Marketing Careers

SUMMARY: Marketing/Sales alignment receives a lot of attention because when these teams work closely together, the entire process becomes more holistic. When the two are operating in individual silos, the relationship becomes more adversarial.

Taking a deeper look at this hot topic, this case study involves a B2B software company where these two functions reside in one person, and covers the tactics used to move a prospective customer down the pipeline from marketing-ready to sales-ready. read the complete case study

SUMMARY: The customer comes first. We all know this isn't always the case, but employing this attitude when looking at the B2B marketing and sales process can really pay off. Benefits include a better integration of Sales and Marketing, which allows Marketing to offer tangible results and a streamlined buying experience for the customer that will lead to more revenue.

One former VP and current business growth consultant has spent more than 30 years working to promote alignment between Marketing, Sales and leadership, and offers four tactics Marketing can use to improve the marketing and sales cycle through a customer-centric approach. read the complete article

SUMMARY: "Chief Marketing Officers at top U.S. brands place the highest value on creative thinkers and leaders in their hiring practices, but 39% of the executives revealed they are somewhat to very unsatisfied with the availability of qualified employment candidates." "The CMOs identified the following as the most important characteristics they look for in a new employee: creative thinker (70%), provides good leadership and inspiration (64%), ability to complete projects efficiently (63%), forward thinking and modern in... view the complete research record

SUMMARY: The traditional marketing funnel is broken, says Joseph Jaffe, marketing consultant and author. Its emphasis on customer acquisition means marketers spend most of their time looking for new customers rather than nurturing the ones they already have.

Changing this marketing paradigm is the call-to-arms of Jaffe’s latest marketing book, “Flip the Funnel,” which officially launched with a keynote presentation at MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit in Miami last week. We sat down with him for an interview following his speech to learn more, and to outline five key strategies for changing your company’s marketing focus. read the complete interview

SUMMARY: Do the members of your marketing team know what success means for their roles? For most marketers, having a clear understanding of roles, responsibilities, and a formal channel for advancement are critical to success in their jobs.

We asked more than 1,600 marketers about their organizations' practices regarding job descriptions and advancement procedures. See this week’s chart for their answers. read the complete article

by Anne Holland, Founder

If you, like many marketers, are in charge of deciding which domains to buy for your company or brand, this news is for you.

Over the past week, several Sherpa readers received emails purportedly from Internet domain officials in various Asian countries. The letters explain that someone in that country is trying to register a local version of the domain the US brand already has registered as a ".com." So, for example,... read the complete blog post