Over the last couple of years, those of us in the direct marketing business have heard some pretty phenomenal stories about the unique pulling power of online BtoB lead generation

If you work with or for an agency (either internally or externally),

what barriers to full marketing integration do you see?

The emphasis on advertising budget accountability has never taken on more importance than it has in today's market.

As marketers, we sometimes get over-focused on the message because that is usually our primary area of responsibility. But branding requires the participation of the entire organization to create andfortify the brand.

At the onset, let me say that I do intend to address what clients look for when working with consultants. But since a lot of writing already exists on this subject, this article deals with what a professional marketing consultant looks when seeking new client relationships.

While discussing the impact of social media, online marketing and corporate blogs with a group of marketing executives, I made this passing comment.

This sounds like an irrational statement -- especially coming from a direct marketer who makes a living making money by using accountable advertising

It amazes professional direct marketers that large numbers of companies still do not understand the back-end of sales. Both sales and marketing executives or their companies do not fully understand their customers and how they prefer to do business once leads are generated.

Clients seek greater targeting capability with their media buys. But what do direct marketers look for when creating more accurate predictive modeling that generates more revenue, more profitably than past efforts?