This document provides an overview of interactive marketing trends according to a roundtable of experts. Key points discussed include: - Online spending has increased significantly and shifted to more full-year planning as the web has become a proven medium for building brands. - Metrics and measurement have become increasingly important, driving accountability throughout organizations. - Social media is permeating b-to-b marketing thinking and companies must test how to harness these new channels.

1. WEB SITES
SEARCH
ONLINE EVENTS
SOCIAL MEDIA
METRICS
AGENCIES
PODCASTS
ADVERTISING
E-MAIL
TRENDS
PUBLISHERS
STRATEGY
DATA
BLOGGING
EXPERTS
SPECIAL ISSUE $15
THE MAGAZINE FOR MARKETING STRATEGISTS
BB _ 04-24-06 A 1 B2DB 4/20/2006 5:21 PM Page 1

2. ©2006DowJones&Company,Inc.AllRightsReserved.HaveabrilliantweekendisatrademarkofDowJonesLP.
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06bb0150.qxp 4/20/06 9:41 AM Page 1

3. The emerging role of
alternative channels
BY ELLIS BOOKER
This year, we’ve added a new section
on “social media,” reflecting the growth
of channels such as blogging and podcasting. Social media is
alsothetopicofthe“Future”column(seepage38),whichasks
howmarketerscanharnessthepowerofthesenontraditional,
undeniablypopularenvironments.
Meanwhile, Internet advertising continues along its dou-
ble-digitgrowthcurve.Ajust-releasedreportfromtheInterac-
tive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers
concludesthatoverallInternetadvertisingrevenuesintheU.S.
for 2005 totaled $12.5 billion, a new annual record exceeding
2004 by 30%. The final quarter of 2005 hit a record $3.6 bil-
lion,representinga34%increaseover
the same period in 2004. Surprising
no one, keyword search took the top
slot again in 2005, single-handedly
representing41%ofthetotalspend.
Marketers are pouring their bud-
gets online for a justifiable reason: It
works.
“Our customers, namely engi-
neers,relyheavilyontheInternetand
publication reviews for product information,” said Martyn
Etherington,VP-marketing,TektronixInc.,andoneofthesix
participantsinourvirtualroundtablethisyear(seepage4).“In
recentprimaryresearch,thetopthreeinformationsourcesen-
gineers rely on to help them make informed purchase deci-
sions are, in the following rank order: Internet search (98%),
word-of-mouth(88.6%)andtechnicalarticles(78.1%).”
Theimpactofonlinesocialmediapermeatesthemostinter-
esting thinking in b-to-b marketing today. Try answering for
yourself our fourth roundtable question: “Are social media—
particularly blogs—a practical application for b-to-b compa-
nies?Howaretheybestused?”
My own sense is that there is a major shift, largely genera-
tional, in online consumption habits. A part of this shift in-
volves a growing reliance on “authentic,” word-of-mouth
sources,inadditiontotraditionalmediaandcorporateoutlets.
Thenagain,Imaybewrong.Infact,theonlywaytoknow
what’srealandwhat’snotistotestthisthesis—andanyothers
youhave—withyourowncustomersandprospects.
That introduces another theme of this year’s guide, the
common trait shared by all smart Internet marketers: an orga-
nizational commitment to continual testing and monitoring.
Thisdisciplineconvertsold-fashionedargumentsaboutwhich
campaign approach will be most effective—the kind of seat-
of-the-pants decision-making favored by old-school man-
agers—intoquantifiableprograms.
Roundtable participant Jon Raj, VP-advertising for Visa
USA,putitsuccinctly:“Ifacompanyis
not using some sort of measurement to
evaluateitsefforts,thenitisbeingneg-
ligentregardlessofthemedium.Online
absolutely makes it easier to measure
with many great tools, but marketers
need to be committed to the concept
andtheculturetobemosteffective.”
Raj goes on to underscore the im-
portance of connection: “Engagement
is a new factor that must be evaluated. It is no longer accept-
able to just throw a message out there, but rather you must
connectwiththecustomerinameaningfulway.”
This isn’t easy. But it is where online marketing has pulled
us. If you’re not there already, get with the program or hire
peoplewhoare.
Our hope is that BtoB’s 2006 Interactive Marketing
Guide—alongwithongoingcoverageinBtoB’sNetMarketing
department, our various e-mail newsletter products, our new
“TalkingTech”audiocastseriesandourmulticityNetMarket-
ingBreakfasts—willassistyouincontinuallyimprovingyour
onlineefforts.
Ellis Booker is editor of BtoBand BtoB’sMediaBusiness. He can
be reached at ebooker@crain.com.
The impact of
social media
permeates the
most interesting
thinking in b-to-b
marketing today.
EDITOR’S NOTE
CONTENTS
ROUNDTABLE Page4
■B-to-bmarketersandotherexpertsdis-
cussinteractivemarketingtrends
E-MAIL Page10
■Integratinge-mailwithothermediais
aneffectivestrategy
■E-mailresources
SEARCH Page20
■Despiteclickfraud, marketerscontinue
toembracesearch
■Searchresources
WEBSITES Page25
■Howtotailor Websitesforcustomers
andprospects
SOCIALMEDIA Page26
■Willblogsandpodcastsbecomeamajor
communicationschannel?
ONLINEADVERTISING Page28
■Improvebrandexperienceforvisitors
usingvideoandrichmedia
■Onlineadvertisingresources
ONLINEEVENTS Page31
■HowtoincreasereturnsonWebinars
andwebcasts
ONLINEPUBLISHERS Page32
■Innovativebrandingcampaignswill
attractnewaudiences
■Onlinepublishersresources
INTERACTIVEAGENCIES Page35
■Agenciesincorporateinteractiveinto
overalloperations
■Interactiveagencieslist
FUTURE Page38
■Howthebravenewworldofsocial
mediawillleadtounprecedented
opportunities
W
ELCOME TO BTOB’S 2006 INTERACTIVE MARKETING GUIDE. Our annual publica-
tion offers sections on e-mail, search, Web sites, online advertising, online
events, publisher sites and interactive agencies. Each section provides an
overview, tips, an interview with a subject expert and sidebars with useful
resourcesanddata.You’llalsofindupdatedvendorlistsanddatacharts.
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(ckrol@crain.com)
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4. BtoB: How has interactive spending changed this year from
last?Whyaretheseshiftshappening?
Suppers: While the level of interactive spending has not
varied much for us in recent years, our intelligence and insight
intotheeffectivenessofourspendinghasincreased.
Withguidanceandtoolsfromourinteractivemarketingser-
viceprovider,wehavemadetremendousprogresstrackingand
measuring the association of paid search, online ad campaigns
andplacementswithkeyfeaturesandelementsonourWebsite.
Wehavebecomeincreasinglyreliantonouronlineanalyticsca-
pabilitiestoshapeourspendingstrategiesanddecisions.
Rogers: TheWeb works as a proven means to build brands
and to engage customers, and the big-budget, leading advertis-
ersnowhavetheexperience,researchanddatatoverifyit.Asa
result,theWebhasmovedfromaplaceofexperimentationtoa
mainstreammedium.Onlinespendinghasshiftedfromepisod-
ic to more full-year planning and buying, resulting in both in-
creasingonlinebudgetsandtheneedfortopadvertiserstolock
inpremiumpositionstolockoutthecompetition.
Rosenblatt:We are seeing clients increasing their spending
on online advertising as a percentage of their marketing bud-
gets. Rich media advertising and search marketing, in particu-
lar,areattractingalotofinvestment,whilemanymarketersare
beginning to adopt innovative technologies such as online
video advertising and optimization. Online advertising growth
is continuing to outperform the overall advertising market,
drivenprimarilybytheprovenreturnoninvestment[ROI],the
continuingshiftofaudiencetoonlinechannelsandthebroader
acceptance and understanding of online advertising at senior
levelsinmajororganizations.
Etherington: Our interactive spending has gone up signifi-
cantlyinthepasttwoyears.Thereason?Ourcustomers,namely
engineers, rely heavily on the Internet and publication reviews
forproductinformation.Inrecentprimaryresearch,thetopthree
information sources engineers rely on to help them make in-
formed purchase decisions are, in the following rank order:
Internetsearch(98%),word-of-mouth(88.6%)andtechnicalar-
ticles(78.1%).Giventhisresearch—andtoensureweprovidein-
formation to our customers anywhere, anytime and in their pre-
ferredlanguage—theWebhasbecomepivotalinourmarketing,
budgetingandawayforustoserveourcustomers’needsbetter.
Raj:The Internet is a maturing medium, and there are con-
sistently more opportunities with the penetration and prolifer-
ation of broadband. Second, marketers are finally wising up to
thebenefitsofmarketingandadvertisingonline.
Moore:Wecontinuetoseeincreasesinspendingoninterac-
tive marketing and advertising. Simply put, there is no other
mediummoreaccountableandtrackablethaninteractive.
BtoB:GiventheattentionpaidtometricsandROI,particularly
online, what’s the best way to instill a culture of measurement in
themarketingdepartment?
Suppers:Thebestwaytoinstillacultureofmeasurementin
anygroupistoprovideanalyticsthatareaccurate,concise,con-
sistentandactionable.Analysisforanalysissakewillneversus-
tain. Ask yourself what the primary goal and objectives are for
your Web site and identify the corresponding metrics that
pointtosuccessorfailure.Developmeasurementsthatcanalter
or change a decision. All metrics must also be presented on a
consistent basis to key stakeholders in a format that makes the
learningimmediatelyapparent.Designingmetricsthatareboth
constructive and actionable is also critical. Last, from a people
perspective, make employees accountable for results by inte-
grating the measurements into periodic reviews of progress
againstindividualgoalsandobjectives.
Rogers: Decide what points of measurement matter, both in
terms of immediate response and longer-term branding, and
providethetoolstomonitortheresultsandgivewideaccessto
the data. People will be empowered to make a contribution to
themarketingeffortwithdata-drivendecisions.Dataisnotjust
atoolforthedirect-responsepeopleortheresearchpeople,but
allinvolvedinmarketing.
Rosenblatt: Metrics have always been important for online
advertisers, but we are seeing an increased focus on online ad-
vertisingperformancefromtheC-suite.Whenmarketingisheld
accountable at this level, it inevitably drives a culture of mea-
surementthroughouttheentireorganization.Inmanyways,be-
cause online advertising is so accountable, it is driving a higher
levelofaccountabilityacrossallofamarketer’schannels.
Etherington: Define success, make people accountable, mea-
sureonlywhatmatters(distinguishbetweenlookinggoodversus
ROUNDTABLE
4 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
Moving
intothe
mainstream
‘BtoB’s’ panel of experts discusses a variety of
interactive marketing tactics, and how they fit
together as an essential part of business success
Roundtable participants
MARTYN
ETHERINGTON
VP-marketing,
TektronixInc.
DAVIDJ.
MOORE
Chairman-CEO,
24/7Real
Media
JONRAJ
VP-advertising,
VisaUSA
BRUCEH.
ROGERS
VP-marketing,
Forbes.com
DAVID
ROSENBLATT
CEO,
DoubleClick
TERRY
SUPPERS
Senior
VP-interactive
marketing,
GeneralElectric
Co.’sCorporate
Financial
ServicesBusiness
Thisvirtualroundtablewasconductedviae-mail.Eachparticipantwasaskedthesameset
ofquestionsandgiventhesametotalwordlengthasaguideforresponse;eachwasgiven
theoptionofskippingonequestion.
BB _ 04-24-06 A 4,5,6,8 B2DB 4/21/2006 11:59 AM Page 1

