Invisible Marketing is now promoting global entrepreneurship through Kiva. (“Loans that change lives.”)
Through Kiva, we’re making microloans to small businesses throughout the world, especially woman-owned businesses in Latin America. Check out our lender page to see who we support.
Our motivations and actions defy every attempt at prediction, as any honest economist will admit. But people [...]

At one time, the demarcation between sales and marketing was simpler.
Relationships were what sales needed:

One to one, person to person,
company by target account company,
highly situational, mano a mano.

That’s the world of selling.
Markets are what marketing tried to influence.

Given enough time and money, you could drive statistically measurable movements of trends and beliefs through populations, groups, [...]

Process improvement is a sophisticated science (and art) in the real world where stuff gets moved (logistics), stored (materials management), built (JIT, Six Sigma, Lean, Agile), and so on.
Most marketing people don’t think about what they do in terms of process improvement.
These two disciplines should talk to each other.
If you’re a B2B [...]

Amid seismic shifts in technology and the macro economy, at least 3 gaps are emerging between marketing leaders.

Is lead nature — who the prospect is — that matters in B2B marketing?

Or what I do to keep in touch and build a relationship — lead nurture — that predicts lead value and conversion to sales opportunity?

CMOs, how do we make a difference when the available pool of paying customers has shrunk?
In a B2B company of not-unlimited means, it is easy to spend a lot of money on marketing without seeing value for the spend. Here are 4 spends that are limited, scalable, and accountable. Each can drive [...]

Widget makers have it easy. Plaster photos on the website. We.Are.Selling.This.Thing.  It.Looks.Like.This.  (Do you want it painted in Autumn Glory, Technicolor Stainless, or Urban Soot?)
For those of us who sell things whose souls cannot be captured in a photograph, it’s not quite so literal.
Here are six reasons why your erstwhile customer can’t figure out what [...]

Even if the customer’s question is “How does this save me money?” that doesn’t mean the answer is “I’m cheaper than my competitor” or “Because I’ll discount my price.”

Look closely. Both answers appeals to a benchmark entirely outside the customer’s business situation. Neither answer addresses the customer’s question.