames if you have your heart set on a Frames look)
Does not realize that the , <meta name="description">, and <meta name="keywords"> tags should be different on every page</li> </ul> <div>If you are using the services of a professional Search Engine Marketing company, please ensure that your web designer follows their recommendations. If you are not using a Search Engine Marketing company, speak with your designers and make sure they understand:</div> <ul> <li>How to optimize a website for Search Engines,</li> <li>How to design a website that will be user friendly for your target customers, and</li> <li>What you want to achieve with your website.</li> </ul> <div>Be careful out there – there are very real dangers facing your website.</div> <div> </div> <div>Interestning piece from a few years back in the Enquiro Archive. There are a number of key points that this article illustrates:</div> <div> </div> <div>1. Ensure that you take care of the basics. </div> <div>2. Be mindful of existing rankings and things such as your existing page optimization. </div> <div>3. Understand your website’s audience.</div> <div>4. Have a clear purpose for your website. Define some goals that you want to achieve.</div> <div> </div> <div>There can be a danger in losing your existing SEO rankings if you do not carefully plan out your website redesign. For traffic and rankings that you have worked so hard for over the years, you run the risk of losing them in an instant by creating a flashy new site that does not serve the needs of your target audience.</div> <div> </div> <div> <div>For more information about SEO strategies as part of a website re-designs or to find out more about how to effectively create a transition strategy, contact <a href="mailto:sales@enquiro.com?subject=Questions%20About%20SEO%20and%20Website%20Re-Design%20Issues">Enquiro’s Sales Team</a>. </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Podcast: Interview with Google’s Brett Crosby</h1> <p>admin — Tue, 08 May 2007 21:13:49 +0000</p> <p>Google has just released a new version of it's Google Analytic software. This new version of <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics">Google Analytics</a> includes a brand new interface, email reporting, customizable dashboards, improved map displays, and plain language descriptions to make important information more accessible.</p> <p>I was also able to get an interview with Google Analytics' Senior Manager, Brett Crosby to discuss the new release in more detail. Listen to it <a href="http://www.enquiro.com/analytics/NewGoogleAnalytics-BrettCrosby-Interview.mp3" target="_blank">here</a>:</p> <p>[audio:http://www.enquiro.com/analytics/NewGoogleAnalytics-BrettCrosby-Interview.mp3]</p> <p>Here are the questions I asked Brett:</p> <ul> <li>Can you first give us some background on what created the need for the new version and how long your team has been working on it?</li> <li>Tell us about the redesigned interface and what it will do in terms of user interaction.</li> <li>Can you tell us more about the email reporting and customizable dashboards?</li> <li>What exactly are the plain language descriptions?</li> <li>How long do you think it will take to roll out the new version to all of the current users?</li> </ul> </article> <article> <h1>Podcast: Marketing in the Google Era</h1> <p>admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:58:20 +0000</p> <p>Kraig Swensrud is the Sr. Director of Marketing Products at <a href="http://www.salesforce.com/">Salesforce.com</a>. Recently he developed 7 best practices to help marketers adapt to "Marketing in the Google Era." I was very fortunate in being able to talk to Kraig about his best practices, listen to the <a href="http://www.enquiro.com/analytics/SalesForce-Interview.mp3" target="_blank">podcast</a>:</p> <p>[audio:http://www.enquiro.com/analytics/SalesForce-Interview.mp3]</p> <p>Here is the overview of my questions/topics during the converation with Kraig Swensrud:</p> <p>I started by asking Kraig's motivation's for developing these best practices</p> <p>1) <strong>Invest in your web properties</strong>: Are you referring to leveraging your business's website to its full potential through the understanding of what's happening on it?</p> <p>2) The second tip is to <strong>Invest in Search Marketing</strong> and being in this Industry makes it a no brainer for me, yet not everyone takes advantage of it.</p> <p>3) Tip 3 is to <strong>Make your Message Relevant</strong>. I can't stress the importance of this practice with personalization in the forefront.</p> <p>4) <strong>Create Landing Pages for Each Program</strong> is the next practice. Matching content to the intent of the user will definitely lead to stronger conversion rates.</p> <p>5) Tip 5 is to <strong>Measure Everything, in Real Time</strong>. Can you explain the advantage of measuring real time versus measure yesterday's data?</p> <p>6) <strong>Use the Web for PR</strong> is tip 6 and in your PDF you discuss the power of Blogging and Syndication.</p> <p>7) The Final tip is to <strong>engage your community</strong> and in a consumer driven market this concept becomes very important.</p> <p>Here is the link to Kraig's webinar on the 7 best practices: <a href="http://blogs.salesforce.com/marketing/files/marketing_in_the_google_era_webinar_27feb2007.pdf">Webinar Slides</a>. </p> <p>Original Post: <a href="http://manojjasra.blogspot.com/2007/04/podcast-salesforcecom-vp-on-marketing.html" target="_blank">Web Analytics World<br /></a></p> </article> </main></body></html>