5. doing good) and, as I can attest, you
will need to have strategy, structural
andprocessalignment
Raj: If a company is not using
some sort of measurement to evalu-
ate its efforts, then it is being negli-
gent regardless of the medium. On-
line absolutely makes it easier to
measure with many great tools, but
marketers need to be committed to
the concept and, as you mentioned,
the culture to be most effective.The
days of simply looking at impres-
sions or reach and frequency are
over.Todayithastobeaboutresults.
Engagement is a new factor that
mustbeevaluated.Itisnolongerac-
ceptable to just throw a message out
there, but rather you must connect
with the customer in a meaningful
way.
Moore:It’simportantforthemar-
keting department to understand
howthisincreasedvisibilityprovid-
ed by the metrics of digital market-
ing helps them make their buys
more efficient and proves the value
ofmarketingspendtotheoverallor-
ganization. Goals should be set
when the marketing plan is built,
andallmarketingeffortsaroundthat
plan should be measured against
thosegoals.Forexample,forasearch
marketing campaign, goals can be
set for increases in return on invest-
ment or reduction in customer ac-
quisition costs. Results can be
tracked and campaigns can be opti-
mizedinrealtime.
BtoB: Search marketing continues
to grow as a percentage of online
spending. What’s interesting in the
searchspacerightnow?
Suppers: From where I sit, work-
inginalarge,long-cycleb-to-benvi-
ronment, I’m not sure too much has
changedformeinthesearchspace.A
few years ago, I shifted my priorities
to search away from other online ad-
vertising.Thepaidsearchmodellev-
els the playing field and provides a
dynamic and variable approach to
promotingourWebsitetothepeople
thataremostinterestedandinneed.
Rogers: Search will grow, but at a
lesser rate as spending reaches a
point of diminishing returns. Brand
advertising’s percentage of the inter-
activeadvertisingpiewillincreaseas
the interaction between the two be-
comesincreasinglyimportant,rather
than [being] seen as separate efforts.
Research shows online brand adver-
tising positively impacts search ROI
andviceversa.Havingsaidthat,ver-
tical and local search continue to be
areasofunexploitedgrowth.
Rosenblatt: Local search, natural
search optimization, as well as un-
derstanding consumer behavior in
the search process, are some of the
big areas in search right now.We re-
leased a study last year that found
that consumers behave differently
thanmostmarketersexpect,andour
clients have been using those in-
sights to optimize their search pro-
grams. For example, the research
showed that while the majority of
search activity across the full 12
weeksisgeneric,brandsearchesand
clicks become more prominent close
tothepurchase.
Another key point is that the
tools available to marketers to man-
agethesearchprocesslagthecurrent
spend in the industry. Search is still
animmaturemarket,andmanymar-
keters are asking for solutions to
help with bid management, opti-
mization and measurement of their
searchmarketingprograms.
Etherington: Results, effective-
ness and tracking microconver-
sions—i.e., being able to track
PPC/SEO—to influencing customer
decision-making.
Raj: Unfortunately the most in-
teresting thing right now is proba-
bly click fraud. That alone is not a
reasontoavoidusingsearch,butitis
definitely something to be aware of
btobonline.com | 2006 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 5
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“Brand advertising’s
percentage of the interactive
advertising pie will increase
as the interaction between
the two becomes increasingly
important,rather than [being]
seen as separate efforts.”
Bruce H.Rogers,VP-marketing,Forbes.com
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6. andfindwaystocombat.
Anotherinterestingtrendisutiliz-
ing search as a brand-building medi-
um. There has been some buzz out
there about the effects of search be-
yond the traditional direct response
expectation. Perhaps more marketers
will soon be buying search terms to
have their brands appear in certain
placesspecificallyasabrandplay.
Itisquiteinterestinghoweachof
the search engines seems to be
bringing a unique group of users to
the table. Conventional wisdom
would tell you a searcher is a
searcher, yet the different sites seem
toharnessdifferentusers.
Moore: Search marketing has fi-
nally started to move beyond the ob-
session with bid management operat-
inginavacuum.Sophisticatedsearch
marketers begin with a measure—
suchasnumberofsales,ROIorreturn
onadspend—andworkbackwardto
determine how search dollars should
beallocated.
Also, looking at search holistical-
ly is increasingly important. Having
tools that combine paid placement,
paidinclusionandsearchengineop-
timization tracking gives marketers
unprecedented insight into how the
entiresearchchannelisperforming.
BtoB: Are social media—particu-
larly blogs—a practical application
for b-to-b companies? How are they
bestused?
Suppers: Blogs provide an inter-
estingsupplementtoanonlinestrat-
egy;however,theyrequireaddition-
al resources to monitor and main-
tain. I am not convinced at this
point,atleastwithrespecttotheon-
line corporate lending marketplace,
that the benefits outweigh the chal-
lenges. In my opinion a more suit-
able application of a blog might be
for more consumer-oriented busi-
nessesorcompaniesinthemediain-
dustry—basically, situations where
a group of individuals can identify
themselvesasacommunity.
Rogers:Socialmediaarefulfilling
a basic human need to connect and
communicatewithlike-mindedpeo-
ple. Blogs and shared-media sites
likeMyspacearepowerfulexamples
of this at work, but that doesn’t
mean every technological advance
on the Web is automatically an ad-
vertisingmedium.B-to-bcompanies
need to think this through carefully.
Blogs work when you have a
thought leader, who by definition
has a following, and who is willing
to share his or her opinions and is
prepared for opinionated reactions.
Bettertonotblogthantodosowith-
outaplanjustbecauseit’seasytodo.
Rosenblatt: B-to-b companies
should absolutely be focused on
blogs, but there are a number of
ways that they could or should con-
sider interacting with the blogo-
sphere. At a minimum, they should
be monitoring blogs to learn what is
being said about their company,
theircompetitionandtheirindustry.
They also must ensure that their PR
team is tailoring its approach in
working with bloggers. Blogs, for
some, might be a viable advertising
form.Whilenotofferingwidereach,
they deliver a niche, passionate au-
dience. And finally, firms can run a
blog, which can help to establish
credibility, demonstrate a depth of
knowledge and be useful in influ-
ROUNDTABLE
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“Socialmedia
isdefinitelythe
‘soupdujour,’
thesameway
itwaswith
click-throughs,
e-mailor
search.”
Jon Raj,
VP-advertising,Visa USA
“Search is still an immature market,and many
marketers are asking for solutions to help
with bid management,optimization and
measurement of their search marketing
programs.” David Rosenblatt,CEO,DoubleClick
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7. 06bb0125.pdf RunDate: 4/ 24 /06 Full Page Color: 4/C
06bb0125.qxp 4/3/06 11:53 AM Page 1

8. encing considered purchases that
manyb-to-bcompaniesoffer.
Etherington:A blog is a medium,
period.Buttheintent—todevelopa
community of people with a com-
mon or shared interest—is very ap-
plicableforb-to-bcompanies.
Raj: Social media are definitely
the “soup du jour,” the same way it
was with click-throughs, e-mail or
search.Video could be next. All are
very valuable when utilized wisely
but none will live up to the hype
the media creates.
I believe blogs, if well thought-
out, can be used in a very effective
wayasapracticalb-to-bapplication.
Blogs enable customers to have an
outlet that is authentic, and when
used appropriately can yield appre-
ciation that goes well beyond tradi-
tionalmarketing.
Moore: Social media can be ex-
tremelypowerful.Howtheyarebest
used depends on the organization
employing them, the markets they
are addressing and the products be-
ing sold. Outward-facing blogs and
podcasts from internal marketing
departments can be effective when
used as communications channels to
customers and prospects. Compa-
nies can showcase their areas of ex-
pertiseforthemarketgenerally.Cus-
tomers can offer feedback on the
blog posts, creating a real-time pub-
lic dialogue between the company
andthemarketplace.
BtoB: How are you breathing life
into“old”channelssuchase-mail?
Suppers: As is true of the indus-
try overall, although our outbound
e-mail activity has increased signifi-
cantlyovertime,theresponsetoour
campaigns, measured in terms of
open rates and click-throughs, has
declined.
With the proliferation of e-mail,
it has become more difficult to cap-
ture and keep someone’s attention
through this medium. In light of
this, we are seeking opportunities to
furthersegmentoure-mailmessages
and target them to tighter-defined
groups that we anticipate will be
mostreceptivetothecontent.
We also focus on the design and
layout of our e-mail content to en-
sure it is pleasing and intuitive, yet
also recognize the challenge and the
opportunitypresentedbytheprolif-
eration and the use of PDAs, Black-
Berrys and other handheld devices
where the experience of receiving
e-mail “on-the-go” is very different
from a desktop or laptop computer.
With e-mail remaining a very low-
costmedium,theopportunitytofig-
urethisoutremainscompelling.
Rogers: E-mail is still a powerful
communicationstool.We’reveryfor-
tunate in that e-mail is still a success-
ful and preferred channel for
Forbes.comtodeliverbreakingnews
and information to our readers. Dur-
ingthebusinessday,wepublishover
2,000stories,andoure-mailnewslet-
tersandalertsallowuserstotailorex-
actly the type of information they
want to receive. E-mail isn’t old as
longasitofferssomethingtherecipi-
enthasactuallyrequested.
Etherington: That depends on
what outcome you are trying to
achieve. E-mail, like all promotion-
al/communication tools, is a method
for obtaining a desired outcome in
the most efficient manner. I believe
broad e-mail as we know it will be-
come irrelevant within the next few
years in favor of emerging interac-
tive technologies. For example, I re-
ceive 10 texts for every one e-mail
from my own children. Communi-
ties and devices will predict the
longevity and relevance of e-mail,
notb-to-bmarketers.
Moore: The death of e-mail has
been greatly exaggerated. The best
thingthathashappenedwithe-mail
is that, as an industry, we’ve learned
how to effectively use e-mail as one
part of the marketing mix. E-mail is
best used as a CRM tool for existing
customers when paired with other
digital media that are particularly
strong at customer acquisition, such
assearchenginemarketing.
BtoB: Has online video finally ar-
rivedforb-to-bmarketers?
Rogers: Thisyearwillbeseenasa
watershedyearforvideoontheWeb,
providing a powerful new creative
option for b-to-b advertisers. Why
waste money on TV when only a
small percentage of the audience
would possibly have any interest in
your message? B-to-b advertising is
by definition a highly segmented
marketing effort that the Web af-
fords, yet you can still have a “TV-
like” experience that sells the emo-
tional aspects of your b-to-b product
orservice.NewresearchfromtheOn-
line Publishers Association (OPA)
supports the interest in video for a
business audience. Forbes.com has
devotedextensiveresourcestobuild-
ingoutitsvideoproductioncapabili-
tiestocapitalizeonthisgrowthtrend
andisnowtheleadingsourceoforig-
inal business video programming for
the Web. Many of the advertisers
running video ads are b-to-b compa-
nies, like IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp.
andAccenture,tonameafew.
Rosenblatt: In many respects,
video offers the best of both
worlds—providing high brand im-
pact opportunities with measure-
mentcapabilities.Ithinkwearedefi-
nitely on the cusp in terms of the vi-
ability of the video advertising in-
dustry. Some major organizations
are beginning to invest in this area.
IBM was an early investor in online
advertisinganditisprovingagainto
be one of the leading companies in
adoptingonlinevideoadvertising.
Once again, however, marketers
and publishers are seeking tools to
managetheprocessofbuyingonline
video space and measuring its effec-
tiveness.Whenwecangetpastthese
hurdles and make the online video
advertising process more efficient
and effective for both buyers and
sellers, it can deliver on the major
growth it is expected to see in the
nextfewyears.
Etherington: No, it is still not in
the mainstream for b-to-b, there are
too many technical variables com-
binedwithpoorcontent,suchas2D
presentations transferred from Pow-
erPoint to video, and restrictive pro-
duction costs. Adobe Flash as a tool
for telling a visual story or demon-
strating one’s capabilities will be-
comemoreprevalentforb-to-bcom-
paniesbeforevideo.
Raj:Yes, but it is only going to get
better.Thevideoopportunitiesonline
are much greater than what we have
beenabletodoontelevision.Thetar-
getingissoprecisethatIreallybelieve
this may very well change how we
communicatewithourcustomers.
Moore: Video has arrived for all
digital marketers. Several drivers are
makingvideoapowerfuladditionto
digital marketing. First, we’ve
reached a tipping point in broad-
band penetration. This has caused a
marked increase in the numbers of
the Internet population viewing
videos online for entertainment and
forinformation.
Next, the cost of video produc-
tion is dropping rapidly. Sub-$5,000
video cameras combined with pow-
erful desktop editing software make
it possible for a b-to-b marketer to
create high-quality video content
forone-tenththepriceitwouldhave
costfiveyearsago.
Finally, the ability to combine
videoadswithsophisticatedtargeting
onlinemeansthatmarketerscanmore
cost-effectivelyreachtheirtargets.
BtoB:Whatothertechnologieshold
promise?
Suppers: I am intrigued with the
possibilities and potential of pod-
casting.Thepaceofbusinesscontin-
uestoaccelerate,andtimecontinues
to become more and more precious.
Although data to date indicate low
adoption of this format, the portable
nature of the technology fits today’s
busy, multitasking environment.
Additionally, the opportunity to
craft, customize and self-select news
and information creates a new mar-
keting venue that allows for ad-
vancedsegmentationandtargeting.
Rogers: All forms of on-demand
technologies will continue to sur-
face. Wireless broadband will bring
a moreWeb-like experience to wire-
less devices and free the Web from
theconfinesofaPC.
Rosenblatt:As online advertising
moves from being a rounding error
in a marketing plan to a material in-
vestment, there is an inevitable em-
phasis on increasing performance.
Asaresult,optimizationisanimpor-
tant emerging area of the online ad-
vertising market, bringing science
and algorithms to the medium to
help generate the best possible per-
formanceformarketers.
Etherington: Technologies are
here today. It is the applied use of
these technologies through devices,
connected or wireless and, in partic-
ular,RFID[RadioFrequencyIdentifi-
cation].
Raj: I am very excited about the
evolution of TV, (digital video
recorders,video-on-demand,interac-
tiveTV) mobile phones and podcast-
ing. Those combined with the high-
speedInternetwillabsolutelychange
thewayweallconsumemedia.
Moore:Interactivetelevisionisex-
tremelypromising.Giventheamount
of advertising dollars spent in televi-
sion and the amount of technological
innovationthatisoccurring,itisonly
a matter of time before we see televi-
sionadvertisingbeingheldtoahigh-
er standard due to the increased visi-
bilitythatadvertiserswillhave.
BtoB: What is your biggest chal-
lengerightnow?
Suppers:Ourchallengehasalways
been and continues to remain attract-
ing the right people at the right time
tooursitetoengageandinteractwith
our business. As I mentioned previ-
ously,wearealargeb-to-bplayerwith
long-cycle products and solutions, so
theimportanceofbothdimensions—
rightperson/righttime—iscriticalfor
ouronlinesuccess.
Rogers: Our biggest challenge is
scaling the business fast enough to
enable us to fully realize the growth
opportunities that exist for us, par-
ticularlyforinternationalmarkets.
Rosenblatt: Our greatest current
challenge is hiring enough great
people to manage and drive the
growth that we are seeing in the
business.
Etherington: It is time for mar-
keterstogetoverjustifyingtheirpo-
sitionandbudgets.Thiscanonlybe
achievedifwe,asamarketingfunc-
tion, become more relevant. I be-
lieve in order for the marketing
function and my peers to be suc-
cessful today, we have to become
more relevant. I break relevancy
intothreedistinctareas:
1. Customer relevancy—identi-
fying, understanding and anticipat-
ing the wants and needs of our cus-
tomers. Listening more to our cus-
tomers and, when we talk to them,
making sure we do it on their terms,
in their language and at a time they
wanttobecommunicatedwith.
2. Channel relevancy—making
sure we train, equip and motivate
our channels. We need to be always
looking to the horizon to lead the
channeltonewopportunities.
3. Business relevancy—using
leading indicators versus lagging in-
dicators to ensure we become more
relevant to the business and ulti-
mately tracking a marketing dollar
to an order dollar and then to cus-
tomersatisfaction.
We are doing a lot of work in or-
dertogetbetterunderstandingofour
current customers—who they are,
how they want to be communicated
with—toknowiftheyareadvocates.
Raj:Staying on top of all the fast-
moving, ever-emerging media land-
scape. There are more opportunities
and challenges than there are hours
intheday.Ⅺ
“Ask yourself what the
primary goal and objectives
are for yourWeb site and
identify the corresponding
metrics that point to success
or failure.”
Terry Suppers,seniorVP-interactive marketing,
General Electric Co.’s Corporate Financial Services Business
“The death of e-mail has been
greatly exaggerated.”
David J.Moore,chairman-CEO,24/7 Real Media
“A blog is a medium,period.But the intent—
to develop a community of people with a
common or shared interest—is very
applicable for b-to-b companies.”
Martyn Etherington,VP-marketing,Tektronix Inc.
ROUNDTABLE
8 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
BB _ 04-24-06 A 4,5,6,8 B2DB 4/21/2006 12:00 PM Page 4

