CMO Magazine writes: Marketers battle regularly with the other departments in their organizations. Marketing vs. Technology is a cage match between ignorant marketing people who expect technological miracles immediately and the propeller-heads who talk only about the benefits of some coding philosophy that no one this side of the Klingon empire really understands. I think there are several causes for the strain between marketing and IT… IT has ideas on functionality and techn

Forrester interviewed me years ago for a paper on working with IT in startups and Dell. Bottom line: the most important aspect to good relationships is open and frequent communication. Here was the sidebar on my answers to these questions: How can CMOs and CIOs build a more effective partnership? In my experience, there are four key principles for a culture of effectiveness: agreement and accountability, face-to-face work with no “over the fence” mentality; open communication

What are the CEOs at top retailers looking for in their next ecommerce or digital marketing executive? “People want the unusual,” said Harry Joiner. “They buy stories, and they want to feel better about themselves because of their relationship with a brand. In that sense, brands are in the emotional bond business. CEOs want CMOs who can deliver that.” Harry has become known as THE leading ecommerce executive recruiter. He even owns EcommerceJobs.com. As he explains, “If your

Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “In preparing for battle I have always found plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Have you planned your 2016 digital innovation bets? Here’s my hypothesis: I believe if you plan innovation with a data-driven approach, you will dramatically impact the return on your investments. Moreover, a data-driven planning process will change the way your team operates going forward. Innovation planning can be derailed by focusing on the wrong prob

I was talking to a good friend today looking to redesign his company's web site. He got proposals from three agencies. His director of marketing evaluated them and their proposals. What I didn't see in the evaluation were the GOALS they are trying to reach and OBSTACLES most important to overcome. Matty (my co-founder at Spinach) and I think in terms of Goals, Obstacles and Hypothesis (GOH). An agency is a hypothesis to overcome an obstacle(s)... to reach a goal. This is beca

I’ve had a lot of conversations lately about the strategy of group buying sites (or daily deals, flash sales, etc.). Groupon is the leader in this space…so much the word is becoming a verb. The questions I often hear are: How do you know if Groupon (and group buying deals) are right for a type of business? What are the factors that make Groupon a profitable strategy? How do you evaluate and analyze the profitability of Groupon? Already there are a lot of competitors with Grou

I started a personal marketing blog when I was at Dell in September 2003, inspired by John Porcaro from Microsoft. I didn’t tell anyone at Dell because there was no reason to — it wasn’t about Dell. But I didn’t expect it to take over two years for anyone inside of Dell to find it (and it was Developers who first found it, not Dell marketers). All the while I was getting good traffic, links and kudos other bloggers and marketers. I didn’t really know what I was doing in 2003,

After many months of being in stealth mode, and working with great clients such as CompUSA, Golfsmith and PETCO, the Bazaarvoice solution is now announced to the public. You will see the following press release go across the wires Monday morning… ————- For more information contact: Emily Brady or Anna Jarrard 650.692.6107 or 510.521.4830 emily@bradypr.com or anna@bradypr.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Bazaarvoice Introduces New Customer Ratings & Reviews Solution for Businesses On

I have a friend who has a small business and recently asked me for advice on his web site. He wanted to redesign the home page and another page on his site. Before he moved forward, I asked a few questions. Consider the following before moving forward on any redesign… What is wrong with this page? What is the goal of the page that will be redesigned? How will you measure success of this goal? When will it be measured? Describe the types of visitors to this page. Which type is

My strongest advice to grow and sustain online results is to understand your customer (and act accordingly), and to build a culture of strong measurement, rigor and accountability (Must read book: "Execution"). However, if you’re looking for some quick ideas to improve conversion, below are some ideas I’ve seen work… First, some context… There are essentially 5 customer purchase questions that are critical to answer if you want to improve conversion: Can I find the item I’m l

It was probably one of those older strip malls. There were few entrances, and those available were awkward or narrow. Once in, you failed to navigate the most efficient route to your store. Once in a while, you may have run into a family in a minivan because right of ways weren’t clear. There weren’t enough parking spaces. And once you found a spot, it was so narrow you had to oil your hips to get out else risk denting the neighbor’s car. Have you experienced parking lots lik

One day I heard someone suggest they could change how people buy and what is purchased on the web site with some navigation changes. What bothered me is how they said it: “It’s a lever that we control”. No doubt you can effect and influence online customer behavior by changing copy, layout, navigation, colors, graphics, etc. I’ve done this for years. However, when I hear a statement like “it’s a lever that we control” it makes me worry that they over-assume. People quickly fo

Have you eaten baby carrots ? If so, you probably ate one, then another, and another. Had you first sat down with a standard carrot, you might not have eaten it at all. But a baby carrot pulled you in, momentum took over and you ate more. Activity overtook intentions. This baby carrot principle works on web sites too. Give visitors something small and interesting they can take action on, and momentum will kick in. The user becomes more engaged if they take some action, and t