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Howard Sewell

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President, Spear Marketing Group

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President of Spear Marketing Group, a full-service agency specializing in demand generation, lead management, and ROI-based marketing. 20+ years experience in B2B sales and marketing.

WEB: Blog

Howard Sewell and 1 other person answered this question

Dec. 28, 2011

What are the most important demand generation trends for technology marketers right now?

Hi Scott,
In my view, 3 of the top trends are:
1. Reinventing existing social media programs and assets to generate significant, measurable sales leads. We see more and more companies waking up the true demand generation potential of blogs, Facebook, Twitter et al.
2. Lead nurturing achieving ... more

Howard Sewell and 7 other people answered this question

Dec. 28, 2011

Is anyone using Marketo's automated marketing software? Possibly matched up with Salesforce?

Hi Jason, we use Marketo (integrated with Salesforce) in-house at our marketing agency and also assist more than 20 clients who use Marketo, 90 percent of whom have Salesforce as their CRM. Do you have a specific question/concern I can help address? more

Marketing Automation

Howard Sewell recommends this answer by Mark Williams

July 13, 2011

POLL: Which of the following do you believe would contribute MOST to economic recovery? Pick one.

I just want to address a couple of things quickly. First, to even try to blame Obama for the mess we are in is like trying to blame the new owner of a farm for the old owner letting the cows out of the barn...it's ... more

Economic Recovery

Howard Sewell recommends this answer by Ruth Stevens

June 29, 2011

Is it possible to have inbound marketing without some kind of marketing outreach?

Marketers find the concept of "inbound marketing" irresistible, but quickly realize (as many have pointed out here) that it's not going to drive a sales quota. Reminds me of the problem with an earlier concept, "permission marketing," which was also an attractive notion, but never ... more

Inbound Marketing

Outbound Marketing

Howard Sewell recommends this answer by Steve Nesich

June 20, 2011

Is it cost effective to hold a hybrid event?

Webcasting a large event definitely makes sense in most cases. This is becoming more cost-effective and the technology is increasingly reliable.
And it definitely adds value for the organization hosting the event---and the audience member who logs in virtually---to offer the webcasting or hybrid option. ... more

Event Marketing

Howard Sewell and 5 other people answered this question

June 17, 2011

What does the strategic deal between Marketo and ExactTarget signal?

I see it as a win-win. ExactTarget gets additional functionality to help it compete in the world of Email 2.0 (AKA Marketing Automation) and Marketo gets access to the ExactTarget customer base, sales force, etc.
Similar in a small way to the Silverpop/Vtrenz acquisition of a ... more

Email Marketing

Howard Sewell recommends this answer by Ruth Stevens

June 16, 2011

Do you still include a sales pitch in your webinars?

I agree with Michael and Howard. But let's also remember that some webinars are legitimately designed to be sales pitches--they are in effect sales calls/presentations enabled by webinar technology--and have a valuable role to play. But the public type of webinar we've been talking about ... more

Event Marketing

Howard Sewell and 3 other people answered this question at this roundtable

June 16, 2011

Secrets to Webinar Success [6/16 @ 11 am]

What is a recommended length for a webinar?

Hi Leisl, I'll be interested to hear what the others have to say, but my vote would be for 40 minutes with optional Q&A. HOWEVER, I'm starting to see more and more "short" Webinars - i.e. 5-10 minutes (!) - call it a virtual brown ... more

Event Marketing

Howard Sewell and 1 other person commented on a roundtable

June 16, 2011

Secrets to Webinar Success

You're welcome Pam. Glad to hear the session was helpful.

Event Marketing

Howard Sewell and 13 other people answered this question

April 1, 2011

What are the reasons Salesforce.com has not acquired a marketing automation vendor?

I’m surprised no-one has mentioned another key variable – namely, that Salesforce has been successful in large part by building and nurturing an open ecosystem of technology partners through AppExchange. If they were to get into the marketing automation business, it would be a warning ... more

Howard Sewell and 7 other people answered this question

Feb. 3, 2011

What are the top benefits of adopting marketing automation?

First, a quibble: in my view (and with all due respect to Craig), a company does not “adopt” marketing automation any more than one “adopts” CRM. Marketing automation is a technology, so one might “implement” it, but adopt: not so much. Companies implementing marketing automation ... more

Marketing Automation

Howard Sewell asked a question

Jan. 7, 2011

What's the best data source (e.g. Jigsaw, OneSource) for European contact lists?