9. The most targeted audience
of enterprise IT pros online
is also the largest
TechTarget is the greatest circulation story in the history of IT publishing.
You already know TechTarget is the best way to target IT professionals. Do you also
know TechTarget has the largest online audience? We’ve grown to four million in
just six years. Our online audience is composed of IT decision makers in 20+ markets,
including Security, Storage and Windows. We give you both the most targeted and
largest online IT audience which adds up to the best ROI. www.techtarget.com
TechTarget has localized media in 26 countries
+ CIO
+ Security
+ Storage
+ SMB
+ Windows
+ Networking
+ Oracle
+ Data Center
+ CRM
+ SAP
+ Data Management
+ Enterprise Voice
+ Java
+ Mobile Computing
+ Open Source
+ Web Services
TechTarget: 4 Million
Computerworld.com: 1 Million
InformationWeek.com: 1/2 Million
* 4,000,000 unique visitors (Source: Publisher’s Own Data) ** 1,000,000 unique visitors (Source: Computerworld Web site) *** 547,000 unique visitors (Source: InformationWeek Media Kit)
*
**
***
Graph Ad B 4/11/06 5:14 PM Page 1

10. BY CAROL KROL
T
WELVE MONTHS AGO, the e-mail marketing
worldwasbesetwithsuchroadblocksas
spam and deliverability issues. The
problemwasbadenoughthatmanymarketers
decided it wasn’t worth risking their reputa-
tions and simply stopped or pulled back on
e-mail campaigns. However, far from being an
also-ran, e-mail is still very much in the game,
and e-mail marketers using the medium are
finding integrating e-mail with the rest
ofthemediamixcanbeveryeffective.
Shar VanBoskirk, senior analyst at
Forrester Research, said spending on
e-mail marketing is still strong. “E-mail
is second only to search in companies’
online marketing budgets today, with
80% of marketers using, piloting or
planning e-mail marketing programs,
and88%expectinge-maileffectiveness
toincreaseinthenextthreeyears.”
The sales numbers speak volumes.
The Direct Marketing Association esti-
mates that legitimate commercial e-mail
resulted in approximately $39 billion in
sales in 2004, including about $9 billion
insmall-businesssales.
E-MAIL’S COMEBACK
Tools and technology designed to
comply with CAN-SPAM and improve
deliverability, such as authentication of e-mail
messages, have also begun to have an effect,
makingmarketersevenmorecomfortablewith
usinge-mailagain.
Infact,AOLsaidtheamountofspamreach-
ing AOL customer in-boxes in 2005, as mea-
sured by member complaints, marked a 75%
declinefromapeaklevelinlate2003.
Despite that, deliverability does remain an
issue for marketers. Eighty-two percent of
marketers say e-mail deliverability is a chal-
lengeforthem,accordingtoastudyreleasedin
mid-April by EmailLabs, an e-mail marketing
technologycompany.
Now that spam problems aren’t consuming
all their time, e-mail marketers have begun to
refocusontactics.
Forrester’s VanBoskirk said among e-mail
trends,integrationofmessagingisatoppriori-
ty. “This is the year of e-mail integration with
otherchannels,andthecompaniesthatcando
thatsuccessfullywilldifferentiate[themselves]
fromcompetitors,”shesaid.
“We’re using e-mail to complement other
forms of marketing-like direct mail and the
Web,” said Pam A. Evans, worldwide Web
marketing manager at IBM Corp. “We’ve de-
veloped a series of multitouches. [We need to]
make sure we deliver in a relevant way based
onwhatthecustomeristellingus.”
Integratinge-mailmarketingmessageswith
other media channels has become a top priori-
ty for b-to-b marketers this year because it has
the potential to dramatically increase response
rates.
Brian Price, executive director, online mar-
ketingatVerizon,saidthetelecommunications
giant is employing an integrated mix of paid
search and e-mail marketing in its b-to-b cam-
paigns.
“Verizon uses a combination of search ban-
ners and e-mail,” Price said, adding that it also
supplements these online efforts with offline
advertising, including direct mail, TV, print
andfree-standinginserts.
INTEGRATED APPROACH
Pitney Bowes said its strategy begins with
an idea. “We start with the idea, and then we
lookatallthewaystodeliverit,”saidMatthew
Sawyer, VP-corporate marketing at Pitney
Bowes.Forexample,PitneyBowesusese-mail,
direct mail and search engine marketing to
promote its Thought Leadership event series,
which addresses various business topics
toclientsandprospects.
“We put out a 26-page publication
through direct mail to some of our top
customers and prospects, as well as in-
vestors,”Sawyersaid.“Oncewehavethe
content, we then deliver that through
othercomponentsofthemailstream,like
e-newsletters and e-mail marketing.
We’ll take some of the key articles and
use them electronically,” he said. That
contentisalsopostedatitsWebsite.
Ernst & Young is another marketer
that is taking a decidedly integrated ap-
proachwithitsonlineande-mailmarket-
ing. Its e-mail efforts are integrated with
other media, including direct mail, and
thoseinturnaretightlywovenintointer-
active elements on the company’s site,
said Michelle Lee Puleio, assistant direc-
tor,nationalmarketingatErnst&Young.
In one example of e-mail marketing integra-
tion, Puleio said promotions for an annual con-
ferencethecompanyhostsinOctoberforenergy
executivesbeganmuchearlierintheyearwitha
“save the date” e-mail to clients and prospects.
Thatwasfollowedupbyarichmediae-mail.
“We created these Flash movies that we
e-mailed them, and the call to action was em-
beddedthere,”shesaid.“Therewasalinkbuilt
inthatbroughtthemtotheWebsitetofindout
E-mailbackin
themediamix
Deliverability still a concern, but marketers
forge ahead, focus on integrated message
1.Makeonepersonresponsiblefortheentirecampaign.Just
becausee-mailmessagesandWeblandingpagesexistindifferent
mediadoesn’tmeantheyareseparate.Whenane-mailrecipient
clicksonalink,theyexpectcontinuity.Mostdon’tevenrealizethat
theyjustmigratedfromtheire-mailclienttotheirWebbrowser.
2.Avoidusinghomepagesormultipurposelandingpages.Themore
dedicatedthelandingpage,themoreeffectivetheresults.
3.Stayfocusedonthecalltoaction.Don’tforgetwhyyoubrought
thispersontoyourpage.Youwarmedthemupinthee-mailmes-
sageandnowyouwantthemtocompletethetransaction.Keepthe
prospectfocusedonthedesiredactionanddon’tdistractthem
withrandomopportunitiesorirrelevantinformation.
4.Don’tintimidate.Limitthenumberoffieldsyourprospectmust
completeasmuchaspossiblewithoutcompromisingleadquality.
Youcanalwaysaskformoreinformationlater.
5.Test.Youshouldtestlandingpageswiththesamedisciplineyoudoe-
mailmessages—oneelementatatime.Forexample:Sendcoupons,
p.s.messages,openingsentencesandcallstoactionseparately.
Source:RandallLitchfield,InboxMarketerNews,“PerfectLandings,”March2006
5 ways to “pilot” perfect
landing pages for e-mail
E-MAIL
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Build email relationships.
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Download a free evaluation today!
Call 1-800-453-9387 or visit www.ArialSoftware.com
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10 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
Need to know
KKeeyyee--mmaaiillmmeettrriiccss
■ FromQ3toQ42005,openratesformarket-
inge-mailsandnewslettersdropped29%.
Clickratesfell21%inthesameperiod.
Source:eROI,“Q42005E-mailStatistics”report
■ Contrarytopopularwisdom,Fridaymaybe
thebestdaytosende-mail.InQ4,21%of
e-mailssentonFridaywereopened,followed
by20.8%ofe-mailssentonTuesday.
Source:eROI,“Q42005E-mailStatistics”report
EE--mmaaiillbbeessttpprraaccttiicceess
■ 52%ofb-to-bnewslettersubscribersuse
theirpreviewpanetoviewe-mails,makingit
importantformarketerstodelivertheirmes-
sagesinthissmallerwindowspace.
Source:EmailLabs,Nov.2005
■ 39%ofb-to-bmarketershavenoformal
permission(opt-in)practicesinplaceforcol-
lectinge-mailaddresses.Only7%ofb-to-c
marketershavenoformalpracticeinplace.
Source:Directand MultichannelMerchantmagazines
TThheessppaammpprroobblleemm
■ In2005,thepercentofusersthat“areless
trustingofe-mailbecauseofspam”decreased
to53%from62%in2005.
Source:PewInternetandAmericanLifeProject2005
■ Whatisspam?96%ofInternetusersdefine
itasane-mail“thatintendstotrickmeinto
openingit”;93%defineitascoming“froman
unknownsender.”Only38%defineitas“try-
ingtosellmeaproductorserviceevenifI
knowthesender.”
Source:DoubleClick,June2005
■ Tohelpmanagespam,manyusersroute
opt-ine-mailtoWebmailaddresses.26%of
AmericanInternetusersrouteopt-ine-mailto
Yahoo!,21%readmarketingcommunications
throughHotmailand13%useAOL.
Source:LyrisTechnologies,March2006
TThheeyyssaaiiddiitt
“Thisisaneconomicissue.Youhaveto
destroythespammer’sbusinessmodel.
Chargingafeeoratolltogetthattothein-
boxispartofthesolution.”
—R.DavidLewis,VP-marketdevelopmentat
StrongMailSystems,ontheideaofcharging
marketersforaccesstocustomerin-boxesin
ordertofightspam.
E-mail, page 18
BB _ 04-24-06 A 10 B2DB 4/20/2006 1:44 PM Page 1

