As a new medium for delivering a message, mobile marketing has been thrust into the spotlight - ready or not. As B2B marketers, we have to realize is that it’s about increasing our creativity (choosing the right format and targeting the right message) to reach the right audience. No more are we limited to a brief text message (“Send a text to 22222 to see if you’ve won”) to collect limited information or try to communicate a more involved marketing message.

With the advent of technology platforms like e-readers (is the Kindle on your Christmas list?), smaller computers (my Smartphone is better than your Netbook), portable entertainment units (if I could ever get my son off the PS3) and even navigation systems (yes, your GPS is watching you) the doors are opening to many more possibilities for your message to reach your B2B audience. But which one is the right one for you and what’s the right message to send?

Part of learning how these
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In my last blog on Creating and Maintaining a B2B Blog I offered some suggestions on who should write your company blog and how often you should post.
In this installment, I’d like to follow up a bit more on the frequency of posting and give some direction on what you should be posting.
The question we are often asked is, “How often should I add new content or post on my company blog?”
The simple answer is: When you have something relevant to say.
When you post and what you post is related. Let’s assume you’ve identified an internal “expert” or core team of employees with the responsibility of managing to your company blog. You now need to determine the frequency of posting and create a realistic schedule.
Let’s start at the top.
1.    Think Strategically
       a.    Does your company have a marketing and communications strategy? What you
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As social media continues to make inroads into the B2B universe, more companies are including blogs as a communications tactic. According to the Society for New Communications Research, 16 percent of Fortune 500 companies support a corporate blog while Forrester Research reports the number is closer to 29 percent. Both reports are one to two years old so I suspect the numbers are much higher today.

As acceptance of blogging continues to grow I thought it might be helpful to give some advice on how to create and maintain a company blog. This is the first of several blogs, each focusing on a specific topic.

Let’s start at the beginning. You’ve decided to create a blog but are faced with two important questions:
1.    Who should write the blog?
2.    How often should you post?

Some companies are fortunate and have an “industry expert” on staff, someone with broad industry
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When getting to know other design professionals, I often like to ask a version of "So, what do you do?" Since we all know — in the broad sense — what each other does, I tend to skew the question more toward the "how". "Tell me about your design style," is an invitation to discuss one's work, creative philosophy and tastes. Overwhelmingly, I hear people use the terms "simple" and "clean" to describe their ideal layouts.

Simple, clean designs are often the most clear way to communicate a given idea. A place for everything, everything in its place, with an effective rhythm and hierarchy to the elements on the page can really make a message sing. On its own, this fact is enough to make any communicator set "Simple" as their goal. Another reason is that, in our modern marketplace, with its cacophony of garish printed and electronic messages vying with our own thoughts for our valuable attention, a well-organized, well-planned, simple page becomes a visual
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Ah, yes, the joys of summer! Warm weather has finally arrived in the Northeast. It’s hard to believe that the calendar year is almost halfway gone.

Now is a perfect time for marketers to take stock of their business-to-business programs. After all, the economy is starting to rebound and certain sectors are once again showing signs of life. But the big question is, when will we finally turn the corner? I’m placing my bets on the first quarter of 2010. (Nothing scientific here; just a “gut” feeling.)

In anticipation of a turnaround, marketers should take a step back and put their b-to-b programs under the microscope. Here’s some advice:

1. Revisit your goals and objectives. Is your b-to-b program in line with the goals and objectives of your business? If not, it’s time to make some adjustments.

2. Assess your priorities.
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Are you tired of all the gloom and doom news regarding the economy? I am. I watch the news constantly looking for any positive signs. I’m still watching and waiting. But I’m an optimist. I can’t single-handily fix the economy but I wonder what I can do, what I might recommend to B-to-B marketers that will help them get through this tough time and prepare for that eventual turnaround.

Last week I attended the monthly, early-morning coffee chat with members of our local chapter of the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts). The predetermined topic was, “What challenges are we facing in our business and what are we doing to cope?” Not surprisingly, many are experiencing similar issues: reduced staff, unpredictable workloads and just the uncertainty of what is to come.

There were a few positive indicators. Two firms noted that a few of their clients were taking the opportunity during the slow time to fine-tune their branding and these
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The challenge of every direct mail campaign is figuring out which lists are going to perform best. Where is your target audience? Sure, they might be hidden in the depths of a compiled database, however, you should be able to do better than that. 

Start with industry specific association lists. You may have to do some digging for availability, but I almost always get good results from a well targeted association list. Many direct mail brokers won’t go through the trouble of calling associations that do not advertise their member list. You may even find that as a member you are entitled to the list at a reduced rate or no cost at all. I’ve come across associations where the cost of membership was about the cost of renting the list as a non-member, so in addition to the list we received the added bonus of being listed in their online and print directories.
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Social media is about engaging in conversations with decision makers and influencers directly via the Internet. It’s about community and collaboration. And, with the changing media landscape, there are a lot of ways to engage in those conversations – from blogs to podcasts to social networks… the list goes on and on.

In fact, check out Brian Solis’ Conversation Prism to see the endless possibilities. At first glance, this conversation prism may appear overwhelming. But, instead, think of all of the opportunities that exist within this prism for you to have conversations – and build relationships – with ALL of the various channels you are trying to reach.

With social media, you are able to: improve customer communication and collaboration; track sentiment about the company; identify advocates, influencers and enthusiasts; spot any
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