In B2B marketing, the free ride is over. That’s the unnerving upshot of a report issued earlier this year by Unica. Metrics demonstrating a connection between social network advertising and sales are the rule of the day. And hence, the need to align social network metrics against sales data means that free tools tied to particular programs are falling out of favor. Pressure to measure up internally isn’t the only thing driving B2B marketers. Consumers increasingly have the upper hand, and are making contact, with sellers. Capitalizing on in-bound marketing has become critical.

Improving the ratio of cost from lead generation to client or sale is the biggest challenge for associations today. Evidence for this can be found in two recent reports from the Center for Association Leadership (ASAE). The first puts the spotlight on the marketing problems associations are facing, while the second looks at their operating costs. Taken separately, the reports have a great deal to teach association leaders. Taken together, they show that pressure is increasing on marketers to show the connection between their departmental costs and the outcomes they deliver.

In the past year, protecting copyrighted material has inspired heated debate. In fact, since the inception of sites like Facebook, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest, website owners have begun to question the wisdom of leaving their content open to sharing.

Selling to businesses generally means longer sales cycles. Prospective clients will need to walk through multiple approvals in their own companies before agreeing to purchase, so it’s important that you, as the seller, build multiple relationships within the prospective company.

Promotion for B2B companies has become multi-faceted, given the attention paid by marketing experts to SEO, social media, and mobile technology. These promotion discussions tend to revolve around how companies can get more exposure and traffic.

Social media engagement and media advertising for branding campaigns are not frequently embraced by many B2B companies, and for good reason. The ROI on either investment is difficult to track. But public relations campaigns are another matter.

Cloud computing is very popular these days. To some marketers it might seem like a phase that the industry is going through. There are many reasons how cloud computing can move your business ahead of competitors.