11. 06bb0145.pdf RunDate: 4/ 24 /06 Full Page Color: 4/C
06bb0145.qxp 4/19/06 12:52 PM Page 1

12. Vendor Location URL Phone Vendor Location URL Phone
M A R K E T S M A R T E R , S E L L F A S T E R I N T H E T E C H N O L O G Y S P A C E .
T E L E M A R K E T I N G D I R E C T M A I L E M A I L L E A D G E N E R A T I O N
800.854.8409 x7210
www.hartehanksmi.com
Learn about our
MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Join us for a live webinar.
For details and topics visit
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Space is limited,
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Selling to them takes more
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You need the right
INTELLIGENCE.
12 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
E-MAIL
E-MAILVENDORS
Listrak Lititz, Pa. www.listrak.com (717) 627-4528
Lyris Technologies Berkeley, Calif. www.lyris.com (800) 768-2929
Mediaplex Systems San Francisco www.mediaplex.com (877) 402-7539
POPstick Inc. Boston www.popstick.com (617) 867-0303
Postfuture Richardson, Texas www.postfuture.com (888) 419-2226
Precision Dialogue Rocky River, Ohio www.precisiondialogue.com (440) 331-1688
Premiere Global
Services
Atlanta www.premiereglobal.com (800) 234-2546
Prospectiv Woburn, Mass. www.prospectiv.com (781) 305-2100
Quris Inc. Denver www.merklequris.com (720) 836-2000
Responsys Redwood City,
Calif.
www.responsys.com (650) 801-7400
Return Path New York www.returnpath.biz (212) 905-5500
RightNow
Technologies
Bozeman, Mont. www.rightnow.com (877) 363-5678
Savicom Inc. San Francisco www.savicom.net (415) 983-0990
Silverpop Systems Atlanta www.silverpop.com (866) 745-8767
Skylist Inc. Austin, Texas www.skylist.net (877) 250-2922
SmartSource Burlington, Mass. www.smartsourceonline.com (800) 239-0239
SourceLink Elkgrove Village,
Ill.
www.sourcelink.com (847) 238-5400
StreamSend Inc. Davis, Calif. www.streamsend.com (877) 439-4078
StrongMail Systems Redwood Shores,
Calif.
www.strongmail.com (650) 421-4200
SubscriberMail Lisle, Ill. www.subscribermail.com (630) 303-5000
TMX Communications Conshohocken,
Pa.
www.tmxinteractive.com (610) 897-2500
Topica Inc. San Francisco www.topica.com (415) 344-0800
VerticalResponse San Francisco www.verticalresponse.com (866) 683-7842
WhatCounts Seattle www.whatcounts.com (800) 440-7005
Xert Alexandria, Va. www.xert.com (703) 838-9847
Xtenit New York www.xtenit.com (646) 825-9070
Yesmail Portland, Ore. www.yesmail.com (877) 937-6245
Zustek Garden Grove,
Calif.
www.zustek.com (714) 894-4274
Acxiom Digital Conway, Ark. www.digitalimpact.com (800) 491-9320
Arial Software Chicago www.arielsoftware.com (773) 764-3434
BlueHornet Networks San Diego www.bluehornet.com (619) 295-1856
Bluestreak Providence, R.I. www.bluestreak.com (401) 341-3300
Bronto Software Durham, N.C. www.bronto.com (888) 276-6861
Click Tactics Waltham, Mass. www.clicktactics.com (866) 402-5425
CheetahMail, an
Experian company
New York www.cheetahmail.com (212) 809-0825
Constant Contact Waltham, Mass. www.constantcontact.com (866) 876-8464
CoolerEmail San Diego/
Portland, Ore.
www.cooleremail.com (866) 426-6537
Digital Connexxions
Corp.
Oakville, Ontario www.dconx.com (905) 338-8355
Directorynet Alpharetta, Ga. www.directorynet.com (770) 521-0100
DoubleClick Inc. New York www.doubleclick.com/us (212) 271-2542
Dynamics Direct Valencia, Calif. www.dynamicsdirect.com (661) 600-2059
E-Centives Inc. Bethesda, Md. www.e-centives.com (877) 323-6848
EchoMail Inc. Cambridge, Mass. www.echomail.com (617) 354-8585
e-Dialog Lexington, Mass. www.edialog.com (888) 256-7687
Eloqua Corp. Toronto www.eloqua.com (866) 327-8764
eLoyalty Lake Forest, Ill. www.eloyalty.com (877) 235-6925
EmailLabs Redwood City,
Calif.
www.emaillabs.com (866) 362-4522
ePostDirect Inc. Pearl River, N.Y. www.epostdirect.com (800) 409-4443
Epsilon Interactive
(formerly Bigfoot
Interactive)
New York www.bigfootinteractive.com (212) 995-7500
ExactTarget Indianapolis www.exacttarget.com (317) 423-3928
Global IntelliSystems Boca Raton, Fla. www.globalintellisystems.com (800) 707-7074
Got Corp. Montreal www.gotcorp.com (408) 741-4944
Habeas Inc. Mountain View,
Calif.
www.habeas.com (650) 694-3300
IMN Inc. Waltham, Mass. www.imninc.com (617) 964-4400
LeadGenesys Inc. San Francisco www.leadgenesys.com (415) 392-0333
The Lift Network Upper Montclair,
N.J.
www.theliftnetwork.com (973) 847-9013
BB _ 04-24-06 A 12 B2DB 4/20/2006 2:29 PM Page 1

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06bb0142.qxp 4/18/2006 2:19 PM Page 1

14. 1.866.966.xert www.xert.com
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E-MAIL
14 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
$457
$426
$2
485
462
3
511
487
4
535
504
5
558
513
6
577
518
7
U.S. e-mail marketing spending,
2005 - 2010 (in millions of $)
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
■■Retention ■■ Acquisition ■■ Transactional
Source:: JupiterResearch E-mail Model, 11/05 (U.S. only)
Source: eMarketer, citing Return Path, April 2006
$232
$117
$78
250
130
82
262
141
84
269
150
85
272
157
84
273
163
82
Spending on modes of acquisition e-mail
marketing, 2005 - 2010 (in millions of $)
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
■■Sponsorede-mail
■■ Coregistration
■■ AppendSource:: JupiterResearch E-mail Model, 11/05 (U.S. only)
E-mail open and click-through rates in the
U.S., by audience type, 2005
Permission-based e-mail nondelivery rates
worldwide, by Internet service provider,
second half 2005B-to-bmarketers
37.75%
5.23%
B-to-cmarketers
29.54
4.44
Mixedaudience
31.61
6.67
■■Opens ■■Clicks
Source:eMarketer,citingExactTarget,March2006
Excite 42.9%
Gmail 40.4
Lycos 33.8
Adelphia 31.0
Mail.com 26.8
Hotmail 26.1
BellSouth 25.0
Roadrunner 24.9
MSN 24.4
BTInternet 23.5
Rogers 23.3
Netscape 23.3
Cogeco 21.0
ATT 19.4
NetZero 18.8%
SBC 17.2
Verizon 15.3
Yahoo! 15.3
Sympatico 15.2
Cox 14.5
AOL 12.4
Cablevision 11.7
Comcast 11.7
AOL.ca 11.0
USA.net 9.9
9.4 Compuserve
8.1 Mac.com
7.8 Earthlink
BB _ 04-24-06 A 14 B2DB 4/20/2006 5:02 PM Page 1

15. Business publishers feel at home with MeritDirect’s
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MeritDirect’s list management services help leading business publishers feel at home. We represent some of the most prestigious B2B publishing
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06bb0074.pdf RunDate: 4/ 03 /06 Full Page Color: 4/C
06bb0074.qxp 3/7/06 9:47 AM Page 1

