Verizon says they want me back. But based on the direct mail package they just sent me, I don’t think they mean it. Reactivating lapsed customers is an important marketing strategy for every business. It’s easier to reengage a former customer than create a new one. If you’re using direct marketing to win former customers back, however, you’d better do it right. Here’s how a major marketer blew a customer win-back opportunity with poor direct mail, and five lessons for more effective win-back direct marketing.

Social media marketing strategist and author Paul Gillin gave a thought-provoking presentation on the value of social media for business-to-business marketers at the PRSA meeting in Cleveland, Ohio this week. Here are some of Gillin’s key points, which raise interesting questions for every B2B marketer seeking to develop a smart marketing strategy.

There’s a giant trash can in the mailroom of my office building in Cleveland, Ohio. Every day, it fills up with discarded business mail. Sometimes I peek in the can to see what my fellow tenants have thrown out, and it’s quite revealing. Here’s what I’ve observed as a casual mailroom trash inspector, and three valuable lessons from this experience for business-to-business marketers who want to develop a smart marketing strategy.

Call it contact management, lead follow-up, or just good salesmanship: One-to-one communication from sales representatives to prospects is vital to a smart business-to-business marketing strategy. But how do you do it well? Here are five tips for creating a one-to-one sales communication plan that engages prospects in a dynamic sales dialogue with your company and converts leads to sales.