One of the most difficult marketing challenges is differentiating a service business from its competitors. One strategy is to market the knowledge and experience of the firm’s employees. Another is to focus on how the firm’s employees make customers feel. Case in point: Tom, my UPS delivery guy. Here are 5 lessons in how to create loyal customers from a UPS driver in Cleveland.

Digital media is transforming how marketers engage with customers and prospects. Whether you’re marketing to business executives or consumers, it’s critical to monitor the fast-changing digital media space.

So what’s on the horizon for digital media in 2012 and what does it mean to marketers?

Three marketing experts shared their forecasts last week at a program sponsored by the American Advertising Federation-Cleveland. Here’s what these digital media pros see in their crystal balls and some insights for using digital media in your smart marketing strategy.

The quality of your sales proposal can make or break your ability to close the deal. So why do so many business-to-business (B2B) marketers produce such poor sales proposals? Here are five common mistakes in sales proposals that can cost you the business and some lessons for your smart marketing strategy.

The announcement last week that the U.S. Postal Service plans to eliminate next-day delivery of first-class mail was hard news for direct marketers like me to hear.

Not because the direct mail campaigns our marketing agency creates require next day delivery. In most cases, we mail standard class to get lower rates and we factor in the necessary delivery time when crafting a marketing plan.

But I got a sinking feeling when I heard this latest news. I fear that as service delivery levels continue to fall and the cost of using direct mail climbs, we may be nearing a tipping point when mail will lose its viability as a marketing channel.

Here’s what I think this news means for smart marketers whose strategies include direct mail marketing.

There’s nothing more powerful in marketing than a testimonial from your customers about the value of your products or services.

That’s why so many smart marketers, especially companies that sell business-to-business (B2B) professional services, use client testimonials in their advertising, sales presentations, brochures, and websites.

So how do you get a client to give you a great testimonial for your marketing campaigns? Follow these 10 tips.

Promoting a professional services firm is one of the most difficult challenges in marketing.

Whether you’re selling legal services, marketing services, accounting, IT, insurance, benefits, payroll, or consulting, it can be tough to create a marketing strategy that differentiates your company from everyone else who does what you do.

Here’s the usual approach: “We have great capabilities and we deliver great service.” No offense, but you must, or you wouldn’t still be in business. Plus, all your competitors say the same thing.

Is that really what makes you stand out? Is that the reason clients choose you?

The real value professional services firms sell is their expertise and their ability to use that expertise to solve clients’ problems. Here’s how to create a smart marketing strategy for a business-to-business professional services company by selling your smarts.

The most successful social media marketers create and publish a high volume of original content through blogs, videos, white papers, and other vehicles.

But they also share quality content produced by others. Gathering, sorting, and republishing content from other authors that you believe your followers will value is called curation. By being a great content curator, you help customers, prospects, and colleagues find the “good stuff” online and know what to read. This not only makes you an informative and influential social media contributor, but it also helps attract new followers. Here’s how to find, filter, and share the best content with your social media followers in a smart marketing strategy.

I am a born and bred direct marketer. I learned about direct mail from the legends of the industry – Ed Mayer, John Yeck, Paul Sampson, and Rose Harper – at a seminar for college marketing students sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association in the 1970s. And though I often recommend social media and other marketing strategies to clients of my marketing agency, direct mail is still my first love.

Like all direct marketing practitioners, I’ve been dismayed to watch the U.S. Postal Service struggle for survival. As the organization tries to right its ship by cutting costs, it’s also trying to grow revenue by drumming up new business from mailers.

That’s the right thing to do, but perhaps not the way the USPS is doing it.

Case in point: The latest USPS direct mail campaign mailed to my marketing firm this week. Here’s where the USPS went wrong and how to avoid this mistake in your smart marketing strategy.

If you’re a business-to-business (B2B) marketer, sponsoring your industry’s trade show can deliver high visibility for your brand. But trade show sponsorship can be a big investment. Sponsorship packages for some national shows are topping six figures and even smaller sponsorship options can be costly. Before you spend valuable marketing dollars on a trade show sponsorship, here are 10 guidelines for choosing sponsorships that are worth the marketing investment.

Marketers everywhere are discovering the value of Twitter for sharing content and insights with customers and prospects and creating top-of-mind awareness. I used to be skeptical of Twitter but I’ve become convinced of its marketing power. As I approach my 1,000th tweet on Twitter as @jeangianfagna, here are 21 tips I’ve learned for using Twitter in a smart marketing strategy.