16. 2005
81
54
2006
108
63
2007
142
73
2008
181
85
2009
233
98
Whyshould
marketerslaunch
e-mailacquisition
campaigns?
Mallin:First,mostmarketersare
anxioustogrowtheire-mail
databasessincetheonlineportionof
theirbusinessiskeytotheirsales
growthstrategy.Addingtoyour
e-maildatabasegivesyoutheability
tocommunicatewithyour
customersonaregularbasisata
verylowcost.Second,thereturnon
investmentisveryhighwithinter-
activemarketing.[Also,]youcan
measureyourresultsinrealtime,
[and]yourabilitytotest,personalize
theofferandmakechangesquickly
ismuchgreateronlinethaninany
othermarketingvehicle.
Whataresome
challengesfacing
b-to-bmarketersthat
wouldliketodoan
e-mailacquisition
campaign?
Mallin:Ithink[onechallenge]is
findingtherightdatathat
perform—findingthenames,find-
ingtherightpricepoints.
Ontheb-to-bside,there’slessin-
formationavailablethanonthecon-
sumerside.Thebiggestchallengeis
havingavailablecontentfor
straight-upacquisition.Ithink
therearestilltoofewnamesonthe
b-to-be-mailside.Thereisn’t
enoughbuyerinformation.B-to-b
catalog[names]arenotonthemar-
ket[forexample].
Youneedtheopportunityto
haveWebsitesavailableforlead
generation,thosethatgenerate
enoughtraffictodoco-registration.
Therearefewerthan100sitesavail-
ableforleadgeneration[inb-to-b]
versus1,000ormoreonthe
consumerside.
Whatdoyousuggest
forb-to-bmarketers
thataredoinge-mail
retentioncampaigns
butwouldliketo
beginanacquisition
program?
Mallin:Theyhavetohaveabud-
getandacommitmenttoit.It’snot
“putyourtoeinthewaterandjump
out.”It’saboutconsistencyand
committingtoaprogramevery
month.Makingacommitmentto
acquisition,testingdifferentoffers,
beingwillingtotestandfailing[are
allnecessary]toultimatelysucceed.
It’snotthatdifferentfromwhat
peopledoonthedirectmailsideof
thebusiness.
Therearemoretoolsoutthere
nowtounderstandsuccessonthe
e-mailside.Youneedtoanalyzere-
sultsthroughWebanalytics.It’s
aboutmakingacommitment,estab-
lishingabudget,doingavarietyof
testingandbuildingaprogramona
monthlybasis.Thatwillgetyouthe
ROI.
Thedanger[innotcommitting
forthelongterm]isthatyouendup
wastingmoney.Youneedtouseitas
alearningplatform.Thewonderful
thingaboute-mailisyoucanlearn
fairlycost-effectively.Ⅺ
E-MAIL
16 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
EDMALLIN
ispresidentof
DonnelleyGroup
WhitePlains,N.Y.
ASK THE
EXPERT
Corporate vs.
consumer world-
wide e-mail traffic
per day, 2005-
2009 (billions of
messages)
■■ Consumer ■■ Corporate
Source: eMarketer, citing Radicati Group, January 2006
BB _ 04-24-06 A 16 B2DB 4/20/2006 4:09 PM Page 1

17. BUSINESS LISTS
MultiChannel Subscribers
1,818,500 Postal Addresses 1,295,000 Phone Numbers 421,000 Email Addresses
BASELINE MAGAZINE
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targets key IT and corporate business
technology leaders, who are responsible
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deploying complex IT solutions.
Baseline presents a roadmap to help
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intersection of business strategy, financial
results and technology deployments.
CIO INSIGHT
289,000 Subscribers
CIO Insight, voted one of the top 10 Best
Magazines by the American Society of
Business, provides cutting-edge business
strategies, research and analysis for
senior level technology executives. These
are the IT elite of all industries, responsible
for developing corporate management
strategies and budget control.
eWEEK
994,800 Subscribers
eWEEK is The Newsweekly for
Enterprise-Level IT Decision-Makers.
These IT executives, CIOs, CTOs, IT VPs,
Presidents, and CEOs across all industries
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technologies for their companies.
BUSINESS MASTERFILE
Subscribers on the Ziff Davis Media
Business Masterfile represent affluent,
educated business executives who
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Your Source for IT Business
Leaders and Decision-Makers
06bb0135.pdf RunDate: 4/24/06 Full Page Color: 4/C
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18. E-MAIL
18 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
details about the conference.” Direct
mail invitations, which included a
registration form as well as the Web
address for those who chose to regis-
ter online, were sent out to reinforce
themessage.
Timing is everything. IBM’s
Evans said campaigns need to be
carefully orchestrated in order to
maximizetheirimpact.Shesaidthat
is particularly true in coordinating
marketingplansacrossborders.
“In trying to launch a global
campaign, it’s critical to allow for
time for your message be translated
and in-market at the time you’re do-
ing other marketing, like events and
direct mail,” she said. “It’s another
level of complexity, but when we’re
able to integrate these messages and
time them properly, we have pretty
phenomenalresults.”
The move toward e-mail integra-
tion with other media channels
means measurement must begin to
integrateaswell.
Chris Baggott, co-founder and
CMO of ExactTarget, an e-mail mar-
ketingprovider,saidthatamongthe
top trends this year will be mar-
keters’ attempt to integrate results
from e-mail marketing campaigns
withWebanalytics.That,according
to ExactTarget, will give companies
a new metric, which Baggott calls
“returnonsubscriber.”
Sawyer said Pitney Bowes has a
“dashboard” for all the components
of a marketing campaign so that re-
sponse rates can be measured. “We
do some comparisons of one vehicle
versus another, but we’re also look-
ing at performance within each ve-
hicle versus past performance,”
Sawyer said. “That’s often a better
waytolookatit.”
Hewlett-Packard Co. also has a so-
phisticated approach to integrated
measurement. It uses Web site and
e-mailresponsedata,aswellassurveys
and call center data, to track sales that
occurinandareinfluencedbye-mail.
At Ernst & Young, marketing
representatives meet regularly. “We
... talk about what we’ve done,
what’s in process and what we’re
planning,”Puleiosaid.
“The results rely on the whole
thing,”Puleiosaid.Otherwise,“it’s
likemakingacakewithoutputting
intheflour.”Ⅺ
E-mail
Continued from page 10
WhatqualificationsshouldI
lookforwhenhiringan
e-mailmarketingmanager?
Answer:Itwasinevitable.Yourquarterly
e-newsletterisnowmonthly.Alonee-mailpro-
motionto“testthewaters”hasmushroomed
intoaweeklyevent.Youropt-inlistisgrowing
byleapsandbounds.E-mailmarketingcanno
longerbelefttoyouradministrativeassistantor
ajunioradvertisingstaffer—it’stimetodedicate
resourcestothisburgeoningfunction.
Generally,theroleofane-mailmarketing
managerorcoordinatoristocreate,execute
andmanageallaspectsofoutbounde-mail
campaignsandbetheprimarycontactforoth-
ersinvolvedintheprocess.Whilethejobfunc-
tionofane-mailmarketerhasevolved,thereare
stillsomecorequalificationsyoucanlookfor.
Lookforsomeonewho:
■ isdatabasemarketingliterate;
■ hasexcellentorganizationalskills;
■ paysattentiontodetail;
■ canhandledeadlinepressure;
■ canmanagemultipleprojectsatonce.
Jobcandidateswithexperienceine-mail
marketingshould:
■ beabletowriteand/orrecognizegood
copy;
■ befamiliarwithHTMLandonlinedesign;
■ beknowledgeableaboutdatamining
andcustomerdatasegmentation;
■ havedirectmarketingexperience;
■ haveagoodgraspofe-mailandviralmar-
ketingconcepts;
■ haveknowledgeofe-mailindustrybest
practices;and
■ understandspamlegislationintheU.S.
andabroad.
Aboveall,understandthatthequalifications
youidentifyinapotentialcandidateboildown
toyourcompany’sneeds.Happyhunting!
TriciaRobinsonisVP-marketingandstrategy
forPremiereGlobalServices(www.premiere
global.com),anoutsourceproviderofbusi-
nessprocesssolutions.
Thereisalotoftalkabout
‘e-mailreputation.’What
doesthatmean,anddoI
needtocare?
Answer:Itseemsthateverytimeyouturn
aroundthesedayspeoplearetalkingabout
e-mailreputation,andeverycompanyinthe
e-mailspaceseemstoofferasolutionforit.
Here’swhatyoureallyneedtoknow:
■ Youre-mailreputationishowe-mail
recipientsviewyoure-mailprogram.
■ Youmostcertainlyneedtocareaboutit;
reputationdictatesifyourmessagesreachthe
in-box,getjunkedorgomissing.
■ Youcaneasilycontrolyourreputation,in-
creasingyourprogramresponseasitimproves.
Thinkofyoure-mailreputationasyourcred-
itscorefore-mail.Yourpastandpresentbehav-
iorsfactorintoyourcreditrating,andyour
futurebehaviorscanmakeitbetterorworse.
Thesameistruewithe-mail.
Whiletherearethousandsofdatapointsfac-
toringintoreputation,weseethatthereare
threeprimaryleversthatmostinfluencereputa-
tionandsubsequentdelivery:
Bounces:Toomanybouncesspelldisaster
intheeyesofISPs.Removingbouncesmightbe
ahassle,butdoingitregularlywillhavea
dramaticeffectonyoure-maildelivery.ISPsuse
yourunknownuserratesandotherbounce
metricswhendecidingwhethertoletyour
e-mailthrough.
Blacklists:Sure,you’veheardaboutthem,
butdoesanyonereallycareaboutblacklists?The
answerisyes.Moste-mailreceiversreference
blacklistsinordertofilterunwantede-mail.By
findingoutwhatblacklistsyouareonanddoing
everythingpossibletogetremoved,youwill
dramaticallyimproveyoure-maildeliverability.
Backlash:Ifyouthinkthatyourcustomers’
clickingonthe“ThisIsSpam”buttonwon’taffect
youre-mailreputation,youaremistaken.Com-
plaintsdrive70%ofe-maildeliverabilityissues.By
determiningyourcomplaintratesandsources,
youcanbeginminimizingyourcomplaintrates
atISPsandincreasingyourdeliveryrates.
Usewhateverserviceyouneedtohelpget
yourreputationinorderandtokeeptabsonit,
buttheonusisonyoutobevigilantaboutkeep-
ingitpristine.Ifyoudon’tknowwhatyourrepu-
tationiswithISPs,findout.Itistheonethingyou
candotodaythatwillgiveyouactionabledata
youcanusetofixyourreputation,getmore
e-maildeliveredandincreaseprogramresponse.
GeorgeBilbreyisgeneralmanagerofdeliv-
eryassuranceforReturnPath(www.return-
path.biz),ane-mailperformance
managementcompany.
HowcanIuseWebanalytics
toimprovemye-mail
marketing?
Answer:Tocombatconsumers’growing
impatiencewithspamandirrelevant
permission-basede-mailmessages,marketing
expertsandanalystshavebeenurginge-mail
marketerstoadoptadvancedtacticsthatboost
customerloyalty,campaignresponseand
e-mailmarketingROI.
One way to do this is by optimizing the in-
tegration between your e-mail marketing and
Web analytics platforms. This enables a two-
way flow of actionable information that allows
you to more efficiently target and trigger e-
mail campaigns based on Web-site click-
stream data —the details of how visitors inter-
act with your Web site.
Buttheengineeringchallenge,expenseand
timerequiredforsuchanundertakingdiscour-
agemostmarketersfromeventrying.However,
learningtoextracte-mailmarketingROIfrom
theformulaicmachineryofdatabases,business
objectivesandproceduresdoesn’thavetobeas
difficultasitsounds—orasmanymakeit.
The best approach is simply to start small.
Lay the groundwork necessary to implement
a single e-mail marketing tactic. Launch your
campaign, prove the ROI and then move on
to the next. By integrating as you go, the task
becomes much more manageable, and you
can get campaigns off the ground more
quickly.
Sometacticsyoucantrythatcombine
e-mailmarketingwithWebanalyticsdata
include:
■ ForshoppingcartorWeb-formabandon-
ment,sendcustomersane-mailreminder
encouragingthemtoreturnandcompletetheir
transaction,andconsiderofferinganincentive
togetthemtodoso.
■ Sendcustomersamessagebasedon
whatpages,categoriesorproductsandservices
theybrowseonyoursite.
■ Renewandrefreshrelationshipswithcus-
tomerswhohavereturnedtoyoursiteafteran
extendedabsencebysendingane-mail
messagebasedontheirlastpurchaseormost
recentpageviews.
According to a May 2005 study on the ROI
of relevance, JupiterResearch reported that
crafting these types of highly relevant e-mail
messages can generate nine times more
improvement in revenue and as much as 32
times more improvement in net profit over un-
differentiated broadcast campaigns. Even after
including additional Web analytics spending,
the use of Web site clickstream data as a
targeting attribute still significantly improves
both top-line and bottom-line results.
Soifyou’rereadytogetstarted,checkwithyour
e-mailserviceprovidertosee[if]italreadyhasa
workingrelationshipinplacewithyourWebanalyt-
icsvendortomakeyourintegrationtaskseasier.
Andstartsmall,onetacticatatime.Dothis,andyou
sooncouldbetakingyoure-mailmarketingtonew
levelsofsuccess.
Elaine O’Gorman is VP-strategy at
Silverpop (www.silverpop.com), a provider
of e-mail marketing solutions.
E-MAIL MARKETER INSIGHT
BB _ 04-24-06 A 18 B2DB 4/20/2006 2:30 PM Page 1

