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Aletha Cool

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Marketing Grunt, A big, blue global software and services company

6 points

Sept. 11, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Kamili Talley

POLL: You have 2 job offers: which criteria would ultimately sway your decision? (Pick one)

I couldn't agree with you more on your first Other criterion, Mr. Gershik. The people you work with can either help make or break your work day.
My 2nd criterion comes sort of close to Steve G.'s 2nd one in that I need to feel challenged: ... more

Human Resources

Aug. 29, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

Would the adoption of marketing automation take off in a bit way if it was made DEAD EASY?

It is dead easy. Believe me, compared to the hard work which underlies marketing automation, the technology is dead easy.
The hard part can never become dead easy.
Why?
Because it relies on human beings, and people are complex.
For example, in order to properly implement a ... more

Demand and Lead Generation

Demand Generation

Aug. 29, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

What do you do when a candidate has misspellings on their resume?

What a great opportunity for you to learn how a potential hire responds to constructive criticism.
If you point it out to him/her and they thank you, tell you what they will do to fix it, then offer to provide you another writing sample with flawless ... more

Human Resources

Career Development

Aug. 29, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this comment by Steve Gershik

Introducing the New Focus.com

What great news. And an inspiration to all entrepreneurs who see that a great idea, executed brilliantly will take root in the world.
Congratulations to all. more

Customer Service

Human Resources

Aug. 5, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Melissa McCready

How will CRM's role in email marketing campaigns change in the future?

I absolutely believe they will become more integrated and that we might even see leading "platform" providers start to engulf marketing automation companies. There is definitely momentum being gained in the market space for marketing automation to finally be a part of the foundation for ... more

Email Marketing

Aug. 5, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Adrian Alleyne

What are your tips for integrating ERP & business intelligence applications?

Generally your ERP system would come first and then you'd develop a BI program to glean useful insight from that (and other) data. The infrastructure, data management and strategy/planning needed to integrte your ERP and your BI applications is at the heart of any BI ... more

Information Technology

Business Intelligence

Enterprise Software

Aug. 5, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Robert Keahey

Does 'big data' need to be better defined?

I don't think so. But it could probably benefit from some clarification.
Big data should not be confused with "lots of data". You can have hundreds or thousands of terabytes of online and archived data, but that doesn't mean you have a big data problem. You ... more

Information Technology

Business Intelligence

Aug. 3, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

Are there any good marketing automation conferences?

Marketo did a great Infographic that not only identifies shows, but also calls out their typical month and location. It's a fantastic resource. You can find it on their web site.
The vendors all have great shows (I've been to Marketo's show and created the Eloqua ... more

Conferences and Events

Marketing Automation

Aug. 3, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

What is the difference between Demand Generation and Lead Generation?

Thanks for asking this important question Merlin. There are a lot of definitions floating around out there.
Lead generation is a subset of the discipline of demand generation (sometimes referred to as demand creation).
At DemandCon (the demand generation conference) last May, we proposed the following definition ... more

Demand Generation

Aug. 3, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Elliot Mist

What is your favorite marketing automation software for a very small company with a small budget?

Yes it depends on your marketing goals, your industry and what you mean by automation? Nothing is automated as such? Email marketing is an awesome medium if you have a small budget with a good database of customers email adresses and information but this again, ... more

Demand Generation

July 20, 2011

Aletha Cool is now following Matthias Rothkoegel and 1 other person

July 20, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Jeff Ogden

In your marketing process, do you recommend doing lead nurturing first, or lead scoring?

I'd be happy to answer, but Steve's response is perfect.
Option 1 - Too many leads
Answer: Start with lead scoring. Uncover good opportunities.
Option 2 - Just starting
Answer: Start with engaging and attracting new opportunities, and then nurturing them.
Jeff Ogden, President
Find New Customers more

Lead Management

July 19, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Macie Dawkins-Hanna

How many people should a marketing organization allocate to support a marketing automation system?

Craig, Steve Gershik has the answer. Just in case you missed it, please see below:
QUOTE
Zero. It's a trick question. A marketing automation system should support your organization, not the other way around.
Marketing automation systems are not hard to use. Even the most complicated of them ... more

B2B Marketing Week

Content Marketing

July 19, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

Which trait would you prefer in a leader: authenticity or transparency?

Wow. This is like one of those questions you debate freshman year at college at 3 in the morning so you can avoid doing western civ homework.
So if I choose transparency, I get a fake, inauthentic leader who shares everything, but whom I cannot trust.
And ... more

General Management

Human Resources

July 19, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

What are your tips for complaining via social media?

What an interesting question. Here are three tips for complaining and three for responding (if you are the company being complained about).
If you have a beef:
1. Be as specific as you can. "MegaCorp sux!" is less likely to get a response than "MegaCorp tacked on ... more

Customer Service

Customer Response Strategy

July 11, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Candyce Edelen

Is it me or is sales-marketing alignment only being talked about by marketing?

I think that in many organizations, Marketing is obsessed with alignment, while Sales is just out there trying to meet their quota. They want better support, but they don't have the luxury of waiting around until Marketing figures it out. That said, some sales organizations ... more

B2B Marketing Week

Content Marketing

Inbound Marketing

July 11, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

Does marketing serve sales or does marketing drive sales?

Interesting. This seems to be a common thread today. See the evolving discussion elsewhere on Focus @ http://www.focus.com/questions/marketing/what-are-3-tangible-actions-organiza...
My answer: Marketing drives revenue. Marketing helps the sales department serve customer needs. more

B2B Marketing Week

Content Marketing

July 11, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Andrew Kordek

E-mail Marketers: 'Don't be afraid to send too much e-mail' ...Agree or disagree?

Sarah. Sarah. Sarah. Your preference for the amount of email you can consume is much different from me or other consumers. I am quite sure LS or Groupon or other daily deal senders struggle with a frequency issue as well.
Some people can tolerate 1 email ... more

Email Marketing

Email Marketing Strategy

July 11, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

POLL: what is the best day of the week to send a B2B email?

MailChimp and Hubspot did a survey recently where they analyzed BILLIONS of emails sent (yes, with a B) and what they found is revealing:
There was practically no difference in the open rate in sending any day of the week. In fact, they found that open ... more

Customer Service

Click Through Rates

July 10, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

What are the 3 tangible actions an organization can take to improve sales-marketing alignment?

Good question. It's hard. That's why if you do a search for "sales and marketing alignment", you'll see they've been talking about this for more than 20 years.
1. Get agreement from the CEO that this is important.
If you don't get buy in from the ... more

B2B Marketing Week

July 1, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

Do "Prospecting Days" work?

I'll add in a marketing perspective. In the marketing organization, "prospecting days" are called by their more traditional name: days.
Each and every day, there must be a strategy for attracting, engaging and assessing where prospects are relative to your sales pipeline. While marketing won't source ... more

Lead Generation

Time Management

July 1, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Steve Gershik

What are your tips for reaching out to bloggers in your industry?

Believe it or not, blogging is hard. It takes time, effort and technical craft to put together an article. Bloggers work long hours, often on deadline, for little or no pay.
Effective blogger outreach means you have to be aware of the subject the blog is ... more

June 28, 2011

Aletha Cool recommends this answer by Christine Crandell

What are the top ways to align marketing and sales?

Sales and Marketing alignment is a cultural and a structural challenge. There are three stages that companies go through to align - Ambiguous, Collaborative and Aligned. The key is to get sales and marketing to share common goals and collaborate using common processes and a ... more

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