For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Lead Management Automation Market Overview

Multiple Vendor Choices And Confusing Claims Slow Adoption

by Laura Ramos, September 22, 2009

Lead management automation (LMA) requires a degree of process maturity many business-to-business (B2B) firms don't possess, resulting in underachievement by vendors and users alike. Yet, the benefits of adopting LMA are clear: B2B marketers that successfully . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

US Email Marketing Forecast, 2009 To 2014

by David Daniels, June 12, 2009

Email adoption and use by consumers and businesses alike remain strong, with 153 million online adults regularly using email by 2014. Social inbox users will total 47 million in 2014, but will ultimately level off based on the blurring lines of the "traditional" . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

The State Of Retailing Online 2009: Marketing

by Sucharita Mulpuru, June 5, 2009

This report reflects the 12th annual fielding of "The State of Retailing Online," a Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research. The objective of the study is to collect a series of benchmarks from online retailers that primarily transact in the business-to-consumer . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

2009 Cost Of eBusiness Operations And Customer Acquisition

Competition Heats Up As Budgets Rise Along With Acquisition Costs

by Carrie Johnson, Elizabeth Davis, May 20, 2009

There's good news and bad news for eBusiness executives. A recent survey of our eBusiness And Channel Strategy Professional Research Panel found that online budgets will increase this year. While spending varies by industry, we found that, like last year, . . .

For Customer Intelligence Professionals

Five Tactics To Improve Email List Growth

Maximizing Acquisition And List Management Effectiveness

by David Daniels, February 27, 2009

Marketers tell us that they struggle to capture customer data and maintain email list hygiene. Although they tell us that their organization's own Web site is the most effective means of email address acquisition, most are overlooking practices that would . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Case Study: New York Life's eBusiness And Agents Live Happily Ever After

A Revamped eBusiness Strategy Scores By Selling The Agent Appointment

by Chad Mitchell, February 20, 2009

In 2001, New York Life Insurance's Web site, which was intended for communication, education, and service, was not meeting its customers' or agents' needs. Web analytics showed that customers were trying to use the Web site to connect with agents, yet . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Community Marketing Boosts B2B Marketing's Value During Tough Economic Times

by Laura Ramos, February 19, 2009

Recessions send business marketers scrambling to protect budgets or rebalance the marketing mix once inevitable cuts occur. However, long after this downturn subsides, entirely different business buying behavior will emerge as prospects turn to online . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

How To Avoid B2B Marketing Obsolescence

Community Marketing Transforms The Marketing Role

by Laura Ramos, January 15, 2009

Business decision-makers are increasingly banding together in online communities to research purchase decisions using peer insights and independent product experts. Business marketer influence is declining at a rapid pace. To remain viable, you must invest . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Four Ways To Grade Lead Management Maturity

by Laura Ramos, January 15, 2009

Mature lead management processes pay off in better sales follow-up rates and higher close-rate percentages for marketing-generated leads. To define a realistic road map for process improvement, B2B marketers must sit with sales, telesales, customer support, . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Hot Companies To Watch: Q4 Update

Profiles Of Emerging Companies And Technology Trends That Tech Vendors Need To Know About

by Chris Andrews, Reedwan Iqbal, Edward Radcliffe, December 19, 2008

In this series, we highlight interesting new vendors and important technology trends. At Forrester, we've seen a strong interest in emerging technologies among our strategist clients as vendors seek to stay innovative and identify the "next big thing" . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Deriving More Value From Your B2B Web Site

Six Factors For Improving Online Lead Generation In A Down Economy

by Alan E. Webber, December 3, 2008

In this recessionary economy, every solid lead is worth its weight in gold. Although most B2B companies focus their Web real estate on getting visitors to download whitepapers or register for a Webinar in hopes of getting more leads, they end up placing . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Auto Customer Acquisition

eBranding Is the Key to Winning Car Techies

by Chloe Stromberg, October 15, 2008

Today, one in four new vehicle buyers says, "I am very likely to buy vehicles with the latest in-car electronics." These Car Techies are a sweet spot for automakers because they buy more new vehicles than non-Techies do. This analysis by Forrester Research . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Case Study: Epicor Software Uses Personas To Boost B2B Search Marketing Results

by Shar VanBoskirk, September 29, 2008

During the past two years, Epicor Software built a paid search marketing program that today provides a good model for B2B marketers initiating search marketing or those looking to better use search to drive leads. By targeting specific audiences with . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

