From time to time, clients and prospective clients ask me for general direction on a wide variety of direct marketing subjects.

What made this news so perplexing was that we applied everything we knew for improving the client's direct marketing program.

As a Key Performance Indicator (KPI), Return on Investment ranks high on the list. But High performing ROI campaigns must balance with other critical performance requirements.

Social Media Shouldn't Get a Pass on Sales Performance Social engagement, behavioral marketing, interruptive marketing... we are drowning in a sea of catchy terms that often repeat what we have always known. Today's digital marketing opportunities bring customer word-of-mouth selling to a new

Advertisers have always had to cut through the clutter to succeed. But with growing email volumes, PPC, mobile marketing, and now social media, getting attention in the morass has never been more challenging. Direct mail thrives in this environment because it has less competition, enjoys unprecedented targeting capabilities, and enjoys greater prestige due to its perceived higher cost of entry than many digital opportunities.

Content marketing is yet another term-of-the-month that defines a social marketing credo: "Give customers and prospects the information without selling and they will come running to buy from you".

The other day at a networking session, I met a highly skilled and seasoned sales trainer. During our conversation he made a comment that gave me pause. I had mentioned that marketing drives sales. He promptly disagreed with me saying that the opposite is the case and that sales drives marketing. From his perspective, marketing was a support to sales. I suppose there exists a number of executives and even marketers who see the world through this lens…

After creating a number of BtoB lead generation and marketing programs for BtoB marketers, it is clear to me that we face sometimes overwhelming barriers to success. In mid 2011, Marketingsherpa performed research to uncover the barriers that exist for more than 1,700 BtoB marketers. The research graphs 13 barriers. But this post addresses 6 of the top barriers that reflect what my clients have confirmed many times.

Q. What do you view as the top five money-making benefits associated with database marketing? A. Here they are: 1.Improved Customer Understanding (better planning of marketing investment) 2.Expense Reduction/Operational Efficiency (marketing & sales) 3.Revenue Improvement/Better Performance (marketing & sales) 4.Greater Visibility of Business Performance (shared vision & understanding) 5.Greater Confidence & Predictability (cofidence)