According to Forrester Research, spending on email marketing, delivery, analytics, integration and creative will approach $2.5 billion annually by 2016, up from $1.5 billion in 2011, a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent. Since email is becoming more valuable in the B2B market, I encourage you to take a second look at your email marketing strategy and examine what your database of email addresses is worth.

Today, decision-makers include Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y (or Millennials) and now Gen U. Each demographic is unique. Delivering messages and information using appropriate channels is becoming more complex and challenging. Gaining insight into our audiences is critical if we hope to reach prime decision-makers.

There really is only one way to know. Test. We’ve been working with a number of clients conducting A/B testing and refining the best time to send their B2B campaign emails.  We have determined that certain times of day can, in fact, increase the open and response rate by a few percent. I’d tell you but it’s proprietary information. Actually, your audience will differ and our audience’s best time is not going to be your audience’s best time. So where do you start?

When business gets tough, some turn to the shelter of professional publications, social media networks and even e-newsletters. This is especially true with architects who are toughing it out right now. This audience responds well to stories about spaces their peers have created. Here’s an example:

How can you create a positive memory that is so strong that your top B2B prospects will never forget you or your company? How do you get your top prospects to drive to work each morning hoping that they’ll see your logo on a package?  The answer is suspense. Here are 9 tips for using 3D mail to create suspense and anticipation.

In the B2B market, should email and social media compete or complement your marketing strategy tactics?

Learn what a QR code is, what the benefits are as well as the top eight best practices you should keep in mind before charging ahead.

In this time of complete digitalization, it can be assumed that there are many products on the market that will end up having multiple purposes and functions. The product that I find most promising is the Xbox Kinect.

Direct Mail – been there, done that.

E-mail/E-news – testing and tweaking.

Relationship Marketing – let’s get personal.

How do you make an impression on prospects that are bombarded with messaging and offers at every turn? How can you create a lasting memory for your message and your brand? In part two of this three part series I will look at selecting the right 3D giveaway item, one that not only gets in front of your target, but stays there.

How do you break through the clutter and noise that appears in front of your top prospects? What makes them tick? What catches their attention? What would make them think highly, or think at all, of your company? In part one of this three part series I will look at how to micro-focus your 3D direct mail campaign as the first step in making a significant impression.

Secondary research can be very helpful. But do you know where the information comes from? If not, beware hidden agendas and biased results.

“Work smarter, not harder.” For brand managers caught between the time constraints and budgetary challenges of the present economic climate, this is sound advice. Another smart piece of advice is to revisit your marketing asset management (MAM) strategy.

It was about ten years ago that we published an article in one of our printed B2B Insights magazines called “the Sales-Marketing Gap.”  In it we talked openly about exposing B2B marketing’s “dirty little secret” -- that leads from marketing aren’t really what a sales rep would call “sales-ready.”

You don’t have to guess whether your B2B email initiative will be a success.

Just give it a test drive—A/B multivariate split testing, that is.

You hear all sorts of jargon in B2B marketing.

But when you hear “drip marketing,” don’t think Chinese water torture -- although you may have been subjected to it if you’ve ever opted to receive email from Land’s End or Amazon.

There are four keys to TRICing prospects into opening and reading your email.

These days it’s so easy to generate information about which companies have visited your site. It’s also easy to purchase contact information for prospects from those companies, the real trick is figuring out how to use this information wisely and effectively.

Online marketing continues to increase in popularity and % of marketing budgets spent. In this post, I will look at Online Lead Generation, which is essentially tracking the more than 97% of visitors who come to a site and leave without identifying themselves – the ones that got away… for now.