How To Make B2B Webinars Deliver Better Leads

Planned Pre-Show And Follow-Up Communications Are The Key

by Laura Ramos, August 25, 2008

As technology and business-to-business (B2B) marketers replace traditional offer-response strategies with community marketing practices to embrace adopter community issues and values, Webinars will become a key plank in the B2B marketing platform. Technology . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Inquiry Insights: B2B Marketing, Q3 2008

by Laura Ramos, August 22, 2008

Forrester clients submit roughly 20,000 analyst inquiries each year. Reviewing these one-on-one interactions in aggregate illuminates the issues that concern Forrester's clients the most. Our analysis of the questions submitted by business-to-business . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

A Consumer Market Researcher's Introduction To Balancing The Funnel: Which Consumers Are Loyal?

by Reineke Reitsma, July 28, 2008

Marketers often use the marketing funnel as a metaphor to illustrate how activities move people from prospects to customers. In most companies, the emphasis is at the opening of the funnel: on acquisition. Given the value of loyal customers and the centrality . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Financial Services Firms Open Up About Customer Acquisition Costs

Results From Our Q1 2008 eBusiness And Channel Management Survey

by Brad Strothkamp, Elizabeth Davis, July 1, 2008

To find out overall costs and customer acquisition costs of various banking products across channels, Forrester recently surveyed 24 members of our eBusiness, Channel And Product Management Research Panel from financial services firms. Results from our . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

CMOs Need To Initiate Marketing-Sales Collaboration

Six Practices To Improve The Relationship With Sales

by Cindy Commander, June 30, 2008

Sales and marketing have a long history of tension, frustration, and misalignment fostered through operation in distinct silos, separated by a wall over which marketing hands off leads, materials, and other insights to sales. However, marketing and sales . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Balancing The Funnel: Which Consumers Are Loyal?

CMOs Must Embrace Customer Retention As Well As Acquisition

by Lisa Bradner, June 17, 2008

Marketing leaders spend too much time on acquisition while their best customers already buy their products. To retain these best customers — even in an economic downturn — marketing leaders must focus on the key loyalty drivers: prior experience, . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

What Keeps B2B CMOs Awake At Night?

Tactics And Execution Worries Outweigh Strategy and Innovation

by Laura Ramos, November 29, 2007

Top B2B marketing executives enjoy, or suffer from, a broad range of responsibilities spanning tactical execution to strategic visioning. Yet, it's the short-term issues that keep them awake at night. Future thinking and innovation get short shrift as . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Technographics® Survey Highlights: European Technographics Online Media, Marketing, and Retail Survey, Q3 2007

by Joost van Kruijsdijk, November 26, 2007

This highlight deck reviews the key findings from the European Technographics Online Media, Marketing & Retail Survey, Q3 2007. This survey covered questions given to European adults around media consumption, online shopping, email marketing, loyalty . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Giving Dealers Power of Lead Pricing and Flow Increases Value of Online Leads

by Belis Aksoy, November 16, 2007

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

B2B Marketers Must Measure Lead Gen Costs

Benchmarks Don't Help Close The Measurement Loop

by Laura Ramos, April 18, 2007

Executive demand for marketing accountability increases every year. But firms that sell considered products with long sales cycles struggle to quantify how their marketing efforts contribute to sales success. Nearly one-quarter of business-to-business . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

B2B Marketers Can Learn From Software Firms

Software Marketers Are Mature Lead Managers, But Have Room To Improve

by Laura Ramos, January 12, 2007

Challenged to shorten long sales cycles and convey concise benefits about complex products, software marketers require sophisticated lead management practices to engage and land prospects. Compared with other business marketers, software firms use more . . .

How Technology Improves Lead Management

B2B Marketers Should Exploit Technology To Improve Process Maturity

by Laura Ramos, December 28, 2006

Business-to-business (B2B) marketers rely on technologies built for sales — not marketing. To improve effectiveness of lead management activities, B2B marketers should take advantage of technologies built specifically for marketing. Used appropriately, . . .