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B2B_InteractiveGuide_Ad_Final.in1 1B2B_InteractiveGuide_Ad_Final.in1 1 4/19/06 12:38:05 PM4/19/06 12:38:05 PM

20. BY CAROL KROL
The juggernaut that is search marketing
shows no signs of slowing in 2006, according
to the statistics that pour in regularly from re-
search and measurement providers. The num-
bers,fromaddollarsbeingspenttothevolume
ofsearchesbeingconducted,speakvolumes.
Users conducted 5.1 billion searches in De-
cember 2005, close to a 60% increase over the
previous December’s 3.3 billion searches, ac-
cording to Nielsen//NetRatings. The ad
dollarshavefollowed.
Advertisers in North America spent
$5.75 billion in 2005, according to the
Search Engine Marketing Professional
Organization (SEMPO), a nonprofit, pro-
fessional organization for search engine
marketers. That is a 44% increase over
spending the prior year. Paid placement
accountedfor83%ofthattotal.
ONLINE AD SURGE WILL CONTINUE
Other researchers and analysts, such
asMerrillLynch,PiperJaffrayandStan-
dard & Poor’s, agree search has led the
healthy surge in online advertising and
will continue to do so. Piper Jaffray said
search and online advertising were up
23%in2005.Standard&Poor’spredicts
online ad growth will exceed 20% in
2006, “and could approach 30% based
on continued strength of search advertising,”
accordingtoareportreleasedinJanuary2006.
“Search is escalating for sure,” said Ed Jen-
nings,VP-marketingatParametricTechnology
Corp. (PTC), a b-to-b technology marketer.
Jenningshasbeenemployingsearchaspartof
the marketing mix for the last 18 months, us-
ing both paid search and search engine opti-
mization. He said he has “absolutely” in-
creasedthebudgetforsearch,whichisusedas
both a lead generation tool and a branding
mechanism.
Many other marketers are doing the same.
Inastudyspecifictothemanufacturingindus-
try, for example, almost half (48%) of market-
ing executives plan on increasing the amount
they spend on search engine marketing. They
also plan to spend less on magazine advertis-
ing, trade shows, direct mail and telemarket-
ing. SVM E-Business Solutions, the company
that conducted this study, spoke with market-
ing executives at more than 200 U.S. manufac-
turingcompanies.Fifty-sevenpercentofthem
said the biggest benefit of online marketing
and search is improved communications with
customers.
“As long as search is efficient in terms of
ROI—anditstillisbyfarversusanyotherdig-
ital channel—[spending] will continue in-
creasing,” said Frederic Joseph, regional CEO,
EMEAatZEDDigital,aunitofZenithOptime-
dia, a London-based media agency. Joseph
handlesbuyingthroughallmediachannelsfor
clientsoftheagency.“Wetestandlearnonev-
ery channel,” he said. “We identify channels
thathavethebestROI.”
CHALLENGES AHEAD
One foil to this overwhelmingly rosy pic-
ture was a March eMarketer report. Estimat-
ing that Google’s worldwide gross revenue
will total $9.30 billion this year and $11.80
billion in 2007, the online research aggrega-
tor’s forecasts also outlined challenges. Its re-
port, “Search Marketing: Players and Prob-
lems,” said Google faces roadblocks to contin-
uing strong growth, including the threat of
click fraud, privacy concerns and the com-
plexityofcreatingandmanagingcampaigns.
“Concerns about click fraud and privacy
are two sticking points that will potentially
chip away at, if not halt, the growth of search
engine marketing,” said David Hallerman,
eMarketer senior analyst and author of the re-
port.“Allisnotrosyinthesearchbusiness.”
But not everyone agrees, particularly
ontheissueofclickfraud.
“I really don’t think click fraud is a
big issue,” said Joseph at ZED Digital.
“It’sreallymarginal.”PTC’sJenningssaid
he is aware of the possibility that click
fraud can affect his campaigns, but
added that he is not very concerned and
in fact doesn’t want to spend a lot of time
focusedontheissue.“Wedon’tnecessar-
ily know if we’re getting funny num-
bers,” he said. “We didn’t want to be-
comeexpertsinthisnecessarily.”
He does, however, invest time in test-
ingandtrackingcampaigneffectiveness.
“It is not so much the technical stuff,
but seeing which offers are working and
changing campaigns,” he said. “We put
SiebeltrackingIDsembeddedintheURL
intothetextstringsweputonGooglefor
pay-per-click campaigns. We get reports
from our vendor on how well the Google traf-
ficisdoing,”hesaid.
But click fraud definitely is on marketers’
radar. According to data released last Decem-
ber by SEMPO, the number of those who be-
lieve it is a serious issue has tripled in the past
year,andtwooutoffiveadvertisersandabout
40% of agencies surveyed have tracked fraud
inpay-per-clickcampaigns.
Click fraud can be committed for financial
Searchspending
spreecontinues
Concerns over click fraud don’t slow
enthusiasm for search engine marketing
1. Considertargetkeywordscarefully.Theyshouldalwaysbeat
leasttwoormorewordslong;toomanysiteswillberelevantfora
singleword.
2. Positionkeywordsstrategically.Thepage’sHTMLtitletagismost
important.Failuretoputtargetkeywordsinthetitletagisthe
mainreasonperfectlyrelevantWebpagesmaybepoorlyranked.
3. AddHTMLhyperlinkstoyourhomepagethatleadtomajorinside
pagesorsectionsofyoursite.Alsoconsidermakingasite-map
pagewithtextlinks.Ifyounaturallypointtodifferentpagesfrom
withinyoursite,youincreasetheoddsthatsearchengineswill
followlinksandfindmoreofyourWebsite.
4. Buildlinks.Gotothemajorsearchengines.Searchforyourtarget
keywords.Lookatthepagesthatappearinthetopresults.Visit
thosepagesandaskthesiteownersiftheywilllinktoyou.Non-
competitivesitesmayagreetolinktoyou,especiallyifyouoffer
tolinkback.
5. Verifyandmaintainyourlisting.Onceyourpagesarelistedina
searchengine,monitoryourlistingeveryweekortwo.Resubmit
yoursiteanytimeyoumakesignificantchanges.
Need to know 5 simple rules for effective
search engine optimization
SEARCH
RESOURCES
20 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
KKeeyysseeaarrcchhmmeettrriiccss
■ OnlinesearchesintheU.S.increased39%in
January2006to5.7billion,upfrom4.1billion
searchesintheyear-earlierperiod.
Source:Nielsen//NetRatings,March2006
■ Marketshareinsearchremainedsteadyin
2006withGoogle(48.2%),Yahoo!(22.2%)and
MSN(11.0%)leadingtheway.
Source:Nielsen//NetRatings,March2006
■ Google’sworldwidegrossrevenuewilltotal
anestimated$9.3billionthisyearand$11.8
billionin2007.
Source:eMarketerReport,March2006
SSeeaarrcchhbbeessttpprraaccttiicceess
■ Fortypercentofsearchmarketersaremiss-
ingoutbyusingonlyGoogleand/orYahoo!
fortheironlinecampaigns.
Source:JupiterResearch,February2006
■ Morethanhalf(52%)ofmarketerssurveyed
describedpaidsearchperformancefor2005
as“great—outperformsothertactics,”edging
oute-mailmarketingtohouselists,which
cameinsecondat47%.Itwasthefirsttime
searchmarketingsurpassede-mailmarketing.
Source:ad:techandMarketingSherpasurvey,March2006
■ Sixty-twopercentofsearchengineusers
clickonasearchresultwithinthefirstpageand
90%ofusersclickonaresultwithinthefirst
threepagesofsearchresults.Thirty-sixpercent
ofsearchengineusersbelievethatthecompa-
nieswithWebsiteslistedatthetopofthe
searchresultsarethetopbrandsinthefield.
Source:iProspectandForresterResearchreport,April2006
22000055ttrreennddss
Issearchexpanding?Thepastyearsawthe
majorsearchenginesexpandingaggressively
intonewareas,includingvideosearch;local,
targetedadvertising;andinteractivemapping
andotherWeb2.0applications.Googleeven
offeredoptionstoadd“portallike”contentto
itsformerlystarkhomepage.
TThheeyyssaaiiddiitt
“Searchenginesononehandaresaying,‘We’ll
protectyou,’andontheotherhandthey’re
saying,‘Youcan’texpectustoreallyprotect
youbecausewedon’thaveallthedata.’”
—JessieStricchiola,presidentofSEOfirm
AlchemistMedia,ontheproblemofsearchen-
gineadvertisingclickfraud,BtoB,March2006.
Search, page 22
BB _ 04-24-06 A 20 B2DB 4/20/2006 2:30 PM Page 1

21. The Directory for
Marketing Executives. w w w . B t o B o n l i n e d i r e c t o r y . c o m
ONLINE DIRECTORY
BtoB’s Online Directory puts marketing solution providers at your
fingertips! Truly a one-stop source for all your marketing needs,
BtoBonline.com brings you a listing of nearly 2,300 companies in 50
product/service categories. Find that much-needed vendor today by
going to www.BtoBonlinedirectory.com.
Where do you find marketing vendors?
btobonline.com | 2006 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 21
SEARCHENGINEMARKETINGRESOURCES
Company Location URL Phone SEM services
Acronym Media New York www.acronym.com (212) 691-7051 Optimization, pay-per-click management, link-building campaigns
Advertising.com Baltimore www.advertising.com (410) 244-1370 Strategic direct-response and brand marketing campaigns
Alchemist Media Hollywood, Calif. www.alchemistmedia.com (323) 934-2939 Optimization, pay-per-click management
Backbone Media Waltham, Mass. www.backbonemedia.com (781) 899-4050 Optimization, Web site development, e-mail design, keyword research, ROI tracking
BeyondROI Hallandale, Fla. www.beyondroi.com (800) 498-4764 Search marketing strategy consulting for small and midsize businesses
Bruce Clay Moorpark, Calif. www.bruceclay.com (805) 517-1900 Optimization, pay-per-click management, campaign management
Business.com Santa Monica, Calif. www.business.com (800) 381-5771 Pay-per-click management, paid inclusion
ClearGauge Chicago www.cleargauge.com (312) 923-7604 New program launch strategies, pay-per-click management, design, analytics
Did-It.com Rockville Centre, N.Y. www.did-it.com (800) 932-7761 Paid search management, technology services
DigitalGrit Boonton, N.J. www.digitalgrit.com (973) 316-9696 Optimization, paid placement, paid inclusion, analytics
Fathom Online San Francisco www.fathomonline.com (415) 284-9100 Keyword campaign management, technology services
iCrossing Scottsdale, Ariz. www.icrossing.com (866) 620-3780 Strategy, consulting, implementation, analysis
Inceptor Maynard, Mass. www.inceptor.com (978) 298-1525 Optimization, paid placement, directory programs, authorized reseller of paid inclusion
iProspect Watertown, Mass. www.iprospect.com (617) 923-7000 Optimization, paid inclusion, pay-per-click management, Web analytics, Web site
conversion enhancement
KeyRelevance Wylie, Texas www.keyrelevance.com (972) 429-1222 Optimization, keyword research, pay-per-click management, ROI tracking
Marketleap San Francisco www.marketleap.com (888) 201-9982 Optimization, search engine paid inclusion management
Medium Blue Atlanta www.mediumblue.com (866) 436-2583 Visitor conversion, online PR, search engine optimization
Oneupweb Lake Leelanau, Mich. www.oneupweb.com (877) 568-7477 Optimization, pay-per-click management, bid management, ROI analytics
Outrider St. Louis www.outrider.com (314) 209-1005 Optimization, pay-per-click management, strategy, consulting, measurement
Prime Visibility Bethpage, N.Y. www.primevisibility.com (866) 774-6381 Optimization, pay-per-click management, keyword tracking
Proceed Interactive Des Plaines, Ill. www.proceedinteractive.com (888) 632-6328 Online and search affiliate marketing, design, technology, Web analytics
Quigo Technologies New York www.quigo.com (646) 289-6000 Search engine marketing, campaign management, content-targeted advertising services
Resolution Media Chicago www.resolutionmedia.com (312) 337-6450 Optimization, paid listings, consulting
Searchfeed.com Bridgewater, N.J. www.searchfeed.com (866) 722-9951 Pay-per-click management
SiteLab International La Jolla, Calif. www.sitelab.com (858) 456-4720 Optimization, pay-per-click management, paid placement
Vertive Consulting Austin, Texas www.vertive.com (512) 342-8378 Optimization, paid listings and pay-per-click management
WebMama.com Palo Alto, Calif. www.webmama.com (650) 289-0701 Optimization, pay-per-click management, analytics
Zunch Communications Dallas www.zunch.com (972) 455-4800 Optimization, pay-per-click management, design
BB _ 04-24-06 A 21 B2DB 4/20/2006 7:02 PM Page 1

