MarketStar Blog

ideos drive traffic, boost engagement and help to reach out to customers on a more personal level than almost any other form of marketing. The supply of content is far outstripping demand online. Be it a blog post, slide share or an infographic, content is being shared at a rapid rate, making the online space extremely crowded and competitive. It is increasingly difficult to be heard in this melee. 

This is where video marketing is proving its worth. According to research done by Google and Millward Brown Digital, ‘70% of B2B buyers and researchers are watching videos throughout their path to purchase. And it’s not just light viewing. Nearly half of these researchers are viewing 30 minutes or more of B2B-related videos during their research process, and almost one in five watch over an hour of content’. 

An emerging trend in the video space is live streaming. While B2C marketers have recognized its relevance to their marketing efforts, fewer B2B marketers have tried it out. Here are five reasons why we think they should.

Ever wonder how some businesses leap from average to exceptional performance? According to Ottawa-based sales guru Colleen Francis1, those businesses see their sales closures climb from 25% to 33%. But here's the kicker: while new customer acquisition might plateau, their customer retention rates soar up to 95%. This means that focusing on retaining and nurturing existing customers can be far more profitable than constantly chasing new ones. 

Measurement is an area which continues to puzzle and plague marketers constantly. While measuring marketing performance it is absolutely essential to tie the metrics to the goals or objectives, else the exercise is futile. Similarly for email marketing, depending on your goal – whether it is to build awareness, accelerate lead generation (either gaining new leads or reviving cold ones) it is imperative that marketers first look at the objectives for their email marketing campaigns. 

We all have them: Zombie leads who invade and spread fear in our marketing databases. Halloween is here and so is the time to talk about "zombie" leads. There are a couple of definitions of a zombie lead:

Not long ago, “outsourcing” was a taboo subject. Outsourcing meant moving business operations offshore to Asia, Latin America, or some other region where there is cheaper labor. Thanks to the internet call centers, customer support, and other administrative services could be located anywhere in the world. That same infrastructure also powers cloud solutions that are making today’s businesses more efficient and it creates new jobs.

As we wrap up the year, let's look at B2B trends. Digital lead generation channels continue to rise in popularity with B2B marketers while more traditional methods fall to the wayside, according to a research report released recently by research consultancy Software Advice.

Outsourced Sales Leader Launches Digital Solutions

Orange you glad Pantone is celebrating such a fun, bright color this year? We sure are.

From Leonardo DiVinci to Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, there is a sweet spot at the intersection of Science and Art where incredible impact occurs. Each of us will define that magical moment in somewhat different terms depending on the challenges and opportunities we're confronting. When we are able to consider both the quantifiable and definable, with the potential of an artist's unfiltered creativity, we find solutions to even our most precarious challenges.

Congratulations to our Chief Information Officer, Julie Simmons, who was honored today by Utah Business magazine as one of this year’s “30 Women to Watch." Our senior executive was awarded this afternoon with other Utah women business leaders in a special luncheon at the Grand America hotel in Salt Lake City.