8 hours.

That’s all you have in your work day.

Does it ever seem like eight hours isn’t enough? If you’re a modern-day marketer, you work frantically from 9 to 6 to make sure that your marketing campaigns are running successfully, your website and landing pages are fully optimized, and your social pages are engaging and up to date. Then you pack your bags, turn off the lights, head home, rinse, repeat.

But what happens when you’re off the clock? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to take solace in the fact that you had someone or something monitoring your marketing efforts [...]

You may remember that we covered some popular marketing buzzwords in a post last year. Unfortunately, we can’t stop the buzzword boom and have been forced to write a second post to point out some of the relevant (annoying) buzzwords that you can expect to see in 2013. Take a look at the list below to see which industry terms should be “on your radar” this year.

Bonus points to anyone who actually makes it through the entire post. Good luck!

1. Atomization – While you may have thought this term was reserved strictly for scientists and science fiction writers, it seems to [...]

We spend a lot of time at Pardot discussing what our clients’ pain points are prior to implementing marketing automation. As it turns out, a lot of them are dealing with the same issues, whether it’s an inefficient lead management system, a desire to track marketing metrics, or a lack of resources.

Luckily, marketing automation is designed to combat common problems like these. If you’re struggling with managing your marketing or sales processes and have started researching alternative solutions, take a look at how marketing automation can address some of the pain points that you may be dealing with.

1. “We have [...]

When you think of Patagonia, you think of high-quality, expensive outdoor clothing (either that, or you think of the region of South America known for its stunning landscapes — but we’re talking about the clothing retailer here). What you expect from a company like Patagonia is advertising that harps on the value and quality of their product. What you don’t expect is advertising that discourages you from buying their clothes altogether.

And yet, this is exactly what Patagonia has done with their holiday advertising campaigns for the past two years. In an article this past week on Fast Company, we learned [...]

“Success isn’t only about achievement, those things that we can measure. It is also about contribution, those things that we unselfishly give back.” Jim Geigor, CEO, CBeyond

As the proliferation of new technology and social media lead to empowered consumers, closing deals and brand loyalty is more and more about building relationships. Sales-driven companies in a down economy are tasked with constantly evolving and developing their niche within their industry. As marketers, we are often looking for ways to represent our brand in a way that will bridge the gap between product and consumer and make us memorable and [...]

Is it just me, or have more and more marketers been shamelessly using puppies to promote their product or service? Even when the product in question has less than nothing to do with dogs, you’ll find man’s best friend grinning at you from the bottom of that monthly newsletter, or perhaps on that ad flashing on the side of your screen. And yet, who are we kidding? It may have nothing to do with the product, but we’re not complaining. It’s a puppy, for goodness sake.

The thing is, marketers are giving in to the puppy phenomenon not only because it [...]