22. SEARCH
22 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
Company URL Phone Marketplace Clients
Business.com www.business.com (888)441-4466 B-to-bproducts,services,newsandinformation BusinessWeek.com,FastCompany,Forbes.com,Inc.com,Internet.com
GlobalSpec www.globalspec.com (518)880-0200 Engineeringpartsandcomponentstechnicalcontent ASEE,Autodesk,InformationHandlingServices(IHS)MatWeb,Solidworks
Indeed www.indeed.com (203)564-2419 Searchengineforjobs Dice,NewYorkTimes(alsoaninvestor)
ThomasNet www.thomasnet.com (800)699-9822 Industrialmanufacturing GeneralAirProducts,Inc.,EquipmentDirectSafetyandFirstAid
Supplies,WheelingPower&IndustrialServices
Sidestep.com www.sidestep.com (408)235-1700 Travelindustry ContinentalAirlines,HyattCorp.,JetBlueAirways,Orbitz,travelagencies
ThomsonFindlaw www.findlaw.com (651)687-7000 Legal Nolo.com,ThomsonWest
VERTICALSEARCH
gainbypartiessuchascontextualad
affiliates, which can profit when
clicks occur on their sites because of
revenue-sharing agreements with
search engines. An advertiser’s com-
petitors similarly might engage in
the practice, as a way to drain the
marketer’s pay-per-click advertising
budget.
In a separate benchmarketing
study conducted in late 2005,
SEMPO found conversion rates for
“delayed e-commerce/service pur-
chases”—a bucket b-to-b mar-
keters’ products fall into—are
higher through search engine opti-
mization (6.3%) than paid search,
which had an average conversion
of 4.2%. “SEO is a huge driver of
‘latent’ conversions,” the report
concluded.
The next big hurdle may be the
enterprise search space. Companies
are trying to figure out how to mon-
etize Web sites, and part of that is
making sure they are functional and
canbenavigatedwithease.
“I know we struggle with that,”
Jennings said. In his own experi-
enceasacustomer,hesaid,“Irarely
use a search tool on a site. Even if I
knowthesite,I’lldoaGooglesearch
on it and make it domain-specific
rather than go to their site and use a
searchtool.”
Jennings said he is currently
looking at the possibility of im-
plementing an enterprise search
solution. Ⅺ
Search
Continued from page 20
“Irarelyusea
searchtoolon
asite.EvenifI
knowthesite,
I’lldoaGoogle
searchonit
andmakeit
domain-
specific”
Ed Jennings,
VP-marketing at Parametric
Technology Corp.(PTC),
BB _ 04-24-06 A 22 B2DB 4/20/2006 5:03 PM Page 1

23. “It’s Just Business.”
Just 26 Million people a month. Just 50 of the leading online business publications. Just the biggest
business search network on the Internet.
Just business searches. Just business results. Just decision makers saving time and money while
they get things done.
As the leading online marketplace for trusted business solutions, advertisers on
Business.com can reach 26 million* buyers and sellers of business-to-business
services every month…more than any other vertical search engine.
Business.com. Just the center of the
business-to-business universe.
Business Begins Here.™
*comScore, Media Metrix, March 2006
Powering the
searches of:
btobonline.com | 2006 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 23
Company Whatitdoes Whatitowns Keypartners
AOL OwnsmajorportaldestinationandInternetserviceprovider Netscape,MapQuest,AIM,AOL.com Google
Google Searchdestinationandadvertisingprovider;products
includeAdsense,Adwords, Gmail,GoogleLocalandGoogle
Toolbar
UrchinSoftware, KeyholeCorp.,content-targetingfirm
AppliedSemantics,weblogfirmPyra
GooglesitesincludingAOL,AskJeeves,EarthLink
GenieKnows.com Globalpay-per-clicksearchengineofferingPPCsolutionsto
1,100publishersand3,500advertisersinU.S.,Canada,U.K.,
Germany,France,Italy,Spain,Denmark,Sweden,Finland,
Norway,Korea,Taiwan,HongKong,Japan,Brazil,Mexico
andAustralia.
GenieKnows.com,GenieKnows.co.uk,GenieKnows.cn,
GenieLocal.com,GKFA.com,SmartGenie.com
Business.com,Kanoodle,LycosandMiva
IACSearchandMedia
(formerlyAskJeeves),
awhollyownedsub-
sidiaryofIAC/Inter
ActiveCorp.
Offerssearchdestinationsandadvertisingsolutions(includ-
ingsearch,mediaandperformancemarketingproducts)
AdproductsincludeAskSponsoredListings,pay-per-
clickproduct,andIACpartnermarketing,mediaand
performancemarketingproducts.Websitesinclude
Ask.com,Bloglines,Evite.com,Excite,iWon,MaxOnline-
MySearch,MyWayandMyWebSearch.OwnsAskAlgo-
rithmicSearchTechnology(formerlynamedTeoma).
Syndicatesalgorithmicresultsandpaidlistingstopartnersin-
cludingMamma,MotleyFool,Search.com(CNET),Geotrust
andothers.AlsosyndicatespaidlistingsfromGoogle.
LookSmart Paidlistingsanddisplayadsviadistributionnetworkand
proprietaryverticalsearchsitenetworks
Findarticles.com,Furl.net,LookListings,NetNanny,
WiseNut;plus181verticalsearchsitesin13categories
Publishingpartners:Ask.comandNYTimes.com;distribution
partners: InfoSpace,Cox,Dogpile,Marchex,Revenue.net,
CNET'sSearch.com
MIVA(formerly
FindWhat.com)
Onlineplatformthatfacilitateskeywordandcontextualpaid
listingsforadvertisersandpublishers.Primaryfocusison
providingpublisherpartnerswithsolutionsenablingtheac-
quisition,retentionandmonetizationofonlineaudiences.
MIVAMediaEurope(formerlyEspotting),MIVADirect
(formerlyCometSystems),MIVASmallBusiness
(formerlyMivaCorp.)andB&B
Distributionnetworkofthousandsofonlinepublisherpartners
includingblinkx,CondeNast,DennisPublishing,ExpressNews-
papers,Intellext,MirrorGroup,The(U.K.) Sun.Private-labelpart-
nersincludeEniroAB,Mitsui,Superpages,Verizon
MSNSearch Portalhostsitsownsearchtechnologyat
www.search.msn.com,andWindowsLiveSearchbetaat
www.live.comlaunchedinMarch.
ProprietaryMSNSearchsoftware;ispilotingitsown
paid-searchsolutiononMSNadCenterplatform
(adCenterwillbebroadlyavailableintheU.S.sometime
in2006,accordingtoMSN)
PaidlistingsfromYahoo!willcontinueintheU.S.untiladCen-
terislaunchedin2006.
Yahoo! Leadingportaldestination;ownsYahoo!SearchMarketing. AlltheWeb,AltaVista,Inktomi,Yahoo!SearchMarketing CNN.com,ESPN, InfoSpace,iVillage,Maxim.com,UnitedOn-
line,USAToday andVIACOMproperties(BET.com,MTV.com,
VH1.com,etc.)
WHO’SWHOINPAIDSEARCH
BB _ 04-24-06 A 23 B2DB 4/20/2006 1:39 PM Page 1

24. BtoB recentlyspokewithtwosearch
marketinggurus.MikeMoranisan
IBMDistinguishedEngineerwith
morethan20yearsofexperiencein
searchtechnologyatIBMResearch,
LotusandotherIBMsoftwareunits.
BillHuntisthefounderandCEOof
GlobalStrategiesInternationaland
hasledlarge-scalesearchmarketing
projectsforclientssuchasIBM,
AT&TandIntel.(Thefollowingtran-
scriptisapartoftheinterview,which
isavailableonbtobonline.comasa
BtoBTalkingTechaudiocast.)
Isanyb-to-bcompany
notusingsearchthese
days?
Moran:Manyofthemare,butI
don’trunintocompanieseveryday
thataren’t.Acheekyanswerwould
bethatmostofthegoodonesare.
OurexperienceatIBMwasthatsev-
eralyearsago,weweren’tlookingat
searchmarketingasanareawe
shouldfocuson.[But]overthelast
fiveyears,we’veimprovedtheper-
centageofvisitorscomingtothesite
[viasearch]from1%ofallvisitorsto
22%,andtheaverageisaround7%.
Whatabouttheuse
ofsearchamong
technology
companies?
Hunt:Ithinkthey’restartingto
reallygetahandleonit.Googlehas
atechnologycouncilthatmeets
quarterlyanditsparticipantsare
someofthebiggerb-to-btechnolo-
gycompanies,andIthinkmostare
dabblinginsearchinsomeway.
Someareactuallydoingitexponen-
tiallymore.
OnestatisticIuseasabarometer
wasthelaststatisticIsawinGoogle
[that]showedthat244oftheFortune
500haveanactivepaidsearchcam-
paign.Sothatleavesaprettybig
chunkofpeoplewhoaren’tusing
search.
What’sthetrickiest
partofsearch
marketing?Wheredo
marketersgowrong
inusingthetactic?
Hunt:Theydon’ttakeitas
seriouslyastheyshould.They
throwalotofmoneyatit.They
throwsomeresourcesatit,butI
don’tthinktheyunderstandsome
ofthestrategicimplications,and
thatleadsintomanagingtheteam.
Searchisoneofthosethingsthatis
almostlikearevivalmeetingora
familyreunionwhereyougetall
thesepeopletogetherfromalldiffer-
entwalksoflife,alldifferentareas.
Mikecallsit“cooksforthebroth.”
Somethingmostcompaniesmake
thebiggestmistakeonisnottaking
itseriouslyenoughandnotintegrat-
ingwellacrosstheirteams.
Ican’ttellyouhowmanytimesI
gotoacompany,sitdownwith
themandjustwatchatechnology
persongotoamarketingperson,in-
troducethemselves,givethema
cardandthenafterthatmeeting,it’s
like,“Weshould’vetalkedyears
ago.”Herearetwopeoplethat
should’vebeentalkingallalongand
haveneverevenmet.
Moran:Thehugeerrorthatcom-
paniesmakeistheygetfixatedon
thewrongthings.They’relookingat
gettingtheNo.1rankingforsome-
thing,orthey’refocusedontrafficto
thesite.Thosethingsareimportant,
butthey’reameanstoanend.The
placetheyfalldownistheyforget
searchmarketingismoreaboutmar-
ketingthan[about]search.
Theyfocusonthetechnical
arcanaofturningthisdialthere,and
pushingthatleverandtakingallthe
adviceofthesereallylow-level
thingsthatyouhavetodo,which
areallimportant,buttheyforgetthe
mainreasonthatthey’retryingtodo
this.They’retryingtosellmore.
They’reeithertryingtosellmore
onlineoroffline.Theyhavetomake
surethetrafficthey’redrivingtothe
sitefromsearchenginesisreally
converting,andIthinktheylose
trackofthatsometimesinthemidst
ofallthedetail.Ⅺ
ONEUPWEB.COM 877.568.7477
SEARCH
24 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
MIKEMORANand
BILLHUNT,authors
of“SearchEngine
Marketing,Inc.:
DrivingSearch
TraffictoYour
Company’sWeb
Site”(IBMPress)
ASK THE
EXPERT
“Searchisone
ofthosethings
thatisalmost
likearevival
meeting.”
BB _ 04-24-06 A 24 B2DB 4/20/2006 1:40 PM Page 1

