While the ART+science team is off enjoying the holidays with family and friends, we thought we'd re-publish some of the most popular posts from 2008.

We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our readers, and wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

Enjoy!

• Copywriter Matt Fishbein talks about healthcare marketers striking the right chord with viewers
• Senior Brand Director Ed Feather ponders whether pharmaceutical marketers are ready for social media
• Yours truly wrote about the need for marketers to sharpen their listening skills
• Interactive Creative Director Steve Lynch explores what makes avatars so popular
• Director of New Business Development Jennifer O'Connell discusses corporate blogging
  

Posted by Stephanie Rogers at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There was a bright spot in the industry news today, despite all the economic doom and gloom: Comscore reported that retail e-commerce spending for the 2009 holiday season is on par with spending levels from one year ago, and actually increased in the week after Thanksgiving.

Data from Compete reaffirms this, showing year-over-year increases in traffic to the top retail sites.

• Develop messaging strategies that build trust and foster transparency; when your competitors pull back their marketing, you can be the one who stands by your buyers, even in the hardest of times
• Consider more free/cost efficient channels like social media, ad networks and search to maintain a dialogue with your customers when budget cuts prohibit a larger media presence
• Adopt a data-driven mentality: deeper analytics and database marketing strategies will help better target your marketing messages, avoid waste, and show ROI
  

Only time will tell what 2009 has in store for us (or how much snow we’ll really get this weekend), but in the meantime let’s take a cue from our consumer friends and keep the B2B marketing machine in motion.

Previously:

Media Roundup: 12/12/08

Posted by Stephanie Rogers at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As someone who trolls the blogs of technology companies on a regular basis, I wasn’t terribly surprised. Most of the time when I click on the “blog” link on a company’s home page I’m brought to what amounts to a scrolling platform for self-promotion. While there’s something to be said for making entries well-written and coherent, treating the company blog as something akin to a press release dump or a place to excerpt printed materials negates the benefits a company can realize from this medium in the first place.

One Boston-area tech firm, Netezza, has a blog that I really enjoy going back to. The tone is conversational and has personality – I never feel like I’m being “pitched” even when the bloggers are talking about Netezza products. What I also like is that you begin to get a feel for each of the contributors by their unique voice and it makes me feel a little more like I know the people behind the company. I recently learned where to get great sushi in Chicago, courtesy of a blogger who attended a trade show out there. And yet I also continue to learn more about Netezza, its approach to data warehousing and their POV on the market. And that just-right mix keeps me coming back.

Contrast that with another blog of a local tech company. This one is also written by multiple contributors, but the tone is decidedly more corporate and the entries feel like nothing more than a platform for selling. It’s almost as if they’re excerpting white papers rather than creating a conversation with customers and users.  The resulting experience is one of scrolling through promotional propaganda under the guise of “blogging” – and readers can spot the difference. So, sure, the company has a blog, they checked the “have a blog” box for their website, but it’s really not working that hard for them. Or maybe they’re working too hard for the blog.

Continue reading "Not All Blogs are Created Equal" »

Posted by Jennifer O'Connell at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Media Roundup: 12/12/08" »

Posted by Stephanie Rogers at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Media Roundup: 12/05/08" »

Posted by Stephanie Rogers at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Tom Simons at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Hopefully you spent it with loved ones, enjoying some fine food, and maybe a story or two.

I'm willing to bet that more than a few of you spent at least part of the holiday looking at some kind of screen: enjoying the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on television, updating your Facebook status on your computer, or even checking football scores on your cell phone. And those who dare venture out on this Black Friday are likely to encounter even more: at grocery stores, shopping malls, and gas stations.

Continue reading "Media Roundup: 11/28/08" »

Posted by Stephanie Rogers at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There's a perfect storm raging against the citizens of Massachusetts.

The faltering economy means increased layoffs.

The cost of basic needs like groceries is skyrocketing.
Shelters for families are already full.

Nearly 1 million Massachusetts residents earn too much to qualify for public assistance but don't earn enough to make ends meet.

It's important to stand up and take fast action, which is exactly what we did for the United Way.

Posted by Todd Baird at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Listen up, Readers!

There’s a common thread in all the items we bookmarked this week, and it has to do with listening. With the advent of social media, consumers are armed with a variety of ways to get their opinions heard (and they’re usually not shy about sharing). The localized water-cooler talk of yore has grown to massive proportions thanks to the Internet’s global reach. This not only makes it harder to “manage” a brand in the traditional sense, but also to plan the most effective marketing mix. Listening can help.

Continue reading "Media Roundup: 11/21/08" »

Posted by Stephanie Rogers at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There's no "i" in Team

These days it's more important than ever to support channel partnerships and make sure you're leveraging the selling relationships you have in place. Sometimes they're the only window you have into your customers, making them a valuable source of feedback and insight at a time when that may make the difference between winning a deal and losing. Sometimes they complement your direct sales strategy and you need to ensure alignment of both message and strategy. In every case, they're an asset that can help you win.

Regardless of your channel program, whether it's a fine tuned machine or you’re evaluating new ways to go to market, partners play a vital role in ensuring that your products and services are reaching the right customers, that your messaging is consistent and clear, and that the value you both bring to the table is readily apparent.

That’s why we're hosting a webinar that will address how to best support and leverage the power of strong channel partnerships. The first in our Webinar Series for Technology Marketers, Partner Enablement Programs: Hypercharging Your Channel Marketing, provides a strategic framework designed to help technology marketers maximize channel performance. 

Partner Enablement Programs: Hypercharging Your Channel Marketing
Thursday, November 20, 2008 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

Partner enablement programs have the power to help you outperform the competition. So why do so many fall short? And how should you be measuring the results of programs to know when they’re working, and when they’re not? In this session we will review a strategic framework for the development, implementation, measurement and optimization of successful channel marketing programs:

• Developing an insight-centric strategy
• Designing "buyers journey" support
• Creating integrated, multi-channel communications planning frameworks
• Offer library development
• Training and tools for widespread adoption and deployment
• Measurement strategy and implementation

Posted by Jennifer O'Connell at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)