Howard Sewell recommends this answer by Chris Nordman

Jan. 6, 2011

What are the most ridiculous things you have seen a job applicant(s) do?

I have interviewed upwards of 200 people over the last 3 years. There is one resume, interview and post interview follow up that stands out as both the most absurd and most talked about experience in my company history. This is one no one will ... more

Human Resources

Career Development

Howard Sewell and 4 other people answered this question

Jan. 6, 2011

What Is a Good Approach for a Lead Nurturing Campaign And How Do I Get Started?

Great question, Tyla. My advice: start with a goal. Lead nurturing is simply a means to an end, and unless you define what your end goal is, your program will simply develop organically, or randomly, or worse – and in six months, without any real ... more

Marketing Automation

Howard Sewell asked a question

Dec. 15, 2010

Need Recommendation for Client File Sharing & Design Review Solution

Collaboration Technologies

Software Applications

Howard Sewell and 15 other people answered this question

Nov. 29, 2010

Any recommendations for good marketing automation consultants?

Jeff,
Spear Marketing Group is a full-service marketing agency and around half our work involves helping clients with marketing automation – from system implementation to lead management strategy, content development, and campaign execution. Our client base includes companies in both residential development and property management. We’d ... more

Marketing Auotmation Consultants

Marketing Automation

Howard Sewell and 8 other people answered this question

Nov. 3, 2010

Does marketing automation work if I only have a cold list of records?

Holly,
It’s true that most marketing automation implementations involve either customers or existing prospects – people with whom the company has had prior contact – but there’s no reason why you couldn’t use the same technology against a cold list.
Case in point – we’re currently developing ... more

Marketing Automation

Marketing Automation Best Practices

Marketing Automation Campaign

Howard Sewell answered this question

Oct. 7, 2010

What % sucess rate do people use in direct mail campaigns

It’s a cop out, I know, but there is no right answer to this question or to its popular friend: “What’s a good response rate?” By most standards, your current response rates are well above average, but it’s almost impossible to compare those metrics to ... more

Howard Sewell and 9 other people answered this question

Oct. 7, 2010

Marketing Automation Resellers & Consultants: Help create a list of marketing automation resellers.

For your consideration:
Spear Marketing Group is one of Marketo's premier agency partners and our team has also worked with a number of other MA platforms.
Spear Marketing Group
(925) 891-9050
http://www.spearmarketing.com
howard@spearmarketing.com
Might I also recommend including:
Pedowitz Group
DemandGen
Annuitas Group more

Howard Sewell and 1 other person commented on a brief

Sept. 4, 2010

5 Questions To Ask Before You Launch A Lead Nurturing Program

Zaki - thanks for the comment. I respectfully disagree on the point about changing perceptions ... even when the primary goal of a lead nurturing program is generating MQLs, there's no reason that changing perceptions shouldn't be in the service of that same goal.
For ... more

Demand Generation

Lead Management

Howard Sewell and 2 other people answered this question

June 28, 2010

What are your company’s biggest obstacles to successful lead nurturing?

Michael, far and away the biggest obstacle we see is the failure to plan. Many companies invest in marketing automation software without a plan or lead nurturing strategy in place, and once the software is in place there's enormous pressure to demonstrate ROI, pressure that ... more

Lead Generation

Lead Management

Howard Sewell and 7 other people answered this question

May 26, 2010

What are the main causes for marketing automation implementation failures?

I concur largely with Chris Doran’s points above – though I’d term the issue: lack of strategy. Effective lead management doesn’t happen organically; it happens because the company developed a strategy first - workflow, frequency, content, triggers, segmentation – and then executed against that plan. ... more

Lead Management

Marketing Automation

Howard Sewell recommends this answer by Tom Scearce

May 18, 2010

Do you use a software for lead nurturing?

Hi Mary-
I have two comments in respose to your question:
1) A big AMEN to everything Howard wrote (I wish I could click "thumbs up" more than once). And I would even amplify his last comments about developing plans and strategies prior to buying ... more

Information Technology

Howard Sewell asked a question

May 3, 2010

Where can I find a summary of European anti-spam laws?

Email Marketing

Lead Generation

Howard Sewell and 5 other people answered this question

April 19, 2010

Is a mix of display ad & lead gen more effective than just lead gen online?

I withdraw my answer, your honor ...
Apologies for the earlier response when I misinterpreted Vincent's question as referring to print and not online display. However, I would still count myself as a branding skeptic. Yes, in theory, I agree - a stronger online presence ... more

Lead Generation

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