25. BY MARY E. MORRISON
N
OT LONG AGO, aWeb site was considered
good if it presented information in a
clean, easy-to-find way. Sites that al-
lowed visitors to execute transactions were
deemedadvanced,andifthesitecouldhandle
customerserviceinquiries,somuchthebetter.
Today, however, b-to-b sites must meet the
rapidly expanding expectations of business-
people who have become far more sophisticat-
ed in their use of the Web and want a highly
personalizedonlineexperience.
Thekeyformarketersistogivesitevisitors
that tailored Web experience and measure
their response, said Andrea Fishman, director
of global strategy for BGT Partners, a profes-
sionalservicesfirmthatfocusesontechnology
solutions for interactive marketers. “In the
past, there tended to be lots of content out
there that was generic in nature,” she said.
“What we’re seeing now is a lot more self-se-
lection.” Self-selection design presents infor-
mationtositevisitorsaccordingtotheirroleor
the type of problem they’re looking to solve,
ratherthanbyproduct.
B-TO-B SITES YET TO EVOLVE
Still, many b-to-b Web sites haven’t
evolved, said Dennis Boyce, VP at interactive
agency Avenue A/Razorfish. “A lot of b-to-b
sitesouttherearestillveryproduct-centric,”he
said.“Theytendtoreflecthowthecompanyis
organized rather than how their customers are
organizedortheirmarketisorganized.”
To know what customers want, companies
must determine not only the demographic
characteristics and site habits of visitors but
alsowhatismostappealingtothem,whatlan-
guage they use and what will finally trigger a
purchase—information likely to come only
from interviews with the customer, said
Harley Manning, VP-customer experience at
Forrester Research. “You can only get those
things by interviewing people, by letting
them tell their stor-ies of how they purchase,
how they think, how they describe things,
howtheygoaboutthings,”hesaid.
Manning cited semiconductor company
Analog Devices, which he said was under the
impression that its audience of design engi-
neerswasverybrandloyalandwantedaclean
layout when researching products. After do-
ingresearchinengineers’offices,however,the
company found that the engineers liked to
scrollupanddownscreenspackedwithinfor-
mation. When the engineers didn’t find what
theywantedquickly,they’dmoveontoanoth-
er semiconductor maker’s Web site. Analog
Devicesredesigneditssiteaccordingly.
“Ifyoudidn’tknowthatthisishowdesign
engineersliketonavigate,you’dsay‘thissiteis
packed, no one can use it,’” he said. “As it
turns out, it’s an almost perfect design for that
target audience, and [Analog Devices] had big
jumpsinalltheirmetrics.”
Lance Schneider, e-business manager of
Budnick Converting’s Tapeinfo.com, relies on
siteanalyticsandsurveyse-mailedtoprospects
andcustomerswhohaveoptedin.Heusesthat
information to refine the site’s content and ad-
just its product-finding tools. “It’s our theory
that, if you are the person or company supply-
ing the best information, sooner or later you’ll
be the person supplying the product or ser-
vice,”Schneidersaid.
IMPROVINGCONTENT
Providing better content in a personalized
fashionisgettingeasierbecauseofadvancesin
content management systems and portal soft-
warepackages,Fishmansaid.“Theinitialcon-
tent management systems were so hard to use
that marketing never felt really comfortable,”
shesaid.
Fishman said there now is a wave of “con-
tent management light” applications, from
vendors such as Ektron Inc. and
RedDot Solutions, that are more
user-friendly and allow marketers
to handle tasks such as editing
contentandmanagingcolors.B-to-
bmarketersarealsostartingtotake
advantage of the latest technolo-
gies to improve site content, turn-
ing to video, facilitated chat and,
to some extent, RSS and blogs.
Some companies are forgoing the
useofFlashforvideo.
“Especially as broadband con-
nection grows, short video can be
a very powerful way for larger b-
to-bsites,andevensmallerones,to
communicate their message,” Fish-
mansaid.
Althoughblogscanbeeffective
in creating an ongoing conversation with cus-
tomers, they require constant updating. “You
really have to keep up on it. … If people come
back and see it hasn’t changed in a month,
they’re not going to come back again,” said
BudnickConverting’sSchneider,whooversees
Tapeinfo.com’sblog.
RSS is also of interest to marketers looking
to personalize sites, particularly because Web
usersareoverloadedwithspamintheir e-mail
in-boxes. “People know that if they signed up
for an RSS feed, they requested it,” said
WilliamRice,presidentoftheWebMarketing
Association. “As a marketer, you may have
heard of this, but you need to start exploring
thetechnologyontheserversidesoyoucanbe
ready for it when the widespread acceptance
comes,becauseit’sgoingtobeverysoon.”Ⅺ
Plancustomer-
specificmarketing
Savvy visitors crave personalized
experiences on company Web sites
1.Personalizeyoursite.Letsitevisitors“self-select”whenthey
arriveatyourhomepagesotheycanfindthemostrelevantparts
ofthesiteforthem;forinstance,“I’maphysician”or“I’ma
pharmaceuticalrep.”
2.Userichmediawithcaution.Consideryouraudiencebefore
addingaudio,videooralotofFlashtoyoursite.Givevisitorsthe
optiontohearaudiobymousingoverabutton(ratherthanauto-
maticallylaunchingthefile).
3.Conductresearchtodetermineusers’preferences.Goinginto
customers’officesisthebestway.Ifthat’snotpossible,invite
customerstoafacilitywhereyoucanobservethem.Phonesur-
veysareanotheroption.
4.Focusonincrementalchanges.Yoursitemaynotneeda
completeredesign;instead,implementsmall,usefulchanges
thatimprovecustomers’overallexperience.
5.Addablogonlyifyoucanupdateitoften.Ifthecontentisstale
anddoesn’tgettheattentionitneeds,youmaybedoingmore
harmthangood.
Need to know 5 simple rules for creating a
customer-friendly Web site
WEB SITES
RESOURCES
What’sthediffer-
encebetweenan
averageb-to-bWeb
siteandagreat
b-to-bWebsite?
Nielsen:Mostb-to-bsitesem-
phasizeinternallyfocused
design,don’tanswercustomers’
mainquestionsorconcerns,and
placebarriersinthewayof
prospectswhousetheWebto
discovercompaniestoplaceon
theirshortlists.Thesesiteshave
notrealizedthattheWebhasre-
versedtherelationshipbetween
companiesandtheircustomers,
withmostonlineinteractionsbe-
ingdemand-driven,whereyou
eithergivepeoplewhatthey
wantorseethemabandonyour
siteforthecompetition.
Agreatb-to-bsite?Onethat’s
moreforthcomingwithinforma-
tionfornewusersintheearly
stagesofresearch.Oftensitesde-
priveusersofneeded
informationbyanoverlyconfus-
ingnavigationstructureorby
presentingoverwhelmingand
convolutedcontent.
Whatarethekey
trendsyou’reseeing
inb-to-bWebsites
rightnow?
Nielsen:Busybusinesspeople
havestoppedsavingbrochures
andadvertisementsbecausethey
assumetheycanlookupthe
equivalentinformationonthe
Web.Mygroupisjustfinishinga
usabilitystudyofb-to-bsites,
[which]willbepresentedatthe
UsabilityWeekconferenceinSan
FranciscoinJune2006.Mostof
theresearchparticipantstoldus
thatwhentheyareconsidering
doingbusinesswithacompany,
oneoftheirfirstactionsistocheck
outitsWebsite.Thusasitethatin-
adequatelycommunicatesthe
credibilityofavendorandits
productscanhaveaseriously
detrimentaleffectonincoming
leads,longbeforeyoustartyour
officialsalesefforts.
Whataresome
quickandeasy
waystoimprovea
Website?
Nielsen:Ithinkthatmost
b-to-bsitesneedacomplete
redesign.Ireallywantcompanies
toreconceptualizetheirWebsites
andredoeverythingwithanem-
phasisondoingwhatcustomers
toldusinusertesting.Onthe
otherhand,therearealsoplenty
ofquickfixesavailablefortheav-
erageb-to-bsite.Acompany…
couldstillgetalotofmileage
fromsimplerchanges,suchas
writingagoodoverviewpagefor
eachproductcategory.Ⅺ
JAKOBNIELSEN
isprincipalat
NielsenNorman
Group
ASKTHEEXPERT
KKeeyyWWeebbssiitteessttaattss
■ 73%ofAmericanadults(age18-plus)go
onlinetousetheInternet.Agecontinuestobe
astrongpredictorforInternetuse:89%of18-
to-29-year-oldsgoonline,comparedto82%
of30-to-49-year-olds,71%of50-to-64-year-
olds,and34%ofthoseage65andolder.
Source:PewInternet&AmericanLifeProject,March2006
■ In2006,78%ofmanufacturingcompanies
plantoincreasespendingontheircorporate
Websites.Inaddition,52%ofmanufacturers
considertheirWebsitestobetheirmostpow-
erfulmarketingtools.
Source:SVME-BusinessSolutionsstudy,April2006
MMoossttvviissiitteeddWWeebbssiitteess
((ppeerrmmoonntthh))
1.Microsoft 112millionvisitors
2.Yahoo! 102millionvisitors
3.TimeWarner 100millionvisitors
SSttiicckkiieessttWWeebbssiitteess((hhoouurrss
ooffvviissiittoorruusseeppeerrmmoonntthh))
1.PokerStars.com 18:30hours
2.AOL 6:00hours
3.FanFiction.Net 4:50hours
Source:Nielsen//NetRatingsstudy,March2006
VViiddeeoooonntthheeggoo
Webvideoisbooming.Userswanttoview
videoonavarietyofdevices,including:com-
puters/laptops(22%);TVs(20%);iPods(4%).
Source:PointsNorthGroupstudy,March2006
TThheeddaawwnnooffWWeebb22..00
■ ThebiggestWebsitetrendin2005wasthe
emergenceofWeb2.0.Whatisit?“Asecond
generationofservicesavailableontheWorld
WideWebthatletspeoplecollaborateand
shareinformationonline.”
Source:Wikipedia
TThheeyyssaaiiddiitt
“Thecentralprinciplebehindthesuccessof
thegiantsbornintheWeb1.0erawhohave
survivedtoleadtheWeb2.0eraappearstobe
this,thattheyhaveembracedthepowerof
theWebtoharnesscollectiveintelligence.”
—TimO’Reilly,president-CEO,O’ReillyMedia,
“WhatisWeb2.0?”Sept.2005
btobonline.com | 2006 | BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide | 25
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